The Oldest Goth Club in the World: Slimelight
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- In 1987, Dette and Mayuan Mak found a derelict warehouse and turned it into a venue. More than 35 years later, goths still congregate for Slimelight.
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WATCH NEXT: Can God really love goths? th-cam.com/video/RuHRpMUyH9U/w-d-xo.html
Equally important: Can Bigfoot and Goths be friends?
What a bloody stupid question, can God really love Goths...... I have just watched that video and it is as stupidly ignorant as your question...... Why would God single out Goths as the ones he does not love? They are not violent like other music based subcultures like Gangster Rappers. Also Goth is not a genre of metal
Happy to see Slimelight getting the love and recognition they deserve. Thanks for being a refuge.
We live in a world where the scariest looking people are also the nicest people you could hope to meet, and where the most normal respectable looking people are the most dangerous.
Most people have an interest in Goth fashion but, unfortunately lack the confidence to try it. Goth girls can be quite intimidating to the average guy, but still fascinating at the same time.
@@unkle_Enkil With me, it was growing up in the sixties watching Addams Family, The Munsters, Hammer Films, reading stories by Poe and Lovecraft. In the eighties I'd wear a plain black suit/black tie/white shirt and black shoes. Good for almost all occasions, only if I did it now people would think Geek Squad or MiB, not Goth, they stole my look.
Sometimes I'd wear a black vest as well. This is when the word Goth was barely in the vernacular. I'd wear it to work where the dress code was semi-formal. The way it worked is, your a young guy, maybe a little punky looking, and your so damn formally attired when you don't have to be, and people know with what your doing you can't be a Mormon or Jehovah witness or weird religious cult member, and they know your not going to a funeral, your not a hitman or a spy. They can't say your dressed like a freak either, all they can say is your so damn formal when you don't have to be and nobody else is, it's off putting for them. The normies want to complain about how you look but how can they, exactly what do they write on the complaint form? "We would like to complain about your employees strict adherence to business dress code" When Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction came out they ruined it.
The final piece of the outfit was my black trench coat/overcoat, way back early eighties when nobody else my age had one. It helped with wearing the the black suit in the rain and cold weather. Not leather mind you, that would have been way too expensive and wouldn't work for business dress code. Years later Columbine happened and ruined that look for everybody.
Balls
Went to this place a few times 92/93 while stationed in UK with the USAF. Had an absolute blast even though I wasn’t much into that music besides the obvious big names. Everyone was cool, nobody cared I was fairly square by comparison, and the vibes were more light and hippy rather than dark. Glad to see they thrived all these years.
This is a hidden gem in the industry of music and fashion
Hidden?
Mak was a warm-hearted soul and I was shocked and saddened to hear of his untimely passing. He and Detty were and are pioneers and heroes of the UK clubbing scene. They took their venue from a run down derelict engineering works to being one of the best clubbing venues in London, which it still is today. In the late 80's, The Slimelight was the only venue in London that was open all night. They were very welcoming of all kinds of 'alternative' types, not just goths and I had many an enjoyable Saturday night there despite not owning a single item of black clothing! Really enjoyed watching this video. About time someone gave this pioneering couple the respect that they deserve.
Went there from the late 80's through the 90's
Great place to hang out
It was the Electric Ballroom on Friday and Slimelight on Saturday
I still have a lot of old fliers at home framed including KitKat club
from 93 to 2000 almost every Saturdays, good times!!
Numbers in Houston, TX has been around way longer and still going strong!
Facts
I loved living in the UK in 1996. I wish I had a chance to go to Slimelight. I went to uni in Hull. I just checked the Maps and I'm glad to see that Spiders is still open. As an American in Europe, I love it here. I've met Peter Murphy twice, once in Portugal in 1995 and here in Spain in 2016.
Spent my teenage years in Spiders. Glad to hear it is still going strong.
I went to spiders once, my husband (then boyfriend) went to uni there. Loved it, wish we’d gone more than once
I used to go there occasionally when I was younger in my Goth days, it was always discussed in hushed whispers as a place where debauched things happened.
To be honest I usually felt pretty safe there, people were usually just enjoying themselves and I never saw an animal sacrifce etc.
OMG, incredible. Well done everyone, about time this iconic venue got the recognition it so richly deserves. I think this is the best London venue by far, first went in 1990 as a punter, then ended up playing numerous live sets there, then most recently Dj'ing for Sinistry. I've played all over the planet but this venue is still my favourite to play at. I miss seeing Mak running around with his set of keys during soundcheck. Long live Electrowerkz.
It really is/was a labour of love for those that run it. Not been to Slimelight since before the lockdown, but yeah as much as I loved the music, the best thing about it was how safe you felt there and even if it looks like a fashion show, the place was very non-judgemental. When all the floors and rooms are open it was an amazing experience. And seeing a band play live at 0000 or 0100 is so cool. Never go under the stage on the top floor though. :-o
Saw a lot of familiar faces in the clip, hopefully will see them again soon!
what a beautiful place. Thank you Noisey and thank you Slimelight people
This looks like my freaking heaven. I´m from Argentina, so i sadly think that my husband and I will never have the chance to go there. But, at least is great to know that Slimelight exists. Mayuan Mak RIP 🖤🫀
Numbers @ 300 Westheimer in Houston, TX has been around at least 45 years doing the same thing. Should do an interview on that and give them some credit for keeping a place just the same, if not better than this one, alive til this day. It’s major history!
Going to see Frontline Assembly Sept 30th at Numbers with some doctor friends of mine.
I do stage lighting at a club in Australia that's been going for 30 years too. Obviously there's goth clubs and festivals in Germany that would thrash the pants off anything you have in America, but it's not about who's biggest and best it's about the community.
@@PeterKnagge it has been a goth mecca since the 70s. Packing Goths from all over. My doctor friends always go there. Houston has really nice people who are genuine.
@@adamperez349 you make it sound elitist and gother than thou.
I understand you have a disability that you're American and your country is going into meltdown. 🤣
Great to see this . I went here in the early 90’s as a sun bleached surfer from Cape Town . We had a club called the Playground which was our goth / alternative/metal home . I remember finding out in the queue at Slimelight that I needed a member to invite me in . The look on the guy who agreed was understandable . Once in tho it was fantastic . Loved it .
As a Goth turned Raver turned Junglist, thanks and love from Philly.
What is a junglist? (continues to pass the love around phila)
@@dayglodoggy Here's a Playlist I've been working on for a few years...Junglist History Documentaries
th-cam.com/play/PLlbLpKsHmmUd8djjkm72v5B5UP_tInPy9.html&si=XBbXKuinPIytdQOm
A D NB head
Snap.. exactly the same trajectory as yourself, returned to goth a few years ago. Though to look at you couldn't tell. Jungle each and everytime, jungle til, I die, Goth forever and always 🖤
70s and 80s had all the best clubs and scenes. Nothing like this around today! Good times in TOUGH economic times!!
Oh there's still lots good scenes around depending on where you are. Punk, goth, alternative never died, it just went through its changes. Nothing stays the same forever.
Remember going a few times in the late 90's- not a goth, but the metal club scene had a bit of crossover- bring your own booze, and plenty of characters (giant vampire Rob).
Big Rob Ruin? Lovely bloke.
@@Mr.Glitch hes a legend, he still makes appearances
@@MylesTriesLess yeah we're friends on Facebook, gotta stay in touch with the OGs!
'It's like my family and it always was like my family.' When you get it, you get it, but I have such a difficult time getting so many of the younger crowd to understand that goth is more than just aesthetics. Community isn't the number of likes on Instagram. I may not have ever been to this club, but I miss the one back in Hawaii - not just the old warehouse it was in (or any of the places it moved around to later on), but the people, my fellow goths and the punks that came in to smash up the place and were somewhat surprised to see us help them. You can't really ruin the ol' trash bags on the walls and fencing and salvaged 'furniture' with one random port o' potty outside, really, and nobody messed with the ceiling (which was good since once a month it still had to handle suspensions)
Do one on The Batcave
Thee best era of my existence! Muzik , people was amazing ! I will forever be a goth at heart 🖤! I’m in California so back in the 80-90 helter skelter , perversion , control factory , the cave , cherry were just a few of thee best clubs thee nicest folks y’all could ever meet ! It all came from European countries !! Be safe y’all 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🙏🏻🇺🇸
Sending love from Texas goths at The Church in Dallas.
As a Gen X 20th/21st century American man born in 1970 I have found Industrial in my heartstrings and I have an affinity to Rivethead culture. I will surely have to visit someday 🇺🇸⚡🏴☠️
Should Probably Leave The Nationalism In Your Own Country If You're Planning On Visiting.
🤣
Wow, beautiful people! Thanks Noisey, never knew..
These kinds of clubs are so much fun. I went to one like this in my area when I was young and hanging with bikers, punks, goths, and artists was really fun back then. Now, I'd probably be scared because the world has changed so much. Seeing girl 'hair-fights' over a guy was about as bad as it got; I think they scratched each other with their long nails, too. :-)
Absolutely brilliant I wish there was a club like that in my town thank you for shearing long live the goth 😎
Me too
be the change you want to see
Not even close to the oldest goth club in the world. Spiders in Hull was founded in 1979 and is still going strong. I still have my membership card from the 80s somewhere…
Spiders wasn't specifically a 'Goth club' (students and alternatives) It just had a Goth corner 🕸
This is pure nostalgia for me. Was in the Goth scene from 1998 when I was 16 to about 2009. Slimes was always a regular haunt. Miss all my old mates dearly :(
87 to 89 after that I ditched all my goth garms, but still loved the music, met so many good people who I'm still friends with...Music, sex and drugs, all a teenager needed back then, well for me anyway...Oh and still and some photos that were taken there.
I remember going there in 87 or 88 a few times with an Irish chef (can't remember his name now -worked at Joe's Brasserie) who was a goth (and a KitKat regular. It was pretty laid back and friendly.
Great to know it’s still going ! Kit Kat, club dog , loved it
"I hear the roar of the big machine..."
The good ole slimelight ,,those were the days , when we were young ,beautiful and full on magical substances
Happy days.
BTW, I would have chosen something like "Alien Sex Fiend - Ignore The Machine" as background music for the video instead of that random electronic music.
Shut up
@petetestube2904uh, no it hasn't. You've never heard of the new Goth bands I'm guessing? Twin Tribes, The Ghost of Bela Lugosi, DARK the Band, Forever Grey, Scary Black, She Past Away, Lebanon Hanover, Drab Majesty, Ash Code, Al1ce, Calling All Astronauts, new Depeche Mode, Rosegarden Funeral Party, I could continue. NONE of these bands are electronic. Goth is Goth, period. Stop spreading misinformation about a subculture you clearly know nothing about.
@petetestube2904no it isn't. I'm a DJ at a local Goth club, and literally none of the new Goth bands today are "electronic". You clearly have no idea what you're referring to.
@petetestube2904 no, Goth is not electronic. Poser.
The city I live in probably has the third longest operating goth club in the world. Vertex in Rochester NY - I’m not positive but I think it opened around ‘97 and has been a popular bar since then. It did burn down once and moved a block around the corner.
love slimelight a friend took me for my birthday once had such a good night
Electrowerkz is an epic venue, never been to slimelight but I need to after seeing this! The other parties have been fabulous
I used to love going to slimelight.
Been to Elektrowerkz loads of times as we used to put on the UglyFunk nights there about 20 years ago, never been to Slimelight though, will definitely have to try it soon.
We had a bar called limelight and everyone called it slimelight
This one owned it 😎
I only went to the Slimelight once but went paintballing at the Electrowerkz several times. I was even interviewed by John Fashanu for some youth news programme (channel 7 or something like that.) Anyway, that's where I met Mak, a really top bloke. I'm so sorry to hear he's passed away.
#'s nightclub in Houston has been around since the 1970's. I'm not sure why it doesn't qualify.
.... I loved the Slimelight!! Back in the Day The Kit Kat Club was in The Comedy Store in Leister Sq. !!!! Wicked fucking days!! There was a Japanese Restaurant next door where u could get a bottle of saké (heated, obviously!!,, lol) with their cheapest meal!!!!
Aww, I love this so much. Thank you, Noisey! 🖤🖤🖤
With that old lady i'm really thankful for subtitles
ঢখতুই
hats off to the whole crew
I’ve only gone to Eltrowarkz for gigs unfortunately but it’s an amazing venue and I’ve always enjoyed my experiences there and the people who attend it.
Went there a few times in the early 90’s. Best club ever!!!!!
Long live Slimelight!!!❤❤❤❤
Some of the best nights of my life have been at Slimelight. May it never close.
The batcave says hold my Pernod and black
I've wanted to go to Slimelight for 26 years but never could because of the lack of wheelchair access. And please don't say 'oh we'll carry your chair up and down the steps'. You're not going to be able to lift a 12 stone power wheelchair with me in it up one step, let alone a flight of stairs. Besides, if you damage it, I can't get home, and it costs hundreds to repair. It's about time Slimelight got a lift. Excluding disabled goths isn't cool.
When i used to go there years ago...Mik Scarlett used to go in his wheelchair...used to see him there regularly...he got carried...granted his wheelchair may have been lighter xx
Not so young now but this is still the only club I will visit . Shame one cant get a train at 3am , I can no longer last till 5am
That's your problem. Toughen up.
@@thiscorrosion3843 Get lost .
I am an ex Coldstream guardsman serving in some of the roughest areas in the world but at 50 I would like you to keep up with me
I used to work behind the bar there. Knew Mak, Dette. I also worked doing the paintball and marshalling when I was studying. Used to go slimelights. Was/is a cool place.
"Goth raves". Isn't that an oxymoron?
@@cassie4994 No.
@@superhumantrueman Yes! Graves are goth, but raves - certainly not!
Payed a few visits over the years...Awesome place!
I really hope I’ll be able to fly to London and finally have a Slimelight night, it’s too many years that I think about it but never got the chance do actually do it.
The 16 th of September, live music and free after party for the attendees. Up till 6 A.M .
Isn't that wonderful?❤
I thought Death Guild at DNA Lounge was the longest continuously running goth club (they kept going by livestreaming during lockdown!)
Death Guild started about half a decade later, in the early 90s.
Nocturna in Chicago has been running continuously since 1988.
@@ScaryLadySarah, Nocturna is every month or two. So not really continuous. Death Guild is, and has always been, every week on Mondays. Even during Covid.
@@JeronimoDeStrukt, March 15th 1993 to be exact. Death Guild is the longest continuously running in the US, not the world.
leland city club or simply known as city club in detroit is older and still going
no way 1987 is the oldest goth club. i used to go to The Kitchen Club in miami circa '88 when i was underage... hell, i even found a goth club in lima peru in the late 80s.... nyc MUST have way older ones, for starters....
Many of them closed then re opened
This one has been open every weekend since the 80's
It wasn't the first of it's kind hut I believe it's the longest continually running. Most goth clubs didn't survive Covid, even those that had been around since the 80's
Life should be enjoyed, it seems like these people do exactly that.
Went there a couple of times with some goth/industrial mates, was a bloody great scene. Never saw any trouble, just a bunch of groovy freaks having a blast. If you needed to chill out they had Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy playing in the corridors !
I went for years back in the mid 90s it was amazing! Dropped my 1st bean and saw vampires dropped my first dot and left my body LMAO
Oh happy days of Slimelight Nights... shame it's all a bit of a blur but I know it was a GOOD blur! 😄
On the bucket list of Must-Goth places to visit. I love the aesthetic looks of all the images that were shown. Our subculture lives on after 40 years and keeps evolving and changing.
Slimelight died with Mak. Of course yes it still goes on once a month only now, but not the same. Not the same at all. Its severely lacking the people, the atmosphere, the whole Slimelight vibe. It is an insult to Slimelight. They should change the name, but I guess the whole "30 years plus still running" thing serves them well.
I found the Slimelight by saying to the bouncer at the Town and Country, "Man! I want to find a place where the people wear black and DANCE!" I made my way there ... many many times! Wheeeeee!
0:40 in the 80s when I was at school every girl had one of these plastic basket bags - covered with lurex-glitter scarves to prevent little items from falling off 😂 I wonder when these will come back …
Spiders in Hull is older and still running.
Absolute love Spiders, my parents went when they were younger & I’ve continued to go with mates now.
@@danielkirk1877 my youngest has just started going regularly. So proud 🕷️🕸️
Spiders wasn't a goth club? It just had Goths in 'goth corner'
@@blackglovesareformurder oh yeah that is true as far as it goes. I for one was a rockabilly if I had to be defined. But it definitely wasn't 'not a goth club' if you see what I mean so feel my argument still stands x
And I always sat in Goth corner just because it was closest to the dancefloor 😁
By design as a goth club maybe, but as a historical and spiritual home don't forget the Phono in Leeds was happening years before this.
I went to slimelights in the early 90s when i worked at ford at Dagenham i wasn't even a goth but it was a great crazy night back in the day .
Had some great times there !
Gal on the left in the thumbnail, I believe she went by Aconite. Good times back then
I think it was 1990 or something like that, when my then-boyfriend and I traveled from our home in Finland to visit London. We both looked like a mixture of goth and punk at the time with black spiky hair and shaved sides, lots of eyeliner etc. As we wandered the streets of Soho and gorged ourselves on the many record shops, we asked the locals whether there was a club in London that played goth/alternative music. Everyone directed us to the Slimelight.
Come Saturday, we polished our doc martens, added an extra layer of hair spray and sought out this mysterious place in the middle of the night. Eventually we found a place that looked creepy, run down and very much closed. There were several gothy looking people wandering around who looked like they had come for the Slimelight as well and we asked them what was going on. They told us the club had been closed down by the police that night (at least that's what I remember) but we were welcome to join them to go to a party. We decided to follow them into the murky London night walking along sketchy streets with more and more goth/punk/alternative type people joining in until there was a whole group of us trying to find this party.
Eventually we found the right house, and although it was the right looking crowd and the music was right (probably some Bauhaus playing loud), everyone there were either slumped over, having sex or taking drugs. We were like noooope not for us! And we ran for the hills hehe. Although we loved the style and music of goth, we weren't into drugs or anything like that.
To this day, I always wonder how things would have played out had the Slimelight been open that night. Judging from this video however, we probably wouldn't have even gotten in since it seems it required a member to sign you in! 1:42
1987 isn't even close to being the oldest Goth club.
I used to Love the Electrowerkz until the security, like many clubs in London, started becoming like something out of Orwells 1984
@@user-sn1th8di1s wait wdym? like they search your bags and pat you down?
You guys are the coolest ❤
Been to Berghain, want to go to Kitkat and Slimelight du to the fact that it seems so cool :)
I really hope to go someday, I have a 5 month old so it’s tricky to get the time. When he’s older I’m so going for a trip to London and to go there
OMG I love that the Slimelight lady is a Monkeyhanger.
Why can't someone make a USA goth clubs video 🤷♀️ hmm? I want it
There's currently a documentary being made about The Church, the oldest Goth club in Dallas Texas that still stands today. We actually have four Goth clubs now, and growing. Our scene is massive.
Used to go there 😊😊 Fun times!!
Thank you Mak and Detty.. had some great nights there and met some great people, quite a few of whom I later photographed as alt/fetish models...
I barely party these days and this makes me wanna change that!!
That said though,when I used to party there was NO reason not to....That in of itself will inevitably change though
Some of the modern goths look like Cenobytes.
Would love to see you do a short doc with Dom Whitling. Amazing guy with a very cool concept.
I loved the Slimelight
I used to go there from the mid to the late 1980s. and have a great time, never met any trouble, and some of the nicest people I ever met, and yet to meet better. Saturday night pub crawls all the way there getting out of my head anyway I could from Hammersmith to Angel, there from midnight through kick-out time early Sunday (8am ish) morning. And then walking all the way home. it was the only night off from poxy nightshift work I had to make money to spend getting drunk and off my face (Thatcher's policies were so awful at the time, no one remembers that part of it, dragging this country down the toilet). Great days I miss so much (Thatcher not included). I enjoyed every moment there. But then I had to move away from London. What a drag and downer that turned out to be. Sorry for your loss. I am over 60 now. So don't you younger ones keep thinking and believing you're the only ones unique 'cause you're not. We did it all before you were ever even thought of. (Sorry it's just the attitude today of some of the younger towards us just because we're older now that gets me riled up and lets everyone down) Good luck. Take care.
I am over 60 I used to go to the Kit Kat club in Westbourne Grove every Sat. My then boyfriend Rick insisted we had to go to several places before turning up at the Kit Kat around 4am or 5am and Mak was at the door with other people. Rick and I were always on the guest list. I remember for a while there was a mad guy who was Ian Dury' s bodyguard. Once he tried to stranggle Rick in the toilets and it was really scary. I always had to check to see that Stranggler wasn't around. Another time Rick and I went to Mak' s place at the Angel after leaving the Kit Kat. He had a motorbike hunging from the ceiling.. .or may be it was a washing machine. Mak played Reagee music and Rick and him were talking. Mak was smoking but we both never ever smoke nothing at all. Rick talked all the time. I said nothing most of the time. We really liked Mak. I don't think Mak had met Detty at that time. Then we knew they both had opened a club at the Angel on a back street but Rick did not like it. The Kit Kat was fantastic and nothing compares
Used to go to the electric ballroom on a Friday night , it was called full tilt, back to Camden on the sat, then slimelight sat through to Sunday morning. Make a full weekend of it. Most of the crowd was same for both. Great days
I left the United Kingdom in 1982. I crave to return. I was in Tucson Arizona in 87. That was a roadie and in college
Goth Subculture is so unquie 🖤.
Slimelight is STILL going on? 😳 Honestly thought the whole scene died years ago.
Back when I started going their was a Goth/Metal/Alternative Music Club nearly every night of the week in the mid 90s.
Ben Crouches - GONE! Bar Metro - GONE! Intrepid Fox 1&2 - GONE&GONE! Crowbar - GONE!
Maybe time I dust-off the fangs & pay a visit
You haven't heard the new Goth music that has been coming out these past few years? Do you live under a rock, or are you just too lazy to do some research? Goth clubs have exploded around the US, and my city has four clubs.
Best under the radar venue in London for more than three decades. Played paintball there, Dj'd there, partied there and still flipping GO there!! 🖤
They're all so f'ing beautiful😻
I'm not a goth but even I know a super far out space when I see one. Peace!
The ones I went to where I got trashed ,took drugs & had sex in the toilets were my favourite clubs too 😂😂😂
Batcave early 80's London, Phono Leeds, Xclusiv Batley early 80's
Wow, I remember when this opened.
Sex in the bathroom, that has never happened at any club ever. Rolling eyes emoji
First time I heard of this was from Herbs and Alters 2000’s goth videos