Shelley's Laserdome was a

night club A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

in Longton,

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was at the heart of the

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

scene in the early 1990s, helping to launch the career of DJ Sasha and featuring regular appearances from

Carl Cox Carl Andrew Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, radio DJ, motorsport team owner and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has perfor ...

. It was eventually shut down by

Staffordshire Police Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of 11 local policing teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authoritie ...

History

Before becoming a hit with ravers, the Shelleys building had been used as a roller rink earlier in 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. The club's heyday, 1990–91, saw a number of DJs at the beginnings of their careers: both

Dave Seaman Dave Seaman (born 29 April 1968) is a British DJ and record producer. He was formerly a member of the DMC Publishing, and editor of music magazine ''Mixmag''. Biography He formed Brothers in Rhythm with Steve Anderson and they were later ...

and Sasha were residents (Sasha was resident between September 1990 and 27 May 1991), who later found fame and success on a global scale. Other DJs who appeared included Doc Scott, Ellis Dee,

Grooverider Raymond Bingham (born 16 April 1967 in Streatham, London, England), better known as Grooverider, is a British drum and bass DJ. He and DJ partner Fabio are regarded as "originators" of the scene.

, Mickey Finn,

DJ Rap Charissa Saverio (born 7 December 1968), and better known as DJ Rap, is a British drum and bass, house and progressive electronic music producer and DJ. While the majority of her work is in the jungle style, her more successful work is in ...

, Stu Allan and local DJ Daz Willott. Legendary Rave Godfathers

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

played a live PA at the club in 1991 whilst dancer Sharky was still with the band. The first weekly night was ''Sindrome'' starting July 1990, and was run by Birmingham's Logical Promotions, Following that came ''Delight'' from Manchester, these two nights ran concurrently for a while and was probably the best era. In early 1991,

The Haçienda The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, England, which became famous during the Madchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was run by the record label Factory Records. The club opened in 1982, eventually fosteri ...

had closed due to shootings by drug gangs, so when Delight began at Shelley bringing its large Manchester following along. This nightclub has since become legendary because of the diverse crowd (Shelley's was halfway between Manchester and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

), quickly making its mark on clubbing history with help from first-rate, pioneering DJs of the emerging UK house music scene.

Altern 8 video

rave duo Altern 8, shot the video for their "Activ-8 (Come With Me)" single in the Shelley's car park in September 1991. Mark Archer from Altern 8 had wanted to do a free PA in the club's car park as it would get great footage for the video of their coming single as well as giving the ravers a something to dance to. At 0300 after the club finished, the band started to perform from a lorry they had hired. There was a crowd of thousands as they had made people aware that they were performing. Footage shows the people "going mad" dancing on parked cars. This went on before it was halted by police.

Closure

The club was blighted by drug dealing and regular (albeit mostly underground) violence between rival gangs.

and local authorities revoked the license from management due to these issues. The club's final night was Saturday 31 October 1992.

Shelley's reunion

Since around 2011, Shelley's Reunion events have been taking place in venues around the Stoke-on-Trent area. DJs that appeared at the original Shelley's such as Dave Seaman, Mark Archer from Altern 8, DJ Rap have appeared to play music from the club's heyday.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Stoke-on-Trent Music venues in Staffordshire Rave culture in the United Kingdom Electronic music festivals in the United Kingdom Rave Electronic dance music venues

History

Altern 8 video

Closure

Shelley's reunion

See also

References