Like a lot of great things Quadrant Park was a special moment in time
They ran for less than a year but the all-nighters that rocked Quadrant Park at the start of the Nineties are the stuff of legend.
Ravers of a certain vintage still go misty eyed over the Bootle nightspot – affectionately dubbed ‘the Quad’ more than 30 years after the parties stopped and the club itself later closed. Taking advantage of a legal loophole that allowed the venue to become the UK’s only legal all-night rave, DJs Mike Knowler, John Kelly and Andy Carroll turned the former warehouse into a cornerstone of club culture as acid house spread across the UK.
Next weekend the trio will be looking to recreate some of that magic when they host a reunion at Camp and Furnace. I caught up with Andy and John to understand more about the Quad’s enduring appeal.
Read about the night at the famous 'superclub' where 'hysterical girls keeled over' and how Quadrant Park signalled the emergence of modern Liverpool
For anyone who doesn’t know, what was Quadrant Park?
ANDY: It was a happy accident. It was so random. Like a lot of great things, it was a moment in time.
Me and Mike had been DJing at The State. Mike was asked to do a Christmas Party by Hugh Baird College (where Mike was a tutor) at The State but they closed it down so he did it at Quadrant Park. It went so well they invited him back and he brought me on board. It was only open for such a short time but it became such a legend.
What was so special about it?
ANDY: It was a combination of things. In the south the sound that was going on at the time was very down melody and moody. At the Quad we embraced the smiley Italian sound and mixed it up with a bit of UK house, some American house... some Belgian techno. It was a combination of our music, the space and the people
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