Shelley's Laserdome

Shelley's Laserdome was a night club in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. It was at the heart of the house and rave scene of the late 80s and early 90s too, helping to launch the career of Sasha and featuring regular appearances from Carl Cox, until it was eventually shut down by Staffordshire Police. [cite web |url=http://www.fantazia.org.uk/Scene/orgs/shelleys.htm |title=Shelleys Laserdome - History |accessdate=2007-05-20]

"The clubs hey day, circa 1991, saw a number of DJ's at the beginnings of their career : both Dave Seaman and Sasha were resident, who later found fame and success on a global scale.

The most popular event was named "Delight" and the club gained many of the crowd from Manchester, who were formerly patrons of the Hacienda.

The friendly nightclub has since become legendary because of the diverse crowd (Shelley's was half way between Manchester and Birmingham), quickly making its mark on clubbing history with help from first-rate, pioneering DJ's of the emerging UK house music scene.

Before becoming a hit with ravers the Shelleys building had been used as an ice rink and roller rink.

At least two dance music videos were filmed there and it was the scene of the now legendary performance from Altern8 outside on the carpark, which was halted by police sometime after Shelleys closed at 2am.

Sadly the club was blighted by drug dealing and regular (albiet mostly underground) violence between rival gangs. In the early 90's there were fights, shootings and drug arrests and in the end Staffs Police succeeded in closing it down."

References