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 1980s 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.[1]
History
The club's heyday, circa 1991, saw a number of DJs at the beginnings of their careers: 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 Haçienda.
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 DJs of the emerging UK house music scene.
Before becoming a hit with ravers the Shelleys building had been used as a roller rink in the early part of the 20th century, before becoming the Panopticon Theatre, and then later Alexandra Palace Cinema. After closing as a cinema in the fifties, it housed bingo and shops.
At least two dance music videos were filmed there and it was the scene of the now legendary performance from Altern 8 outside on the car park, which was halted by police sometime after Shelleys closed at 2 am.
The club was blighted by drug dealing and regular (albeit mostly underground) violence between rival gangs. In the early 1990s, there were fights, shootings and drug arrests and in the end Staffordshire Police succeeded in closing it down.
References
- ↑ "Shelleys Laserdome - History". Retrieved 2007-05-20.
External links
Coordinates: 52°59′11″N 2°8′14″W / 52.98639°N 2.13722°W