This September marks the 30 year anniversary of the opening of our London club, back in 1991. Inspired by New York’s cavernous house venues, our home was a derelict bus garage in South London. The first night had no alcohol, three flashing lights, moody security and unless you knew the names of at least half a dozen Chicago house DJs, you were never getting through the menacing, prison-like, gates.
Since then, Ministry of Sound has grown into one of the biggest electronic music brands in the world. Taking in an incredibly successful record label, global touring brand and most of all, cementing our London club as the most famous nightclub in the world.
To celebrate such a momentous occasion, we’re inviting you to a three-part celebration taking in all things Ministry of Sound. We’ve expertly curated three events championing each of the three main genres that have found a home in SE1.
Part 1 – Trance – Friday 17th September (Night).
Friday nights at Ministry of Sound are synonymous with Trance, so we’ve assembled the very best names from Trance old and new. The legend, Paul Van Dyk will be doing a special ’30 years of electronic music set’. PVD will be joined in The Box by trance heavyweights Aly & Fila, Will Atkinson and John Askew. Over in 103 former residents Judge Jules and Tall Paul head up a celebration of that big room sound that has soundtracked so many nights on Gaunt Street.
Lineup: Paul Van Dyk, Aly & Fila, Will Atkinson, John Askew, Judge Jules, Tall Paul, Paul Thomas, Lottie, Alex Anderson, Ryan Spicer & more.
Part 2 – UKG – Saturday 18th September (Day).
Next up in our triple-threat birthday, you can enjoy a full day of back to back old (and not so old) Skool UKG – a genre that grew out of Ministry of Sound afterparties before becoming one of the most loved sounds at the club.
We’ve got very special live guests Heartless Crew, joining an all-star team of UKG DJs including DJ Zinc, Todd Edwards B2B Majestic, Matt ‘Jam’ Lamont, Zed Bias, Sunship, SHOSH, Martin ‘Liberty’ Larner and Perception.
Lineup: DJ Zinc, Todd Edwardsb2b Majestic, Matt ‘Jam’ Lamont, Zed Bias, Sunship, Heartless Crew & more.
Part 3 – House – Saturday 18th September (Night).
Finally, Saturday night will take us back to the earliest days of Ministry and the genre most intertwined with our thirty-year history. House music has been our first and most enduring love, so it’s only right that Saturday night sees us welcome back some of the best house selectors of the past three decades. Few artists have made a bigger impact on house music over the last 30 years than Armand Van Helden, a bonafide legendary producer with a jaw-dropping back catalogue. Joining Armand are one of the biggest UK acts of the past three decades, Groove Armada, with fast-rising star Bellaire and the man who started it all, Ministry of Sound founder, Justin Berkmann. The rest of Saturday night will see our full team of residents bring 30 years of bangers to SE1.
Lineup: Armand van Helden, Groove Armada, Bellaire, The Menendez Brothers, Justin Berkmann, Fat Tony, Arielle Free, Jimmy Switch b2b Griff, Brian Summers, Matt Francey & more.
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H/T C.A.