ABOUT NICHE NIGHTCLUB
From Niche To Vibe And Back Again...
November 27th 2009 sees probably the most significant move in bassline since the closure of Niche’s Sydney Street home in 2005.
On Friday November 27th, Club Vibe as we know it will be no more. The Charter Square jewel in the bassline crown will become the Niche superclub. Bigger events, bigger artists, a bigger range of urban music and most importantly a bigger venue! After three years at the top, Vibe has literally got too big for its boots. Anyone who has failed to get into the numerous roadblock events, particularly the ones over the course of this year, will have found this out to their huge disappointment.
The three years that Vibe has been open, has moulded and shaped the scene massively into what it is today. In particular, the now cherished era of 2007. 07’ to the new school of ravers is cherished just as much as the late 90’s/early naughties is to all the Niche veterans. It’s the time when, then little known producers such as T2, Virgo, TS7, Murkz & TRC burst out their bedrooms and on to the main stages of clubs and events like Limit, Sheridans and Warehouse. These were the new kids on the block, producing the bangers that the new era of ravers were demanding from iconic Djs like Jamie Duggan, Nev Wright & Shaun Scott as well as men of the moment DJ Q, Apostle and EJ. It was a time when the producers were commanding almost as many booking as the Djs themselves and changed the scene forever.
It was a very significant time for Vibe too. Due to police restrictions the music policy at Vibe was tied down to classics and vocals, with a strict ban on the then infamous 4x4 productions that were taking over. It’s no great secret that when Vibe first opened no one really knew how long it would be around. Due to the problems at Sydney street and Limit, things were on a tender hook with authorities and everything needed to be run by the book with no mention of the dreaded N word or widely recognised laurel leaves. But the crowds still flocked in every weekend and with a lot of hard work, cooperation with the authorities and money spent on cctv and security measures, the trust and respect built up with police. This meant by the summer of 2007 the 4x4 restriction was lifted in spectacular fashion with a guest slot at Lost from Mr.V. HankyPanky at the end of July saw the first full on bassline event with DJ Q, Apostle, T2 & TS7 joining the Vibe residents for an unforgettable allnighter.
March 2008 saw the construction of the Niche studios and the launch of Niche Recordings, our in-house record label. Purpose built inside the club, with state of the art recording and live radio facilities, the studios purpose was to provide a professional platform to house the next generation of up and coming Djs and producers. It didn’t disappoint. Studio engineer Freddo, joined by fellow up and comers Scott Rodgers and Mr.X, drew that much attention from their radio shows, mix cds and productions they were given the offer to play at their own night at Vibe – Sheff City Allstars. It was an instant hit, with capacity crowds every month. It was only matter of time before other promoters took notice and the bookings came in for the big monthly events at the club.
Summer 2008 was the next big step. With the scene at its full hype, a call was made to Steve Baxendale about the possibility of the first commercial release of a bassline album. It was from non-other than the mighty Ministry Of Sound. After long discussions with Ministry and the management of Insatiable music, the deal was done and Volume one of The Sound Bassline was released and went gold selling an excess of 100,000 copies. With three disks mixed by Jamie, Shaun and Nev it propelled bassline into the mass audience. To mark the launch of the album, we approached the police about holding a launch weekend at the club and using the Niche name for the first time in the city for almost three years. A month of planning and with fantastic support from the police, the Niche Bank holiday weekender was a massive success and for the first time Niche was viewed as a brand and a music genre in its own right.
Over the last 18 months the club has opened its doors and built up fantastic relationships with outside promoters too. Links with Sidewinder, Lovebugs, Heatseeker and Revelations have created fantastic events, not forgetting quarterly shindigs with Mr. Murkz himself that never fail to disappoint. The biggest working partnership though, is undoubtedly the one we have with Insatiable. It seems a million years now since Santi and Bob crawled into our offices begging to do an event……but it was worth all the grovelling with Download at Vibe still to this day one of the best events we’ve held. Summer 2008 also saw the Niche/Download weekly event in Ibiza. Early 2009 and the facebook revolution had firmly taken over the way you promote events. No one manipulates this like a certain Chris Hogg and with him at the centre of Insatiable’s events at Vibe, it was becoming very obvious the club wasn’t big enough for what we wanted to do here.
At the start of October the contracts were signed for Vibe to extend into the unit next door. There was only one option what to do with the huge space….create a Niche replica! As close as possible to the feeling of walking into Sydney street. Layout, colour scheme, sound system, toilets, chill out area. Everything is being planned to the finest detail right down to the logo on the floor. From then on Niche will truly be a bassline super club. Three rooms over two floors. With the launch just around the corner it’s such an exciting time for everyone involved.
Well I think that’s it for me. Hope it’s been a decent and interesting read from behind the scenes. I’ve been at Vibe pretty much from the start and enjoyed every minute of it. Coming from a background working for Gatecrasher was a bit tricky to start with, had a few doubters I’d last very long here. But the team around are fantastic. Steve and Kate Baxendale know the scene inside out, it’s difficult to go wrong with their knowledge and experience. I’ve had plenty of long chats and wise words of advice from Santi, Jamie (usually after a few drinks), Nev & Shaun. Plenty of useless advise from Bob too! A big mention needs to go out to JR and Mez, they’re the ones putting in ridiculous hours to make this website happen. Final mention to Burgin, Lindsey, Melissa and all the girls….you’ve got your singy-song room now……so stop moaning! Enjoy.
Fran.