Fabric NYE 31/12/03 9:00pm to 9:00am – 77a Charterhouse Street, London, EC1M 3HN

Fabric: a name synonymous with consistently fantastic club nights and a CD series that graces the collection of every in-the-know dance music lover.

The club: custom built for the discerning clubber in North London in the shell of an old abattoir and after years of planning opened its doors in 1999. Minimalist design, superb layout, 5 quality sound systems and Europe’s first bass-loaded body-sonic dance floor….yes it is heaven!

The line-up: Scratch Perverts, Hybrid, Ali B, Plump DJs, Andrew Weatherall, Craig Richards, Tom Middleton, Terry Francis, The Mixologists.

So, did we expect their new years eve extravaganza to be anything but brilliant?! I think not.

Anticipation had been building for weeks, pre-solds sold out in advance and upon arriving early we discovered that the event had somehow totally sold out and they would not be letting anyone without tickets in until 2:00am, which unfortunately meant our non-ticket holding buddies had to celebrate NYE elsewhere.

Fabric know their business, and entry is always professional and expeditious and was even more speedy tonight. Downstairs the club was already full and the vibe deliciously fun. Quickly checking the times for each room we headed straight to Room 2 to catch the last 10 minutes of the Scratch Perverts who had whipped the packed dance floor into a frenzy, and it was only 10:00pm! What we did catch was of course great, tasty scratching and phat beats, my only gripe being they finished with Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit which smelt a tad dated. Hybrid were up next and having not been able to contain myself since I last saw them I was very keen to repeat that experience. REM’s The Great Beyond began what was to be a truly beautiful set, these guys were definite stand outs with their own distinctive flavour of body-rocking breakbeat and their set flowed with perfection. With midnight fast approaching decisions had to be made as to where we wanted to see in the new year and after a brief team meeting we raced to our favourite position in Room 1, front and centre! Tom Middleton had the all-important timeslot and had the room shaking their collective booty and so the count-down began! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Balloons were dropped and popped, hugs exchanged and then it was back to the all important business at hand…did someone say dance?!

The rest of the night was spent drifting between Room 1 and 2 (both too good to leave!) with a much deserved sitting interval in Room 3 (The Mixologists meticulously caning it as always). Discovery of the night would have to be Ali B who I had for some reason pegged as a hardcore drum n bass dj and we were surprisingly confronted by a very sexy man playing a very drool-worthy set…one to definitely see again! Plump Dj’s didn’t disappoint and they seemed to be loving it as much as the crowd who were dancing their hearts out in appreciation. All too soon it was 7:30am and Room 1 was the only room still standing and Terry Francis was left in control. Francis normally being pretty good, we were a bit taken aback by the boring, ploddy music that he was playing. We tried to sit it out until Craig Richards took over but we couldn’t envisage it drastically improving so it was homeward bound for the two danced out girls.

The strong still dancing, the debris of clubbers scattered throughout the stairwells and the looks of weary satisfaction left us in no doubt that 2004 was welcomed in true Fabric style.

And the music was apparently pumping until 10:00am….truly commendable work!