Dorian Gray (club)
 Dorian Gray entry doors (2005) | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | Frankfurt am Main, Germany (November 8, 1978) |
| Founder | Gerd Schüler and Michael Presinger |
| Defunct | December 31, 2000 |
| Headquarters | Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
Area served | Germany |
Dorian Gray was a popular nightclub in the 1980s and 1990s, located on the Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The owners Gerd Schüler and Michael Presinger opened the club on 8 November 1978. The idea was to offer similar events as New Yorks club Studio 54. This was one of the largest nightclubs in the German area at that time. The design of the nightclub costed more than 2,5 Million Deutsche Marks[1] and laid the corner stone for the most successful Airport club.[2] The name of the club comes from Oscar Wildes novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Dorian Gray was located in Hall C of the Terminal 1 building on the airport. For this reason the nightclub remained opened during morning hours, when the rest of the airport remained closed.
Music
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Up to 2500 guests danced on three dancefloors (Runningman, Studio 54 and Chillout)[3][4]– End of 1970s to Disco, Funk und Soul, later, since 1984, to Electronic dance music such as EBM, House, New wave and Techno, since 1992 to Black music in the small club.
Famous deejays who played at Dorian Gray were Sven Väth, Torsten Fenslau, Ulli Brenner, Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti, DJ Dag, Talla 2XLC, Tom Wax, Mark Spoon, Heinz Felber, Pascal FEOS, Björn Mulik and Andy Düx.
Tone and light effects
The nightclub had at that time a spectacular Richard-Long-Sound-System-Design.[5] which was using large sound system speakers with JBL and Gauss-Alnico base sound system which produced loud and clear sound. The deejay equipment consisted of Thorens and later from mid-1990s Technics turntables. The light system was made out of red, green and orange colors which have been positioned to reflect the mirrors on the floor. Until the mid-1990s a strong laser show was used. One of the video jockeys was also Alexander Metzger.
Closure
On 31 December 2000 the nightclub stopped to operate in Frankfurt am Main. The last record that was played on the closure was „Lovin’ You“ from musician Minnie Riperton and was played by the resident deejay Ufuk in the small club. Several years after the closure of the nightclub, the painted entrance doors were still visible with original image. In January 2008 the existing space in Hall C was renovated into a shopping area.
Various
In the early 2003 both of the original owners started a newly opened nightclub in Berlin on Potsdamer Platz, which couldn't reach the fame of the original nightclub and therefore ceased to operate. The sister nightclub of Dorian Gray in Perkins Park in Stuttgart, which opened in 1980 with the similar idea of events still operates today. In the years 2006-2008 there were dedicated party events at the end of the year called Airport-Night to remember the days when Dorian Gray existed.[6]
References
- ↑ "o.V.: "Millionen-Disco im Airport"". Der Spiegel 49/1978, page 228. 4 December 1978.
- ↑ "Von Wellershoff: "Flug in die Nacht"". Der Spiegel 48/1997, page 137. 24 November 1997.
- ↑ "tranergy.de – Dorian Gray Zeitmaschine (Floornames @ 2:52, 3:09)".
- ↑ "tranergy.de – Video Mark Spoons Birthday 2000 (Floornames at Running order near DJ-desk)".
- ↑ "Richard Long (* 1933; † 9 December 1986)".
- ↑ "Rund 15.000 Gäste bei der Frankfurter Airport Night" (in German). pressrelations.de. 28 November 2008.
Coordinates: 50°03′04″N 8°34′27″E / 50.051094°N 8.57416613°E