Eden Club - Ibiza

Eden Ibiza was born in 1999, rising from the ashes of former San Antonio “Club Kaos”, and before that “Star club”.  Under new management, and after the entire building got re-built, the club quickly began to get noticed as a serious Ibiza player. At some point Eden pinched the apple logo of neighbour club Es Paradis and a healthy competition was born.

Eden has one of the most jam-packed party calendars of the Ibiza club scene, transforming each night to suit the various promoters who base their nights at the club. Regular fixtures throughout the summer include Clubland, Pornographic / In House, Twice as Nice, Garlands, Mondo Loco and Judgement Sundays.

The location really makes Eden - it is just (one almighty) stones throw from San Antonio's main strip of cheap and nasty bars, the ideal place to get tanked up before hitting the more expensive bar at Eden. It’s also situated right next to competitor club Es Paradis, which makes for some healthy competition between the two venues, resulting in better nights for the punters.

The club was updated in 2008, with a powerful sound system, some decent lighting effects and the capacity to accommodate around 5000 sweaty clubbers. The main dance floor has two sunken areas and a stage at the back and there’s a VIP area upstairs overlooking the rest of the club. Eden regularly fills up to pretty close capacity, especially on Sundays, although it rarely feels as jammed as some of the bigger nights.

Many purists might say Eden is not a true Ibiza club and British clubbers have been known to say they feel more like they're in a more lavish London or Manchester club at times. But don't let that discourage you, Eden is an excellent night out, especially if you hit the right night (Sunday) or during the week you're likely to get cheaper or even free entry which you won't find heading out of town. Just open your laptop and search in the internet for Eden Parties to find out what Eden is all about... If you can’t , here is a tip....

Es Paradis Ibiza

Es Paradis first opened its doors in 1975 and by the efforts of owner Pepe Aguirre it quickly became one of the forerunners of the Ibiza nightlife. With its original & spectacular décor, mainly white with its vast natural plantation, thanks to the work of designer Lluis Güell, the man also responsible for the design of Cafe Del Mar, Es Paradis is unique and considered as one of the most beautiful clubs in the world. The stunning decor was typical of the glory days of old Ibiza and the early days of the electronic music invasion in the late 80s and early 90s. By the mid-90s, Es Paradis was one of the main attractions for people coming to Ibiza for music and partying. DJs like Sasha, Danny Rampling and David Morales represented the best of those who played the club during the 90s.

Es Paradis has 10 bars , 2 dancefloors and boasts one of the best sound systems currently in existence. It is supported with 14.000 watts of sound and 300.000 watts of lighting in the two rooms. The Gallery (upstairs) and the exclusive VIPs area, transform the nights at Es Paradis into a unique spectacle of light, water, music and color. Its unique fountains, flood the central dance floor and turn it into a refreshing pool during the Water Parties. Es Paradis' Water Party is one of the most iconic in Ibiza and has to be witnessed to be believed. It is a ritual amongst young clubbers to the island, a true baptism.

The exceptional landscape is covered by an enormous pyramid roof. It weighs over 120.000 kilos and each side can be opened during the day to provide vital sunlight for the living plants and trees inside. All of the world’s biggest DJs have played here. Todd Terry, Danny Rampling, Tall Paul, and Sonique to name a few, as well as celebrities such as Puff Daddy, Geri Halliwell, Jordan, and Jade Jagger graced the marble dance floors.

Travelling to Ibiza without a visit to the legendary Fiesta Es Paradis' Water Parties, is just not complete. Every Tuesday & Saturday throughout the summer you can dance away before witnessing the dance floor turning into one crazy swimming pool…

Tunnel Club

Tunnel was a nightclub in New York City, located at 220 Twelfth Avenue, in Manhattan, New York. It was situated in the Terminal Warehouse Company Central Stores Building, which is now part of the West Chelsea Historic District. Tunnel was opened in early 1987 by Peter Gatien, in a space which was formerly a railroad  freight terminal. The club was named for the tunnel-like shape of the main room, in which train tracks from the early 1900s ran through a sunken area of the dance floor. These were a relic of an era in which railroad sidings from the Eleventh Avenue freight line of the New York Central Railroad ran directly into warehouse buildings in that area, so that goods could transferred to and from freight cars which were floated across the Hudson on barges from Hoboken.

Tunnel was architecturally distinctive with a long, narrow space with multiple rooms on several levels. The dance floor featured several dance cages and the decor of the club changed frequently. One room, decorated by artist Kenny Scharf, was called the Kenny Scharf Lava Lounge. Others were decorated as Victorian libraries, S/M dungeons, and lounges. The club featured unisex bathrooms, which were the converted locker rooms formerly used by the freight terminal's workers. They had modern stalls with partitions and doors for privacy, with extant rows of old lockers attached to the wall, as well as marks where the former shower stalls had been removed.

Tunnel frequently hosted Junior Vasquez, Danny Tenaglia, Merritt, Little Louie Vega, Eddie Baez, DJ Corbett, Bobby Rios and Hex Hector after the close of the original Sound Factory in the mid-1990s. It later presented Kurfew, a trance-techno oriented Saturday night party hosted by promoters such as DJ Urbanox, Amanda Lepore and DJ Steve Sidewalk. While the club attracted primarily gay audiences, it also attracted members of the hip-hop community. One advantage of the multiple rooms of the club was the ability to host different types of parties, with as many as five or more DJs spinning different styles of music to varying crowds.

Famous actor Vin Diesel was once a bouncer for the club. Tunnel closed its doors late in 2001 due to non-payment of rent and New York mayor Rudy Giuliani's quality-of-life campaign. Gatien had been accused of drug trafficking, charges he was acquitted of, although he and his wife pled guilty to tax evasion, and were deported to Canada in 2003. Since then, there have been some efforts to rejuvenate the place and find new owners through digital advertising campaigns but with no result…

Studio 54 – Part 2

Among the many celebrities present during opening night, were Michael Jackson, Mick & Bianca Jagger, Rick James, Liza Minnelli, Jerry Hall, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Salvador Dali, Brooke Shields, Cher, Joan Collins, Martha Graham, Deborah Harry, Robin Leach, Donald & Ivana Trump, Rick Hilton, Kathy Richards. Some celebrities, including Warren Beatty, Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Henry Winkler, and Frank Sinatra were unable to get in, in part due to Studio 54's doorman. The nightclub held around 700 patrons who paid an $8 cover charge to get in each night.

Studio 54 was operated by the flamboyant, publicly visible Rubell and his retiring silent partner Schrager. Rubell became widely known for his door policy, mixing beautiful "nobodies" with glamorous celebrities. Alongside Rubell, doorman Marc Benecke became a fixture on the scene selecting and admitting people to the club. Rubell instructed Benecke to "cast a play" when selecting the perfect mixture of people to enter the club each night.

"Studio", as it came to be called, was notorious for the hedonism that occurred within it. The balconies were known for sexual encounters, and drug use was rampant. The wall behind the dance floor was decorated with a wall sculpture of a Man in the Moon that included an animated cocaine spoon. Above the balcony, there was a room known as “The Rubber Room.” All of its surfaces were lined with rubber, including the walls, so that everything could easily be wiped off. Event planner Robert Isabel had four tons of glitter dumped in a four-inch layer on the floor of Studio 54 for a New Year's Eve party, which owner Ian Schrager described as like "standing on stardust" and left glitter that could be found months later in their clothing and homes.

In December of 1978 Rubell was quoted in the New York newspapers as saying the Studio 54 had made $7 million in its first year and that "only the Mafia made more money." Shortly thereafter the nightclub was raided and Rubell and Schrager were arrested for skimming $2.5 million. After the arrests Rubell accused Jimmy Carter's White House Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan of snorting cocaine in the basement. A grand jury met 19 times and interviewed 33 witnesses before concluding that Rubell's testimony was hearsay and not reliable enough to file charges.

Studio 54 closed with a final party called "The End of Modern-day Gomorrah", on 4 February 1980. Diana Ross, Ryan O'Neal, Mariel Hemingway, Jocelyn Wildenstein, Richard Gere, Jack Nicholson, Reggie Jackson, and Sylvester Stallone were among the guests that night. New York lawyer Gary Naftalis represented Schrager in the ensuing tax-evasion prosecution. After the nightclub's closing, cocaine and money were found in its walls. Schrager and Rubell were found guilty of tax evasion and spent 13 months in prison.

During 1985, heavy metal groups Slayer, Venom and Exodus filmed a video at Studio 54 called “Ultimate Revenge for Disco”. From 1981 until early 1993, the nightclub's lease was owned by CAT Entertainment Corp and known as The Ritz. During that period, the nightclub hosted occasional rock concerts and was used by CAT Entertainment as a public venue available for rent. In 1993, CAT Entertainment was acquired by Cabaret Royale Corporation, a nightclub operator based in Dallas. During late 1994, Allied Partners acquired the Studio 54 properties and, after protracted litigation, CAT Entertainment lost its lease on the nightclub and ceased operations. The building, which is still frequently referred to as the Studio 54 building, houses a variety of tenants, among them a theater venue, offices, and an educational facility.

On August 15, 2011, Sirius XM Radio launched a 24/7 Disco channel based around the Studio 54 theme. On October 18, 2011, Sirius XM Radio held a special "One Night Only" party at the club's original location to promote the new channel. In order to win tickets, contestants had to call in to the station and share their memorable Studio 54 experiences. The club was decorated with both original and replica props to fully recreate the appearance of the club in its heyday. For the night, it featured the signature sun and "man on the moon" props as well as young, shirtless waiters, a "trademark" of Studio 54. Many celebrities such as Martha Stewart, Kevin Bacon, Cameron Diaz, Keith Richards, Donald Trump and Andy Cohen were spotted in the crowd, travelling through music...

Studio 54 – Part 1

Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York. In 1977 it became the legendary nightclub, Studio 54, and since November of 1998 it has been a venue for the Roundabout Theatre Company.

The building was originally the Gallo Opera House, built by Fortune Gallo in 1927 for his renowned San Carlo Opera Company. In 1943 CBS purchased the theatre, renaming it Studio 52. CBS named its studios in order of purchase. The number 52 was unrelated to the street it was located on, and during these years, CBS used the theater for radio broadcasts. In 1976 CBS moved most of its broadcast functions to the Ed Sullivan Theater and the CBS Broadcast Center, and sold Studio 52. The Ed Sullivan Theater once had access to Studio 52 through an access door, which was cinder-blocked during the theater's 1993 renovation for Late Show with David Letterman. When CBS began marketing the building in 1976, various interests in the art and fashion world expressed interest in seeing it converted into a nightclub.

Carmen D'Alessio, a public relations agent for Valentino, encouraged Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who were operating the Enchanted Garden in Queens, to buy the theatre. She introduced Rubell and Schrager to many of the socially prominent figures who later became regulars at Studio 54. D'Alessio helped arrange a pre-opening dinner with Andy Warhol, Halston, and Calvin Klein. In 1977 the building was purchased and renamed Studio 54, for its street address, 254 West 54th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue.

The nightclub was founded by four equal partners. Steven Rubell, Ian Schrager, Tim Savage, and Jack Dushey. They operated the company as Broadway Catering Corp. Another partner, Richard DeCourcey, was present until September 1977. It took almost a year to transform the space into a nightclub, and costs totaled between $600.000 and $700.000 when the renovations were complete. Rubell and Schrager considered it as one bet, they had to win, and hired some of the best designers around to undertake the project. They converted what was formerly the theater’s stage into a dance floor. They recreated the feeling of being on stage by placing spot lights around the dance floor and of course, a sparkling disco ball hung over center stage. Studio 54 became known for having the best lights and sound system in the entire city.

Within a month of opening, the New York State Liquor Authority raided Studio 54 for selling liquor without a license, and closed it. The owners of the nightclub said the incident was a "misunderstanding". The next night the club reopened, serving fruit juice and soda instead of liquor. Prior to the raid, the nightclub had been using daily "caterers' permits", which enabled the nightclub to serve alcohol but were intended for weddings or political events. The State had denied the daily permit for the night and raided the nightclub. The nightclub had been using these permits while waiting for its liquor license to be processed...

The Arches club

The Arches is a bar, arts venue, theatre, live music venue and nightclub in Glasgow, Scotland, which first opened in 1991. It is situated in the City Centre under Glasgow Central station and the West Coast Main Line. The venue has 6.000 m2 of floor space, which is spread over two floors and seven arches.

In early 2007, The Arches was voted 12th best club in the world by readers of DJ Magazine, and a favorite club for many of the finest DJ's in the world. In 2009, it was ranked 27th best club in the world by DJ Magazine.

As Scotland’s original superclub, the Arches is the stuff of clubbing legend. There really is no other venue like it in the world. The Arches is the home of Pressure, Inside Out, Octopussy and Colours alongside the Arches’ own club night Death Disco. With the Funktion 1, a sound system of vast power consumption, alternately playing host to minimal techno, big bassline electro, hardstyle and 80s italo disco, the faces behind the decks range from platinum selling Ibiza trendsetters such as David Guetta and Laidback Luke to legendary acts such as Carl Cox, Jeff Mills and Laurent Garnier, the hottest current names, from A-Trak to Uffie, to the new names causing ripples of excitement in their respective fields – from Dinky to Villa and Acid Washed – making ours one of the most diverse club programmes in the city.

Inkeeping with the Arches ethos, the club has a reputation for discovering and promoting cutting-edge new talent. Death Disco continues to represent one of the city’s most dedicated sounding boards for the electro-disco scene, presenting the most promising, forward-thinking new DJs and live acts alongside established favourites as the likes of Burns, Aeroplane, Renaissance Man and Den Haan share the bill with Erol Alkan, Justice, Annie Mac and the Bloody Beetroots.

The End club

The End was a nightclub in the West End of London and it started in December 1995 by DJs Layo Paskin and Mr C. The End was world-renowned and also responsible for the label End Recordings.

Musical genres played there included techno and house on Saturday nights, drum and bass and breakbeat on Friday nights, and indie music on Monday nights. The End also hosted other nights throughout the week and weekend, including a dubstep night on Wednesdays.

DJs who have appeared at The End include Steve Lawler, Layo & Bushwacka!, Erol Alkan, Andy C, Ben Watt, Laurent Garnier, Stewart Essence, DJ Marky, Mr C, Fabio, Groove Armada, Sancho Panza, James Holden, Derek May, Fatboy Slim, Carl Craig, Carl Cox, Erick Morillo, Sven Vath, Don Mac, Raymundo Rodriguez, Richie Hawtin, Adam Freeland, Andrew Weatherall, Clive Henry, Darren Emerson and Matt Early.

Since its opening in 1995, many DJs played at significant points in their careers. Roni Size won the Mercury Music Prize whilst hosting a residency at The End club in 1997. Fatboy Slim was resident at the club when he went to Number One in the UK charts in 1998. Layo & Bushwacka! released album Lowlife in 1999 and Zero 7 were residents at the club for two years in the run-up to the 2001 release of Simple Things. Scissor Sisters played their first UK gig at the club, and Erol Alkan went from being chosen as Best Breakthrough DJ at the 2002 Muzik Awards through to winning Mixmag’s DJ of the year in 2006.

The End sadly had a disappointing for everyone closure, as it closed for good on January 24, 2009. Although there were high hopes and expectations for the club to re-open in May 2009, due to slump in the property market, the property developers decided to turn The End into a block of flats, instead joining forces with some club promoters to re-open the venue up again as The Den.

All its left now is reminiscing those magical moments through looking at some photos in my laptop and coming to the big conclusion. The old days have gone...Long live the old days...