Lush!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lush! is a night club in Portrush, Northern Ireland. Located in the Kellys Golf Links Hotel, the club is the largest in the complex, which houses a number of bars. Opened in 1996, it has played host to the majority of the worlds notable electronic dance music DJs, including Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Tiesto, Sasha and Eddie Halliwell.
Opening only one night a week (Saturday), the venue doesn't use external promoters or host club nights, being a self-contained operation. The promoter, and manager of the club, Col Hamilton, is also the resident DJ. Music on resident-played nights would generally be house music, but the regular guest DJs are more likely to play trance music.
Shortly after opening, CJ Agnelli of Agnelli & Nelson immortalised the club with one of his first releases, titled "Lush", and the later remixes, "Lush Gold". The cover art of both releases featured the clubs logo, a large yellow/orange circle [1]. An edition of Discover Records "Live As" series has also been recorded at the venue [2].
Notably for a modern nightclub, Lush! still features a chip shop within the premises - to the right rear of the dancefloor. Large quantities of clubbers travel from all across Northern Ireland every weekend, with the large carpark of the club comprising mostly of coach bays. One of the Kellys' complex other bars, The Synk, is generally open alongside Lush with free access between the two, but with a different DJ playing.
The 2008 DJ Mag Top 100 Clubs places Lush! at number 56 in the world [3], with it having been unplaced in 2007 and number 24 in 2006.
