Save Fabric: The campaign that united clubland - - Mixmag

Save Fabric: The campaign that united clubland

Dance music found its voice and stood behind the London venue

  • Words: Funster | Illustration: Eliot Wyatt
  • 22 November 2016
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Away from the parties and the politicians was a huge grassroots movement. There was the guy who danced outside fabric for 24 hours, Goldie announcing he’d melt down his MBE if the club wasn’t reopened, countless ravers and DJs pledging their hard-earned cash and enough commotion caused that the mainstream press and, importantly, Islington council had to take notice. Dance music proved it still had a collective voice, one that could be roused when things weren't right in the rave.

Fabric is going to re-open but not without cost. There are some pretty rigid new rules that have been put in place and they’re a little disconcerting (life-time bans for anyone caught in possession of drugs, no under 19s allowed in at the weekends, more surveillance, ID scanners…) But it's clear that fabric had to do what it takes to get the show back on the road: 250 staff members will get their jobs back, the world’s best DJs will be once again allowed to give the exemplary soundsystem a work out and we, the punters, will be back in room one until they kick us out.

We must use the momentum of the Save Fabric campaign to make sure other clubs are protected and the people who frequent them kept safe. We – the Night Czar, night time-friendly politicians, club owners, DJs, promoters, dance music media, fans – must work toward a culture that promotes drugs education and harm reduction and insists that it be taken seriously by the government and police. Fabric has set a precedence, that dance music should be protected, and that must be upheld.

The people saved fabric. Every Tweet, every Facebook post, every donation, every chat to your mate about it at the pub. These are the things that sparked conversation, that kept the campaign relevant and that made Islington council realise that our anguish and disappointment wasn’t going to go away, it was going to get more furious and more heavily fought.

You should all be proud of yourselves.

Funster is Mixmag's Deputy Digital Editor. Follow him on Twitter

Eliot Wyatt is a freelance illustrator and regular contributor to Mixmag. Visit his website

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