After six hours of deliberation on Tuesday night, and continuing past midnight, Islington Council has revoked Fabric's license and the club will now be closed indefinitely. Mixmag's editors provided much of the internet's view into the debate from the public gallery which was reportedly completely packed out with police as well as supporters of the #SaveFabric movement.
Fabric originally closed voluntarily on August 11 after the tragic deaths of two 19-year-old men in the last nine months. In spite of some no doubt well-intentioned but ultimately ineffectual, vague promises from London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the #SaveFabric campaign was sadly unsuccessful. Though the Mayor didn't quite stand up the way we hoped he might, a vast and widely popular campaign to save Fabric quickly blew up online. Skream, Artwork, Jackmaster, Spooky, Flava D, Elijah & Skilliam and countless others had all loudly thrown their weight behind Fabric and the campaign to save it.
The review heard impassioned pleas from the Fabric team and co-founder Cameron Leslie tried repeatedly and patiently to explain in real, quantifiable ways everything the club has done over the years to improve safety and security; from undercover security to defibrillators (an astonishing length to go to anyway). One of the slightly more absurd suggestions heard from Islington Council was a proposed ban on music over a certain BPM.
In her closing statement, Licensing sub-committee Chair Flora Williamson said: "There is a culture of drugs at fabric which management cannot control."
But you know what? It's not over 'til it's over. Ideas are already being thrown around Twitter on what the next step is. Everyone's rallying behind the club with the #nightlifematters and #SaveFabric hashtags and that's a really positive edge to this awful mess. While we formulate a plan, check out the slightly emotional #FabricMemories.
