Joe Theobald aka Dj Captoan Wormhole look at all things vinyl

LAST week Islington Council revoked Fabric’s license to operate.

I first visited the club on the May 18, 2007, which was exactly 27 years after Ian Curtis committed suicide (irrelevant).

I know the precise date because I still have a free drink coupon with that date stamped on it, given to me by Busy P (Ed Banger label boss and ex-manager of Daft Punk). I’ve even got an old plastic water bottle topped up from the big metal communal sinks sitting on a shelf, I occasionally splash a drop on myself for good luck prior to a set or big night out.

Needless to say, like thousands of others, Fabric had a special place in my heart.

Religious folk enjoy congregating in churches and temples and speaking in tongues, or eating little bits of bread, or condemning alternative ways of life, etc. It’s good that they have a thing to do and places to do it, they’re generally harmless.

The same goes for football fans, model plane enthusiasts, swingers and so on. So it’s a real kick in the teeth, a hard pill to swallow if you will, that going to Fabric and dancing below the lasers to lovely Techno on a bodysonic dancefloor among like-minded people is no longer an option. It was the closest I’ll ever get to a religious experience and it’s been stripped away. Much has already been said and more is sure to surface with regards to the underhand and despicable tactics of the Metropolitan Police, as well as Sadiq Khan’s lax and negligible engagement, in the wake of campaign pledges to defend the capitals night-time economy.

I won’t dwell on the negatives and will instead take this opportunity to say thank you to the staff and management at Fabric, and a very big thank you to Craig Richards, Terry Francis, Format B, Claude Von Stroke, Mike Shannon and of course Busy P for some of the best nights of my life dancing to the biggest beats with the coolest people.

Also, props to Golesworthy for giving me a damn good reason to get back to Faringdon one last time.

On a non-musical note, well done to the bad man Steve Cummings on winning GC in the Tour of Britain.

And finally, if you’re out and about in Old Town this Saturday afternoon be sure to drop in to Mark Pepperall’s new gallery, Oink, in Victoria Road. It’s the grand opening and yours truly will be spinning some crunchy tunes behind the wheels of steel.