Imperial Gardens Camberwell

[Dan U]

that fraser matey is dieing from cancer i read.

 

[El Jefe]

that fraser matey is dieing from cancer i read.

yeh, at some party at the weekend - a Megatripolis reunion - they were going to Lovebomb his cancer away on the dancefloor.


So I'm sure he'll be fine, then

 

[Giles]

is there any trance left in london? I loved trance as a nipper, used to listen to the tape packs from places which all seem to have disappeeared

I understand i's have to go to a trance night on my own and not tell any of my friends but hey, some things are better in the closest

Planet Angel's music is still quite trancy.

Giles..

 

[Dan U]

yeh, at some party at the weekend - a Megatripolis reunion - they were going to Lovebomb his cancer away on the dancefloor.


So I'm sure he'll be fine, then

thats what i read as well

 

[Taxamo Welf]

Planet Angel's music is still quite trancy.

Giles..

hmmm.

Actually i know where to look, flyer rack at cyberdog

 

[Dan U]

hmmm.

Actually i know where to look, flyer rack at cyberdog

or http://www.accessallareas.org/

 

[sam/phallocrat]

fix'd

fck'off, I don't recall you bring there kiddo

 

[bouncer_the_dog]

I have happy (patchy) memories of Imperial Gardens, although Garfield has momentarily disturbed them by saying it 'wasn't that Imperial'. The simple naming idea worked on me..

 

[Taxamo Welf]

fck'off, I don't recall you bring there kiddo

ooooooooooooooooooooh

 

[ska invita]

Aba Shanti on a Sunday was brilliant - more speaker boxes than people

aye - in the backroom. Is there a regular aba-shanti night running at the moment (other than dub uni)? I heard there was one in Brixton after imperial gardens closed.

 

[Taxamo Welf]

abba shanti i, big dance, big dance, briks ton

 

[DeadManWalking]

The owners are taking Southwark council to court tomorrow

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...an-embroiled-in-pound-18m-nightclub-battle.do

 

[ska invita]

I would just love to know who decided to call it "Imperial Gardens" and why....

What drugs were they on to look at a set of grotty, damp railway arches linked together by some ramshackle passageways out the back and think "It's obvious, "Imperial Gardens"! "???

there were some pot plants if i remember - they may even have been plastic ones!!

from the court case article:

The former owners of a nightclub dubbed “the Motown of south London” have called on Labour's Harriet Harman in a bitter £18 million legal battle over its closure.

Imperial Gardens in Camberwell helped kick-start Britain's urban music scene. Acts included Massive Attack, Daft Punk and Big Brovaz, and Goldie, Lauryn Hill and Björk were in the crowd.
[...]
Without us there would have been no Big Brovaz, who led the way for artists like Dizzee Rascal. The hardest thing has been the council's efforts to sabotage our reputation. We'd like to find a new venue.”

blag of the century! good luck to them! sounds like theyve got a savvy lawyer in!

no BIg Brovas? I can hear the judge crying now

 

[DeadManWalking]

I did chuckle at "Motown of south London" but good luck to them

 

[blossie33]

The owners are taking Southwark council to court tomorrow

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...an-embroiled-in-pound-18m-nightclub-battle.do

I read that in the Standard last night - good luck to them, I hope they manage to get something out of it.

I wouldn't have thought that they were targeted because they were a 'black' business though, I imagine the same thing would have happened whoever ran the club.

I actually quite liked the place - went to a few good techno parties there in about 2002.
The decor inside wasn't that bad - have been in lots of worse places. It was alot more luxurious than the Dungeons anyway!

 

[ska invita]

I wouldn't have thought that they were targeted because they were a 'black' business though

of course not. exactly teh same thing (flats next door) is happening with Ministry of SOund isnt it? And isnt the feller who runs that a white aristocrat?
though you can see what kind of defence they are going to make: race card, OMG No Big Brovvas! Massive Attack, Daft Punk and Big Brovaz, and Goldie, Lauryn Hill and Björk wouldnt even exist if it were not for this crackden, sorry motown of the south, race card again, etc. i dont think theyve got much of a chance really - probably going to end up with a big legal bill too.

Quite a good venue in terms of nutty punters up for it, but the decision to turn it into a garage/r'n'b stab-a-thon means I can't wait for it to become another Waitrose or whatever.

Fuck it, it's been dead for years and years.

I don't give a shit, and I wouldn't say that about other venues I have known and loved.

^^^probably a lot fairer breakdown of what it was like. aba-shanti in the back room was a great little session though - small (20 people on occassion) and intimate and loud/heavy.

 

[disco_dave_2000]

used to love it when i lived around the corner - DJed there a few times ago as well

 

[Orang Utan]

Has this been knocked down then?

 

[Moronik]

I went there a few times when I was 17.

And although I can barely remember it, Imperial Gardens will always have a special place in my heart.

(even though I couldnt tell you how big it was, or even how many rooms there were)

 

[sim667]

i went to sunny side up a few times there when my mate was DJ'ing

sunday carnage

Headfuk did a few things there too.

Fuck me, those names are a blast from the past...... late 90's/early noughties?

 

[Onket]

Has this been knocked down then?

No. The painted panel thingy & gate are still there.

The building that looks like it got raved into the ground just down the road looks like it's being pulled down at the moment though. 303 Camberwell New Road. Only managed to get to one party there a year (couple of years?) ago.

 

[Orang Utan]

Must have missed it when I cycled past it today. Saw a new block of flats instead.

 

[Onket]

That's next to it, I think. Between the bridge and the bus garage.

 

[Orang Utan]

Is it actually in the arches then? I must be misremembering it then

 

[stethoscope]

Planet Angel there back in, ooh about 2001 was mint.

Yep, only time I ever made it to the Imperial Gardens was for a Planet Angel - 2001 or 2002. Some of my mates used to go to garage nights there around the same time, but never ventured!

No. The painted panel thingy & gate are still there.

There's a pic from 2008 here.

 

[Onket]

Is it actually in the arches then? I must be misremembering it then

Either that or I am.

I might be muddling it up with Medussa, tbh.

 

[ddraig]

Either that or I am.

I might be muddling it up with Medussa, tbh.

one is in brixton and one is in camberwell!
medussa had one ok room and a shitty sweat box upstairs and the gardens had a much bigger room iirc
oh and some plants/fake plants on the way in

 

[Orang Utan]

I remember there being a big side wall on the road, but this looks tucked away discreetly like a typical arch club

 

[blossie33]

I went there a few times and I would say it was definitely an arches club.

From my recollection, there were two dance spaces/ room in there. The main one had half mirroring on one side of the wall and the DJ booth was high up so you couldn't see who was playing very well.

I think the other room was more narrow and yes, there were alot of fake plants in there

 

[Giles]

I still don't see why the building of the flats on the site next door inherently "forced them to close".

Couldn't they just have carried on as before? Unless the occupants of the new flats complained? And then surely they would have had a pretty good case on the grounds that they were there first, surely.

I mean, if I build a house right next to something noisy, and then move into my new house, surely I do not have some immediate "right to quiet" that overrides anything else? Or do I?

Say I buy a plot of land next to a motorway, or a railway track , build a house, live in it. I cannot demand the motorway or railway be closed because I cannot sleep!

Giles..