The Fridge

Infobox music venue
name = The Fridge
type = Nightclub

---

caption =
location = Brixton, South London
genres =
years_active = 1985 —
capacity = 1,500
owner =
promotions = Escape from Samsara
Pendragon
Return to the Source
Love Muscle
Ciao Baby Bites Back
website = [http://www.fridge.co.uk/ www.fridge.co.uk]

The Fridge is a nightclub in the Brixton area of South London, founded by Andrew Czezowski, who had run the near-legendary Roxy during punk music's heyday in 1977. It was originally started in 1981, in a small club at 390 Brixton Lane, and in 1982 above Iceland in Brixton Road with a radical decor that included beat-up ice boxes and (fake) dead cats hanging from its ceiling. Early guest DJs included Keith Barker-Main, later a life-style journo/ social commentator. It claims to have been the first British club to have such innovations as video screens and a chill out lounge. The Fridge was undeniably at the heart of the early 80s New Romantic movement, and booked such acts as Eurythmics and the Pet Shop Boys before they were well known and drew famous faces such as Boy George; Frankie Goes To Hollywood; Magenta Devine and Marc Almond

In 1985, as a result of increased popularity, the club moved to its current location; a converted 1913 cinema on the Town Hall Parade. The Fridge became famous for its Africa Centre nights, playing hip hop and funk hosted by U.K. group Soul II Soul. Since then it has hosted a variety of club nights, mostly dance music, trance and more recently mainly hard dance.

Love Muscle

Launched in September 1992, Love Muscle instantly became one of the major gay club nights in London, running every Saturday night for almost a decade. Famous for its uplifting music policy, raunchy stage shows and unique party atmosphere, the night soon attained international renown, regularly attracting clubbers from across the country and beyond every weekend.

Love Muscle's original DJs were Marc Andrews and Gareth, who defined the night's music policy of uplifting commercial house, and created a sound that was entirely unique to Love Muscle. They remained at the helm as weekly residents at the club for nearly 7 years, and were then joined and ultimately replaced by Mark O, Dorian and Sean Sirrs.

During the early years and again towards the end, the club played host to drag queen Yvette (Ian Hunter-Meek b 1950 - ), a former buyer for Harrods, who was famous for her raunchy stage shows containing strippers and live music acts. Paul Bakalite also hosted Love Muscle for a while (1995/96) and is remembered for his affable persona, meeting and greeting patrons in the Fridge foyer and handing out lollipops and novelties to sweaty revellers.

Due to falling numbers and the occasional drugs raid, the night was temporarily closed in 1998, but was soon brought back due to public demand. It never fully recovered however, and became increasingly infrequent during the period 2000-2002. The night was finally closed for good in 2004.

The night's name, Love Muscle, is a euphemism for the penis, reflecting its raunchy gay appeal.

Return To The Source and Escape From Samsara

During the mid 90s, Friday nights were turned over to outside promoters, with a different one taking each of the four Fridays of the month.

The two most popular and successful nights were Return To The Source and Escape From Samsara, playing mainly hard trance, including very fast Goa trance. It is reckoned that these nights were among the first in the UK to feature what then became the trance music phenomenon.

Escape from Samsara also did parties abroad inc Spain, Morocco, Germany and the Czech Republic.

A night called Pendragon also took one of the Fridays each month, with a similar music style. The other Friday of the month was 'Otherworld'

Although all the nights at The Fridge welcomed anyone, Love Muscle was predominantly aimed at the gay community, whilst the Friday nights were aimed at the straight community.

Fridge Album Release

An embodiment of The Fridges most reverred night "Africa Centre" was recently released as a compilation album, mixed by Soul II Soul.

Recent Events

On Saturday 15 April 2006, the nightclub was raided by 200 police officers in a crack-down on drug dealing. The music was stopped and the lights turned up, as officers searched clubbers. Cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis were found, resulting in 11 arrests and further cautions. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4913328.stm]

Many in Brixton and the clubbing community were sceptical of the police's motives for staging the raid, given the disproportionate amount of force used, and the low number of arrests. [http://www.harderfaster.net/?sid=8b334426efc6e0eb948e905b121ec806&section=forums&action=showthread&threadid=3&threadid=158062&forumid=3] . Given that local elections were imminent, it has been suggested that the reasons behind the raid were political.

Since the raid, the Fridge has struggled to attract both promotions and clubbers. Factors blamed for this are fear of another raid, the amount of money charged to promoters who wish to hire the venue, and a general downturn in the capital's hard dance 'scene'.

External links

* [http://www.fridgelondon.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.3ammagazine.com/musicarchives/2003/jan/interview_andy_czezowski.html Interview with founder Andy Czezowski]
* [http://scene-out.com/party/showproduct.php?product=167/ Reviews of Love Muscle]