VVWI

Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
VVWI

veryverywrongindeed recordings


+14
WarehouseLeeds
chris(m)
Andrella
Jonny Boy
Rrriot Guurl
elrusto
wookie
Broadhead
Matt Long
T.B
RvZ
bigdaddy
Fandango Widewheels
Sherrers
18 posters

    WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Sherrers
    Sherrers
    Admin


    Number of posts : 9331
    Location : the internet

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Sherrers Sat May 29, 2010 8:58 am

    Yorkshire Evening Post no less...

    Published Date: 28 May 2010
    Tomorrow sees the re-opening of The Warehouse which launched in 1979 as a home for disco lovers, new romantics and the rave generation.
    Rod McPhee looks at the origins of a club which always attracted the city's weird and wonderful – not to mention countless stars.

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Th0_2813

    Nirvana, Oasis, Wham!, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Smiths, Boy George, The Stone Roses, Whitesnake, Duran Duran, even the Village People – the roll call of famous faces who've walked through the doors of The Warehouse goes on and on.

    So how did a 184-year-old back street building (which, at various times, has been a morgue and a tyre garage) become the epicentre of cool clubbing and music, not just for Leeds, but for the north of England?

    Credit for that goes to an American, Mike Wiand. At the age of 25 he left the states in 1969 to work for the US Government at Menwith Hill monitoring station near Harrogate and naturally he started exploring the nightlife of the closest big city.

    It wasn't long before he married a Leeds girl, Denise, and eventually left his old job to set up the local chain of Damn Yankee burger restaurants. And it was when he was considering converting the Somers Street building into a restaurant that the thought came to him – he would create a club the likes of which Leeds, if not most cities in the UK, had never seen.

    "What you have to remember is that most clubs back then just weren't what they are today," he laughs. "Most of them had sound systems that were terrible – most people have better sound systems in their own homes now. The lighting sucked and the music they played was so behind the times.

    "In the 70s we started going to Marbella where they had fabulous sound systems and lighting and they did something which had never been seen before in the UK – they actually MIXED records.

    "At the time most DJs literally used to play seven inch records then interrupted the end to introduce the next one and it just totally sapped all the energy out of it. Whereas in Marbella they used to play 12 inch records and blend them in and it was just amazing to us then.

    "And what we noticed was that this attracted a really cool, alternative, mixed crowd and I was pretty sure from the ten years I'd spent in Leeds that there was this same cool, alternative crowd out there. I didn't know for sure, of course, I just had a feeling."

    Wiand caught the new wave at just the right time. The 70s was the heyday of The Rocky Horror Show, of punk, Bowie and Studio 54 – all of which aligned to create a permissive, anyone-can-do-anything statement of intent for the new generation.

    So he wanted to create a club which would attract anyone who wasn't mainstream. It started with disco but then fashion turned against disco (and fear of the Yorkshire Ripper initially saw more and more people stay at home) so Wiand diversified into new, pioneering areas – first with electronica, then house music in the late 80s.

    As a result it became a haven for everyone from cross-dressers to gay people to more conventional music lovers who wanted an experience different to the opposing culture of soft-rock mush and commercial pop.

    The more outlandish the costume, the more makeup, the better. One night two guys appeared in the queue as a pantomime horse and were immediately ushered inside. Many of the more outrageous attendees are probably still in Leeds, now more respectable parents and grandparents.

    "It was all down to the people of Leeds," said Wiand. "I didn't orchestrate things entirely they just evolved like that organically. All these weird and wonderful people just came out of the city's woodwork. We were quite strict on the door about who we let in. No one too mainstream-looking or anyone who didn't understand that the ethos of the club was tolerant.

    "We would have to throw anyone out who caused trouble and picked on people for the way they were dressed or their sexuality or anything like that.We went through a pretty bad patch in the early 1980s with football hooligans and the National Front who would try and sneak in to cause trouble."

    Helping to nudge things even further in the right direction was Greg James, a highly influential DJ who cut his teeth on the decks of the aforementioned Studio 54. He was a master in the brand new art of mixing records and had just launched the uber-cool Embassy club in London which pulled in the likes of Elton John, Bianca Jagger and Tatum O'Neal.

    Greg said: "Mike and Denise found me at the Embassy and told me they were building a place in the north, an old warehouse. They invited me up and we opened in March 1979. It was just like the Embassy all over again – the same enthusiasm, people queueing down the street. You could do anything and they would've loved it. They had a ball up there."

    They really did attract an off-the-wall crowd. First it was Saturday Night Fever and Farrah Fawcett lookalikes complete with flicked hair and rollerboots and later new romantics and gender-bending fashionistas, many of whom became famous regulars – and, amazingly, all of them came from Leeds or the surrounding area.

    "Roxy was one guy I remember – he had a plastic clear dress on with a hat and a cape," recalls Greg. "He had nothing on underneath so you could see straight through to his body. Honestly, he used to look like a fairy godmother and turned up every Saturday doing some really strange things.

    "And of course Marc Almond was our cloakroom girl – I used to help him put on his make-up! We brought out all the eccentrics of West Yorkshire."

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Th0_2811

    The Warehouse is renowned for being the venue that hosted the first live performance of Soft Cell's huge hit Tainted Love, but they were just one of a string of bands who came to The Warehouse as its reputation as a cool club grew and grew.

    Wiand said: "We were known as a place with a discerning crowd, they were fashionable and critical so a lot of record companies started to feel that if an artist could make it at The Warehouse they stood a good chance of making it anywhere.

    "I remember we had Frankie Goes to Hollywood play here before they'd even got a record deal and The Sugarhill Gang came too, giving what must have been one of the first live performances of a rap ever seen in the UK. I don't think you'd have got those kind of artists coming to Leeds in such a concentration were it not for The Warehouse.


    "And if we ever got anyone famous coming to the city we were the only place to go afterwards. And I mean everyone. I remember The Village People, bizarrely, premiered their movie in Leeds and so, of course, they came here afterwards to party.

    "I remember George Michael called me up one night and asked that I put an area aside for him so he wouldn't be bothered by fans – he was huge by this time. So I cleared out the whole first floor area, which was a restaurant then.

    "Anyway an hour later he ended up asking me to open up the first floor again because he was bored and a little lonesome and even when we did open it up he was mingling with all these regular clubbers – but no one bothered him, they were all a bit cooler than that at The Warehouse."

    Steve Luigi was a legendary DJ in the 1980s, particularly when house music exploded in the city post-1985 and he pioneered the new sound at The Gallery in Leeds. He was a friend of Wiand and a regular at the club.

    "There were famous people there all the time," he recalls. "I remember shaking hands with George Michael before Wham! became famous and I met them through Ian Dewhirst who was a massive Warehouse DJ at the time and went onto bigger things afterwards.

    "He just introduced me to these two guys, one called Andrew Ridgley, the other George, and I didn't have a clue who they were. They were just these two spotty kids with big afro hair. But they were lovely guys and I sat there chatting, drinking cocktails with them."

    Luigi recalls a golden age for house music in the late 80s, before it became mainstream. He has always been a stalwart of the uplifting sounds of Chicago and New York and still runs his own monthly house nights, Old's Cool, at Rio's in Leeds.

    "In the late 80s and early 90s there was a holy trinity of venues in the city," he said. "There was The Warehouse and The Gallery and Arc and between us we really pioneered house music in Leeds."

    Big name DJs like Sasha regular came to perform at The Warehouse with nights like Soak and Kaos. And in 1993 The Warehouse sparked 24 hour party culture in Leeds when it was granted a 6am licence by exploiting a loophole in the licensing laws.

    And forget The Hacienda in Manchester. They didn't open until 1982 and closed in 1997 just as The Warehouse was reaching a new zenith. Vague had just had a hugely successful three year run and Speed Queen was about to launch – and last for another decade.

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Th0_2814

    By 1990 Wiand had sold the club on to pursue other business interests and the new management looked for ways to keep the club fresh and underground.

    Vague and Speed Queen both crystallised the ethos of acceptance that had kicked the party off in 1979, but they took the idea of diversity even further. Both nights were led, partly, by Leeds clubber and fashionista Suzy Mason.

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Th0_2812


    She said: "What we set out to achieve with the club was a safe place where it didn't matter if you were 18 or 50, gay or straight. We didn't want an environment where you might get punched in the face for your sexuality or have the mickey taken out of you for being a bit older."

    It was also blended a kitsch theme with an artistic underbelly which saw clubbers return to some of the outlandish costumes which characterised the late 70s. And that continued well into the Noughties when Storm patrolled the club's queues – a former cross-dressing dancer who, on any given night, appeared as a basque-wearing showgirl/pirate/cowboy/anything which took his fancy.

    It was during the latter stages of the Vague and Speed Queen years that young clubbers Tony Walker, Anton Bailey and Jamie Murray became visitors to The Warehouse. They're the trio fronting up the new incarnation of The Warehouse which is unveiled tomorrow, three years after it closed, apparently for good.

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Th0_2815


    Tony Walker came to Leeds to attend university and came to love the club first through partying at student nights then becoming a DJ.

    "It really was at the forefront of the whole house music scene at the
    time," he says. "Musically it's an absolute institution in Leeds and we couldn't bear to see it neglected the way it was. And it would have been an absolute tragedy had it not been turned back into a club.

    "We all have a lot of really happy memories of The Warehouse especially from the days of Vague and Speed Queen. There was always something unique about the place in terms of the broadminded vibe and layout and some of that is what we've tried to enhance in what we've done with the venue now.

    "But everything that's happened here over the last 20 years probably wouldn't have happened the way it did were it not for Mike Wiand and those early pioneers. He really is a legend in Leeds – it's hard to describe just how much we owe to him."

    Mike is now 66 and lives a more serene life alongside his family and nature back in Texas, but he says the legendary nightspot on the other side of the Atlantic was his greatest achievement in life, and is always in his thoughts.

    "I am incredibly proud of opening The Warehouse," he said. "And even though I live a very different life now there isn't a day goes by when the club and the city doesn't cross my mind. But I have to say that despite everything we did as management,
    its success was 98 per cent down to the wonderful, amazing people of Leeds."

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Th0_2810
    Fandango Widewheels
    Fandango Widewheels
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 6539
    Location : The frozen wastes of the north east

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Fandango Widewheels Sat May 29, 2010 9:19 am

    Awesome venue. Had some great nights in there over the years. I wish them all the best.
    bigdaddy
    bigdaddy
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 1233
    Location : lost underwater city of shoreditch

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  bigdaddy Sat May 29, 2010 10:09 pm

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Th0_2812

    I thought fake tan was a recent thing?
    RvZ
    RvZ
    vvvwi


    Number of posts : 2685
    Location : Londinium

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  RvZ Sun May 30, 2010 12:21 am

    Interesting subject very parochially covered Embarassed
    T.B
    T.B
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 3939
    Location : East London

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  T.B Sun May 30, 2010 12:29 am

    When I was up in Leeds it was the only place to go.

    Kids think Leeds is all about Basics but it so isn't.

    You predate them all don't you Grandad?
    Matt Long
    Matt Long
    w


    Number of posts : 131
    Location : Ilkley

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Matt Long Tue Jun 01, 2010 2:06 am

    Token Bird wrote:When I was up in Leeds it was the only place to go.

    Kids think Leeds is all about Basics but it so isn't.

    You predate them all don't you Grandad?

    I've never experienced a night at the warehouse,all i've heard are good things about the place but don't forget Basics is a club night that has seen many clubs whereas the warehouse is a club that's seen many nights- can't really compare Shocked
    Fandango Widewheels
    Fandango Widewheels
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 6539
    Location : The frozen wastes of the north east

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Fandango Widewheels Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:24 pm

    At the time Vague was up there with any club in the country (I'm not old enough to have witnessed anything before that). It was certainly a big eye opener for a young straight lad from Bradford. Speedqueen definitely didn't have the same underground Vibe. They also produced one of my favourite ever flyers when they had Vera Sugden from Coronation Street on the front, I think the event was called Vera's Garden Party.

    What exactly happened to Vague and TWA?
    Broadhead
    Broadhead
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 3637

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Broadhead Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:17 pm

    I never once went to either Vague or Speedqueen, the main reason being i was always to musically anal and they didn't have any guest DJ's on. Nowadays this wouldn't be a problem but i was young at the time and wanted to hear big names DJ's, generally from America, and more often than not really disappointing.

    Speedqueen just seemed cheesy to me looking from the outside. I know loads of people who went religiously and loved it but it just wasn't for me.
    Fandango Widewheels
    Fandango Widewheels
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 6539
    Location : The frozen wastes of the north east

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Fandango Widewheels Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:20 pm

    Yep, Speedqueen was very cheesy.
    Broadhead
    Broadhead
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 3637

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Broadhead Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:22 pm

    I'm basically too far up my own arse to have fun Laughing
    Fandango Widewheels
    Fandango Widewheels
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 6539
    Location : The frozen wastes of the north east

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Fandango Widewheels Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:45 pm

    Speedqueen was beyond my cheese threshold to be honest. I only used to go because I was dallying with this gorgeous sort at the time and she loved it.
    Broadhead
    Broadhead
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 3637

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Broadhead Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:48 pm

    I've just been racking my brains trying to think of when i first went to the Warehouse and it's dawned on me it was Everton & Umberto's night Magic. I used to love it there but it got exceedingly rough and shifted to the Fruit Cupboard. I loved it in there too but the same happened again.

    I remember the lad on the door at Magic saying one of my mates wasn't dressed right depsite being head to toe in clothes bought from Everton himself earlier that day. I wore Helmut Lang, darling. I thought i looked the bee's knee's until i woke up the next day and saw a massive fag burn in me shirt. Bastard.
    Fandango Widewheels
    Fandango Widewheels
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 6539
    Location : The frozen wastes of the north east

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Fandango Widewheels Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:05 pm

    I never went to Magic. Was it a Friday night?

    If the smoking ban had come in earlier I would have saved thousands in damaged clothes. I've still got jackets at home that I cannot bear to part with but will not wear as they've got fag burns on them.
    Broadhead
    Broadhead
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 3637

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Broadhead Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:13 pm

    No, Magic was the Saturday night that replaced Speed Queen (i think. I loved it but it was sad to see it getting progressively rougher and rougher and less and less regulars attending because of it. A bloke once threatened to giveme a kicking as i wouldn't give him the 20 fags i had just bought from the fag machine. I knew then i should stop going there.

    Fridays ended up being Up Yer Ronson for a while but that never really worked down there.
    Fandango Widewheels
    Fandango Widewheels
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 6539
    Location : The frozen wastes of the north east

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Fandango Widewheels Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:20 pm

    Yeah, I think they've had various attempts at relaunching Up yer Ronson, or doing one off events. That was one of those nights which was 'of a time'. It never really seeme to evolve like Basics did. Was a cracking do at the time though. The 12 nights of summer with Sasha in about 96/97 were quality. I used to go to work at Morrisons on a Saturday morning in some proper states.
    Broadhead
    Broadhead
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 3637

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Broadhead Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:25 pm

    Yeah it was during the whole Northern Handbag phase wasn't it really. Same goes for Vague as well. I remember i queued for 2 hours that opening Sasha night, it was rammed and worth the wait. I wouldn't queue for 2 minutes to see him these days.

    I remember vividly i had to go to work in Next the day after. It was boiling on the menswear department and i was dreading it, but i got there and one of the girls had called in sick so i was put on the ladies fitting room, which was air conditioned. It was the best days work i ever did there Laughing
    wookie
    wookie
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 4123
    Location : casa del bramley

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  wookie Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:32 pm

    Broadhead wrote:Yeah it was during the whole Northern Handbag phase wasn't it really. Same goes for Vague as well. I remember i queued for 2 hours that opening Sasha night, it was rammed and worth the wait. I wouldn't queue for 2 minutes to see him these days.

    I remember vividly i had to go to work in Next the day after. It was boiling on the menswear department and i was dreading it, but i got there and one of the girls had called in sick so i was put on the ladies fitting room, which was air conditioned. It was the best days work i ever did there Laughing

    where did you used to work?

    and did you have hair back then?
    Broadhead
    Broadhead
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 3637

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Broadhead Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:34 pm

    I worked in Next, where Pret a Manger is now, opposite WH Smith. I was only 16 or 17, i did have hair. I was well fit too. Possibly.
    elrusto
    elrusto
    vw


    Number of posts : 364
    Location : Leeds

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  elrusto Tue Jun 01, 2010 11:30 pm

    I only went to Vague the once, but went to Speed Queen quite a bit. It was cheesy as fook, but the atmosphere was like a carnival sometimes. Good times Very Happy
    Rrriot Guurl
    Rrriot Guurl
    vvw


    Number of posts : 685
    Location : on your case boys

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Rrriot Guurl Wed Jun 02, 2010 3:54 am

    Even I have heard of The Warehouse.
    Jonny Boy
    Jonny Boy
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 753
    Location : Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, 'OWZAT!

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Jonny Boy Sat Jun 05, 2010 1:12 am

    wow actually very interesting thread nice one
    Fandango Widewheels
    Fandango Widewheels
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 6539
    Location : The frozen wastes of the north east

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Fandango Widewheels Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:10 am

    According to their facebook page they're opening again on the 25th September. Line ups look absolute gash, they're going to struggle like hell to pull a crowd.

    They've got Todd Terry on the 30th October. Part of me wants to go check him out, but my head is telling me I would be fantastically disappointed. I dread to think what he costs to bring over to the UK.
    Broadhead
    Broadhead
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 3637

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Broadhead Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:30 am

    Why do they keep going on about bringing true house music back to Leeds. Did it ever go away?

    Have they booked Frankie Knuckles foot for a 6 hour (3 deck, 5 toe) set or is Larry Levan spinning from beyond the grave?

    No. It's Seamus bloody Haji.

    Fandango Widewheels
    Fandango Widewheels
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 6539
    Location : The frozen wastes of the north east

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Fandango Widewheels Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:06 am

    They're trying to live off past glories and how good the warehouse used to be. Problem is that most of the clubbing population of leeds were still in nappies when the Warehouse was any good. The other problem I see is that the younger end of clubbers don't seem to give a flying fuck about what went before, they're just interested in what's big now. All in all it's not a pretty picture which is a shame because it's an awesome venue with a great history.
    Broadhead
    Broadhead
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 3637

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Broadhead Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:12 am

    Aye, i can't argue with that. The venue itself is brilliant.

    If Todd Terry did an old school style set i'd go, i used to love him back in't day.
    wookie
    wookie
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 4123
    Location : casa del bramley

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  wookie Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:33 am

    When todd terry played in yarm on may bank holiday, i heard he was £9k
    Fandango Widewheels
    Fandango Widewheels
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 6539
    Location : The frozen wastes of the north east

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Fandango Widewheels Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:10 pm

    Broadhead wrote:Aye, i can't argue with that. The venue itself is brilliant.

    If Todd Terry did an old school style set i'd go, i used to love him back in't day.

    That's the mistake I made with going to see DJ Pierre at Matter. What a pile of toilet that was.
    Andrella
    Andrella
    very valued guest


    Number of posts : 38
    Location : Manchester

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Andrella Thu Sep 09, 2010 9:30 pm

    Wow, I read a bit about The Warehouse in this:
    WAREHOUSE Leeds 51uZBSGRoSL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU02_

    And love the pics and details in your post, Tim - good on The Yorkshire Evening Post Cool


    Is anyone worldy wise enough to have ever made it to Studio 64...? farao

    wookie
    wookie
    vvwi


    Number of posts : 4123
    Location : casa del bramley

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  wookie Thu Sep 09, 2010 9:36 pm

    i've been to the studio 54 replica club in the mgm grand in vegas

    it was alright, the music was utter dung though
    Fandango Widewheels
    Fandango Widewheels
    Moderator


    Number of posts : 6539
    Location : The frozen wastes of the north east

    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Fandango Widewheels Thu Sep 09, 2010 10:13 pm

    wookie wrote:i've been to the studio 54 replica club in the mgm grand in vegas

    it was alright, the music was utter dung though

    Ha ha ha, we saw that. I've only ever been in Casino's and strip joints in Las Vegas. Didn't bother with clubs.

    Sponsored content


    WAREHOUSE Leeds Empty Re: WAREHOUSE Leeds

    Post  Sponsored content

      Similar topics

      -

      Current date/time is Fri Mar 29, 2024 1:34 am