Club culture: Still raving after all these years

The ravers are back. When you listen to In Colour, the album of the season from Jamie XX, you’re left in no doubt about the producer’s fondness for past decades of club culture.

This nostalgia for something never experienced is also clearly on show in his Boiler Room DJ set from 2014. It’s a set full of old-school vigour thanks to the inclusion of tracks by the likes of London Posse, New Horizons, Urban Jungle and many others.

It’s fair to say that those of us who knew the score back in the day never realised we were living through such a storied period of culture. Instead of paying attention and taking notes, most of us chose to enjoy the moment in Sides, Sir Henry’s, Sugar Sweet, Temple of Sound, the Olympic, Asylum, the Ormond, G1 or whatever other gaff we were in at the time.

But some of those who were there are still very much around. Back in June 1995, Red Records put on the Dance Nation event at Dublin’s Point Depot (now the 3Arena) with 10,000 people checking out Irish DJs and acts.

Now 20 years later, some of those Point Depot veterans are joining forces for another night out. Mark Kavanagh, Francois and Liam Dollard will be joined by Johnny Moy, Senan Shortt and John Kerrigan at Dublin’s Button Factory for A Celebration of Red Summer on Saturday June 20th. Lasers will be provided.