DJ Mag

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2. Fabric

When it first unveiled itself back in 1999, Keith Reilly's exposed brick-work cavern promised to upgrade the acid house experience for the 21st century - an overawing industrial space with attention-to-detail and sonic perfection at the top of its priorities.

Ten years on, the former meatpacking warehouse has exceeded and overturned all expectations and sits proudly as London's immovable monument to excellence in art and sound. For names like Ricardo Villalobos, Jeff Mills, Jesse Rose, Dave Clarke and Luciano it is their most coveted London gig, while futurist sonic sorcerers like Instra:mental, dBridge and Martyn also see it as a second home

With such power most would play safe or flirt with complacency. Not so at Fabric. Driven by a notoriously impassioned team, their booking policy is still as forward-thinking as it is open-minded. Placing upstart innovators and shrewdly sourced surprise packages side-by-side with established greats and bonafide legends, their weekly line-ups would fill most venues for months on end.

"Fabric has always been a place that feels like home," believes DJ T. "It's a place where everything is somehow just right, a dependable gem. But most all, I love the club's vision and attitude. It's not about slapping obvious crowd-pullers on the flyer, but all about real artists and DJs that the promoters love and cherish. You could probably cut a third of each night's line-up and still attract the same amount of people. But there is too much passion involved to take such a 'rational' decision."

Words: djmag

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