FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Iconic London Club Fabric to Permanently Close After Losing Its License

At a hearing in London local authorities revoked the 17-year-old venue’s license following two drug-related deaths.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Iconic London club fabric has lost its license and will not reopen, local authorities said at a hearing late on Tuesday night in London.

Islington Council, the authority responsible for issuing the venue its license, announced it was revoking it following two drug-related deaths at the 17-year-old venue in Clerkenwell. At the hearing, which lasted over seven hours, evidence was heard from the Metropolitan Police, fabric's management, public health representatives, and local residents.

Advertisement

In a closing statement announcing the decision, licensing sub-committee chair Flora Williamson said that searches at the club were inadequate and in breach of the license. "There is a culture of drugs at fabric which management cannot control," she said.

On August 12, the club closed after its license was suspended pending an investigation conducted into the deaths of two teenagers at the club earlier this summer in two separate incidents.

London's mayor Sadiq Khan joined the outpouring of support for the club, which has played host to the biggest names in electronic music including The Chemical Brothers, Ricardo Villalobos, and Carl Craig. Khan cannot directly intervene with local council licensing decisions, but released a statement last week that said: "I am urging [the authorities] to find a common sense solution that ensures the club remains open while protecting the safety of those who want to enjoy London's clubbing scene."

Islington MP Emily Thornberry also came out in support of the 2,500-capacity venue, saying that "whilst the question of safety must remain paramount, I sincerely believe that the closure of Fabric cannot be the answer."

A Change.org petition addressed to Khan calling for fabric to remain open reached nearly 150,000 signatories by Tuesday. Key figures within the global nightlife community, including Scuba, Fatboy Slim and Rob da Bank, voiced their calls for fabric to re open. In an editorial about the threatened closure, THUMP wrote: "It is the most famous, celebrated club in the UK and its reputation extends to that as one of the most recognizable clubbing brands in the world… The Farringdon venue is arguably the face of British club culture. Whatever happens to fabric will send a powerful and definitive message out to world as to the value of youth culture in this country."