I went to Gatecrasher and found it fucking bizarre. It was the height of its madness and all the regulars thought they were celebrities, having been profiled in Mixmag a couple of months before. I read years later that one of them (‘UV Lee’) did so many pills he basically became a spackermong with no functioning memory.
This was when they were all wearing Pikachu clothes and sitting on the floor instead of dancing.
Simon Raine (?) I think the owner was, obviously thought his superclub bubble could never burst and opened another massive venue, Bed, almost next door for more soulful/funky house. I had one night there and enjoyed it much more. Rampling was playing and was on unusual good form. I think Seamus Haji was on too. The one downer was a bird (and this genuinely happened) tried to stab me with her pointy-fronted shoe. I was stood next to her and for no reason whatsoever other than being a bit hammered I said “I see you’ve chosen a very pointy shoe this evening”. She took it off and tried to hit me with it while shouting aggressively in a broad Sheffield accent that I was “tekkin t’ piss”.
Raine eventually bankrupted himself and (allegedly) did an insurance job on the Republic once the crowds started disappearing.
