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THE MONASTERY

Rachael and Graham were the longest runnning resident DJ’s at the infamous Monastery Nightclub Allnighter in Torquay and they became well known for their energetic , pumping late night & early morning DJ sets . They were resident DJ’s for the club when the allnighters started in 1995 right up until its closure in 2001 but recently the Monastery has been revived by Sally Harris in 2015 and with its large loyal fanbase of clubbers it still continues to be a club night that kees the clubbers stomping. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Monastery was well know for its very special and friendly clubbing atmosphere and clubbers would travel from all over the country to experience “The Monastery” vibe.  To add to its popularity in the late nineties it was the only all night venue in the south west which gave clubbers the opportunity to keep dancing right up until 7am on a sunday morning and most of them did!  

 

 

Courtesy of Wikipedia    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery,_torquay

 

The Monastery was an underground dance music club on Torwood Gardens Road in Torquay. The venue itself was an actual converted 19th century church.. It was open from 12 midnight until 7am every Saturday night through to Sunday morning. Its unlicensed status also meant that the minimum age was only 17. The unique experience that the club offered meant that every week the place was extremely busy right through till 7am, even on a resident DJ night, with clubbers coming from as far as London and the North to be involved in The Monastery phenomenon.

 

 

The Monastery Experience

As a members only club with a tiny capacity - officially only for 500 members - it regularly doubled or even tripled this due to the sheer popularity of this legendary venue and its international DJ's. Entry queues would often reach to the end of the road, and demand to get into the club often meant that there was a 1 in 1 out entry policy. "The Mony" boasted an extremely loud and clear sound system, and a state of the art Martin Robo & Mac lighting rig. The club itself was built around a unique layout, which maximised the benefits that the acoustic structural design of the church offered. Multi-level dance platforms, a huge stage area and a large full size balcony that spanned round the entire venue all contributed to the Monastery experience. 

 

 

 

The Music

The club's main attraction was its underground music policy. Hard house, and later hard trance were regulars. Big name DJ's such as: Judge Jules, The Tidy Boys, Lisa Lashes, Lisa Pin-up,Mark E.G and M-Zone Anne Savage (DJ), Billy Nasty, Paul Glazby, Lee Haslam, Andy Farley, Nick Sentience, BK(resident), Steve Thomas(resident). Rachael Shock and Graham Eden, of Shock Records (AKA The Brain Bashers), Chris Blade, held longstanding residencies, Also DJ local heroes such as, Kev Walters, Ben McGowan, Matt Vinyl,4 Play, Ben House, Chase, Moon and Deny 

 

The History

The Monastery went from strength to strength, and the club never really needed to advertise as its members were in excess of 15000.  The club received some excellent national PR: its website was reported on national TV as having more than 1 million hits in just one week, and was voted the 3rd best club in the 'world' by national tabloid The Independent Magazine. Surprisingly enough, despite the images that may spring to mind when thinking of an all night dance club, befitting the overall description, the club was in fact completely family run by the Lane & Harris family. The owner, Don, took charge of the overall operation, his wife Barbara took money at the door, and his daughter Sally Harris was the legendary promoter. The club was closed in November 2001 after a successful 12 years of trading but recently the Monastery has been revived by Sally in 2015 and with its large loyal fanbase of clubbers it still continues to be a club night that kees the clubbers stomping. 

 

 

 

 

Photo Gallery of Graham and Rachael playing Monastery

Gallery of Monastery Flyers

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