A slice of classic New York nightlife comes to Fabric. This is one party we're not about to miss.
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Few clubs can lay claim to such legendary status as the Paradise Garage, New York's 80s disco haven which saw resident DJ Larry Levan gain a cult following which is unrivalled to this day. Its hedonistic dancefloor defined gay nightlife for a decade and gave disco a home after it was chased underground by a hate-filled 'Disco Sucks' campaign orchestrated by Chicago DJ Steve Dahl.
Dahl, and the rock music loving section of middle America had sought to bury disco, which had saturated the charts and become a parody of itself with films like Saturday Night Fever. But once the dust had settled on the public destruction of mainstream disco, the movement once again found its throbbing pulse deep underground. Gone, thankfully, were the Wall Street suits performing embarrassing dance routines to the Bee Gees and the celeb-fuelled elitism of Studio 54: disco was once again in the hands of those who created it: the young, mostly gay, black and Latino dancers for whom the music was a way of life.
Their club of choice was the Garage, where Larry Levan would masterfully play out a newer, darker strand of disco, building up such an atmosphere and aura that The Garage is considered today to be one of the best - if not the best - club to have ever existed. The concept of taking dancers on a 'journey' is overused today to the point of becoming clichéd, but in his ten years at the club Levan would do exactly that, playing to a floor who would euphorically dance for hours upon hours at his beck and call before stumbling out and facing the harsh daylight and harsher reality of New York life.
In 1987, after giving the city not only some of the best clubbing years in its history but also a haven for the gay community ravaged by the AIDS epidemic and the increased homophobia it brought with it, the Garage closed its doors with an emotional 48 hour party. Sadly after a long running heroin addiction, Larry Levan succumbed to heart failure and died on November 8th 1992, aged 38.
This year for the first time since Levan's passing, original Garage DJs Victor Rossado and Lenny Fontana come to Fabric for a special one-off Levan tribute tour. The event coincides with a six part BBC radio documentary which tells the story of the club from the people who were there and also features a live recording not heard for 32 years. London's disco community, myself included, have had a huge glittery circle around the 30th since the announcement of the London date - nights like this don't come around very often and if you ask me the discerning disco lover of any age should be making the pilgrimage to Fabric next week. If you need convincing, just have a listen to Spoonfed's top three Paradise Garage tunes:
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