Godskitchen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Godskitchen is an international superclub brand which is associated with dance music and is responsible for organising numerous events, particularly in the UK and US. The company runs a weekly night of the same name at their own nightclub AIR, in Birmingham, England and also has an in-house music label. This label annually releases numerous compilation albums, in addition to supporting a select few new artists whom they believe bring something new to the genre.
Contents |
[edit] Roots
Godskitchen's roots begin back in the golden era of the UK rave scene back in the early 1990's. Promotor Chris Griffin had already been responsible for staging such massive events as Fantasia, Perception and Vision in the UK, (which, in 1992, allegedly attracted over 38,000) people. After further successful events in Australia, Chris teamed up with fellow promotor Tyrone De Savery, and Godskitchen was born.
[edit] First events
They held their first event back in the UK at the Junction Nightclub in Cambridge, launching a series of sell out nights across the UK. After returning to Australia in 1993 to promote a range of further successful parties under the legendary rave brand Fantasia, Chris and Tyrone had decided that they were ready to launch Godskitchen on a regular basis. In May 1996, Godskitchen began to hold weekly events in Northampton, UK. Godskitchen began to sell out week after week, demanding that the night move to an even bigger venue. After a slow start, Goskitchen were soon filling the 1,500 capacity Planet Nightclub in Coventry every Friday night.
[edit] Scaling up in Milton Keynes and Birmingham
In 1997 Chris and Tyrone decided to again up the stakes by staging an event for 4000 people at the Sanctuary Music Arena in Milton Keynes. Billed as Britain's first "stadium house music event" the party sold out well in advance at a venue that fellow superclubbers Cream had failed to fill only 12 months previously.
Looking for a "somewhere to call home", Godskitchen moved to the 2000 capacity Sanctuary Nightclub (formerly the Digbeth Institute) in Digbeth, Birmingham, the UK's second city. Godskitchen mangaged to fill the Sanctuary week after week. 1999 saw Godskitchen take their stylish brand of clubbing to the legendary Amnesia Nightclub in Ibiza, pulling in 5,500 revellers every Tuesday night. Godskitchen continued to flourish on the white isle for another 3 seasons, moving to Eden in San Antonio for one summer in 2002.
Back in Birmingham, Godskitchen continued to go from strength to strength. With industry heavyweight Neil Moffit on board, Godskitchen began work on a nightclub of their own, the state of the art superclub "CODE", which opened its doors in the autumn of 2000, turning away over 20,000 people on its first night. With Friday's Godskitchen fast becoming synonymous with the Trance sound, Godskitchen launched two further clubbing nights at CODE. Saturday night saw Babooshka filling the 2000 capacity venue for a second time each weekend, entertaining the masses with its glamorous style of U.S. House music and Garage music , while Sundays played host to the mixed night Polysexual, which continues to be one of the UK `s most successful names in hard dance.
[edit] Global Gathering
The following summer Godskitchen decided to stage their first outdoor festival, Godskitchen Global Gathering, which saw 25,000 party goers descend upon Long Marston Airfield on the Gloucestershire/Warwickshire border nr. Stratford-Upon-Avon on a balmy July evening. The venue was a British summertime veteran, which had previously played host to the massive Phoenix Festival and the Bulldog Bash. Global Gathering was a major success, and Godskitchen finished 2001 by returning to one of their original homes, The Sanctuary Music Arena in Milton Keynes. 2002 saw the capacity of Global Gathering increase to 35,000 and in 2003 Godskitchen completeley transformed their home venue CODE, renaming it AIR. AIR now featured three rooms to coincide with Godskitchen's ever-expanding music policy and, as well staging yet another Global Gathering, 2003 saw Godskitchen embark on an arena tour, selling out parties at the Telewest Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne and The National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, the UK's largest venue.
[edit] International tours
After another successful year and Global Gathering in 2004, Godskitchen took the party overseas to the Ireland and the United States of America, staging events across the continent. New Years Eve 2004/2005 saw Godskitchen hold their last Friday night in Birmingham, moving to Saturdays in 2005 in order to compete in what many had come to see as a flagging market. The final jewel in the Godskitchen crown was to take place in July of 2005, Global Gathering was expanded to cover an entire weekend (complete with camping) and the Friday night saw a fresh music policy with more emphasis placed on live acts. The capacity was again increased to 45,000 and the following day saw Godskitchen take Global Gathering to the Republic of Ireland for a 15,000 capacity event in Cork.
Global Gathering 2006 was held to much fanfare and success in the downtown area of Miami, Florida on March 18th of that year. The success of that event spurned a second Stateside festival which will be held in on Labor Day weekend, which is the first weekend of September in the United States. The selected location is Las Vegas, Nevada.
Godskitchen events are held at Club Bonbon in Shanghai.
[edit] Compilation albums
Godskitchen released their first compilation in 1999, "Divine" and has since released a further 11 compilations, the most recent being "Godskitchen Anthems".
[edit] The name
While trying to come up with a name for their new house night, promoters Chris Griffin and Tyrone De Savery observed that the best house parties always seem to gravitate around the kitchen. They soon concluded that the very best parties would be held in God's kitchen, hence the strange name. This name was also used by the 1980s synthpop group Blancmange who produced a song called "God's Kitchen", although the two may not have been connected.
