Well if you have hit the club scene over the last ten years here in London then you will have been to the End at some point. The club part owned by DJ Mr C (yes the guy from that 90′s group the Shamen amongst many more musical bits) has decided to shut up shop. Along with most of club land in London at the moment, the End is being swept away.
I am no music journalist but I am pretty gutted about it really, even though my clubbing days are pretty much over. The End was a serious vein for house music and drum n bass alike. I spent many a great night there and it really is sad news. Derrick Carters Classic parties as well as Layo and Bushwaka’s All Night Long gave me many night of musical fun on a regular basis. But now nothing! Yes the credit crunch is real and it is not just your local Woolworths feeling the cold!
It is only a club I hear you say. Well if you don’t care much about music and all you go to a club for is a bit of fun then you are right. But places like the End are where those at the cutting edge of the music you love try new things out and experiment. It was clubs like the End and the also recently demised Turnmills that attract the big names from across the world.
For many it is just another expensive space in the centre of London that charges a lot on the door and at the bar that is closing. But to many of us the End was reassurance that we were in the best city in the world for music. I am writing this blog as a pre-blog to my final visit there on Friday 12th December 2007. I don’t even really know what the night is going to be about, apparently my house mate tells me its hip hop. Crazy really as usually most trips to the End are to go hear a favourite DJ spin now here I am actually more concerned about the club itself! Sad state of affairs people. I am going there to say my goodbyes as in two weeks the End night club reaches its final conclusion.