The End,
18 West Central Street,
Holborn, London, WC1A 1JJ. UK
A joint venture between Mr C and Layo
(of Layo & Bushwacka!), The End opened in 1995. Throughout
its nearly 14 year history, it was regarded as one of London's
most popular mid-sized venues for electronic music of all
stripes.
DJ Mag
Club Review...
Cynics and sell-outs might tell you that
idealism will never change the world - but they are wrong.
If you want both the proof and a firm finger back in their
face, don't look any further than The End.
Before Mr C and Layo Paskin opened the
West End venue back in 1995, London was waiting to be suffocated
by the corporate grip of the superclub phenomenon. Think back
to an era of when supposedly 'superstar DJs' ruled (remember
Jeremy Healy anyone?), when clubs were packed with handbag
house and fluffy bras and club 'brands' were more interested
in breaking tacky merchandise runs than experimental music.
A fast antidote to this swarming corporate rot, the effect
of The End was instant. Gaining a magnetic reputation as London's
underground retreat, the basement venue gave DJs like Richie
Hawtin, Jeff Mills and Laurent Garnier a London platform at
a time when quality techno simply wasn't getting a look in.
As burgeoning UK drum & bass emerged
as the most innovative sound of their generation, The End
pulled them into one of the finest underground clubs in London
without putting limits on their raw urban energy. In short,
The End represented a restoration of acid house's musical
integrity but with an ambition to pull the experience into
the awaiting millennium.
"We felt clubland lacked a bit
of balls and experimentation," remembers Layo, who met
Mr C at the latter's infamous Clink Street warehouse parties
back in 1988. "Richard [Mr C] and I felt like it had
all become very commercialised. Coming from acid house backgrounds,
we couldn't really understand how it had got like that and
wanted to rebel and brings things back underground with experimental
music."
Across its 14-year existence and before closing its doors
for the last time in January, The End not only celebrated
every key DJ of its time but captured many at their very peak.
Stuart 'Les Rythmes Digitales' Price, d&b legend Roni
Size, big beat icon Fatboy Slim and Erol Alkan all held their
most defining residencies here, whilst more recent years have
seen Marky & Friends, Ben Watt's Buzzin' Fly, Sven Väth's
Cocoon and James Holden's Border Community all become essential
dates on the London clubbing diary.
From FWD's dutty dubstep riddims to the minimal tribal rhythms
of Circo Loco, The End's embrace of the specialist cutting-edge
kept it vital and vibrant right up until its closing weekend.
But for all the magical promotions that the venue helped
nurture, there was a sense that the true energy of The End
lay simply in its layout itself. Designed for the clubber,
The End placed the DJ booth near the heart of its intimate,
low-sunk main room. At first disorientating, the booth's position
broke from accepted traditions but created a consuming intimacy
that remains unmatched by any venue in the capital.
"That DJ booth really left you feeling like you were
sharing your music rather than simply playing it," believes
Steve Lawler, who ran his monthly Harlem Nights party at The
End for seven years until the close.
"With a club that size you could easily fill it with
100% music lovers, no stragglers. It was the perfect size
room to get intimate with your audience.
"But most importantly, it was a club run by a family
of people driven by the same ideals, not an office,"
he confirms, "and you could feel it."
Yep, The End was a true family business. It was Layo's architect
father Douglas who first brought the crumbling basement to
his attention and later designed the plans for the club. When
the venue fell into debt due to Layo and Mr C's initial excess
of ideals over efficiency, Layo's sister Zoe stepped in, steadied
the ship and turned the duo's abundance of creative idealism
into profitable business dynamics. Crucially, The End's vital
core values were galvanised rather than sacrificed in this
process.
"I think the one thing we set out to do was to make
a club that was for the clubber," concludes Layo. "We
were the only club in London to have a free water fountain
but to us it made sense. We wanted to put the clubber first
and give them the best of everything we could - talent, music,
comfort, care."
Mission accomplished, then, and whilst The End's loss might
leave a gaping hole for many London clubbers, the dogged beliefs
of those behind it have changed the course of clubbing in
the capital forever more. Goodbye baby.
