Godskitchen Global Gathering

Godskitchen is one of the true success stories of the 90s.  The past two years in particular have seen the metamorphosis of a club with a vision, into an astronomical and global super-club.  Fames for its combination of the finest DJs, extravagant decor and most importantly, the right attitude towards its loyal clubbers, Godskitchen seemed to spring from no-where.  It didn't.   It was a see blossoming in the heads of two forward thinking promoters, Chris Griffin and Tyrone De Savery.  This allegiance was the intrinsic element that would deem every future project they undertook, a success.

Their story begins back in the heady days of rave in the early  1990s.  With Tyrone established as the promoter of the successful Taste events and Chris having already staged such events as Perception and the mighty Vision in Winchester in 1992 (which attracted allegedly over 38,000 people), they are some of the most experienced members of the clubbing industry.   Chris promoted the phenomenally successful New Year's Eve party in Sydney for Fantazia in 1993 and was introduced to Tyrone by Fantazia's James.  Tyrone dated Sally one of the Fantazia key staff members as well as modelling for the Fantazia clothing range.   Together they formed Godskitchen.

The very first Godskitchen was held  at The Junction in Cambridge and through shrewd marketing and a convincing brand the pair had a sell out event on their hands three days before kick off.  This was the launch of an empire and its huge success has been echoed by every project undertaken since then.  A series of sell out events followed at venues throughout the country with guest spots from the like of Danny Rampling and Jeremy Healy.

By the end of 1993, Godskitchen had a firm place on the clubbing map with a tried and tested recipe that had  fashioned an unmistakeable identity.  Their next move was to head back to Australia and embark on promoting the Fantazia tour - the first of its kind by an English promoter.  The tours took place in 1994 with such DJ luminaries as Graeme Park, Grooverider and Sven Vath, gracing the decks everywhere from Sydney and Adelaide, to Melbourne and Brisbane.  The success of this tour began a legacy that would grow and expand and enable Godskitchen to tour Australia a further 6 times with the UKs premier DJs including Judge Jules and Jeremy Healy.

It was these tours that provided Chris and Tyrone with the all-important client relationships in the ever-growing dance music industry, enabling them to build close ties with the influential ingredients that were to be imperative for the weekly Godskitchen events to succeed.   Now with the necessary contacts and experience, they were ready to launch Godskitchen on a regular basis.   The weekly event was born in Northampton in May 1996 with a capacity of 800 people.  The opening night was rammed to the rafters with at least as many people turned away.   This was the reception that Godskitchen received every week until such success demanded a bigger venue.   Despite their reservations and concerns about the area, the next stop for Godskitchen was The Planet in Coventry.  The opening night was quiet but with determined conviction they ploughed on.  The increased momentum meant the Friday night at The Planet was soon playing host to a capacity crowd of 1,500 "up for it" clubbers and they were one rung further up the ladder.

With a now established brand, Chris and Tyrone made a pioneering move to broaden the market awareness of the Godskitchen phenomenon.  A decision was made to stage an event for 4,000 people at the Milton Keynes Sanctuary - an arena that Cream had failed to fill only 12 months previously.  Cynicism was rife among peers and critics but when the event sold out two days in advance there was much humble pie to be eaten.  Plans were soon made for a follow up event, which similarly sold out well in advance.  The profile of Godskitchen was considerably raised and they were now in the super-league of clubbing, competing with the likes of Gatecrasher, Cream and Ministry.

The only thing lacking from their perfect formula was "somewhere they could call home". They needed a base to stage a regular events where they could build a faithful crowd and establish themselves as one of the UKs strongest promoters. The decision to move took them to the centre of the country and England's second city - Birmingham.  Godskitchen opened at The Sanctuary on Friday 6th February 1998, with over 4,000 clubbers turning out to witness the biggest club opening in Brum had ever seen.   Since the opening night Godskitchen has been full to capacity every week.  Even throughout the summer when most clubs were claiming a clubbing recession, Godskitchen were regularly turning away over 1000 people each week.  To date the venue has had the pleasurable company of such legends as Tall Paul as a fortnightly resident, the world's biggest DJ Paul Oakenfold, Sasha.htm">Sasha, Seb Fontaine, Judge Jules and many, many more.   A new era of clubbing was born and a generation awaited the unexpected.

Having conquered the UK club scene, Godskitchen decided to tackle the European market and where better to start than the legendary isle of style - Ibiza.  Setting up weekly residency at the famed Amnesia nightclub on a Tuesday, the day after the legendary Manumission, led many critics to write them off before they'd even begun.  How wrong they were!  Chris and Tyrone had spent two years planning the move with military precision, employing all of the white island's favourite DJs, outrageous entertainers and the largest and best trained team of PRs around.

With Tall Paul as  a weekly resident, 1999 saw the biggest impact by a club opened in late June with a capacity crowd of 5,500.  The club remained consistent in pulling in punters well into September.  The night was the ultimate success story of the summer and during 1999 no one could visit Ibiza without visiting the club.  Once again 2000 has proved that nobody does it quite as good as Godskitchen - and the opening night set a precedent for clubbing in Ibiza for 2000.

1999 stood out as their most successful year but that didn't mean the train that is Godskitchen would be slowing down.  The 21st century has already become a stage to exhibit their prominence in the dance music industry.  Now completed and creating a stir though out clubland, the multi-million pound super club Code is a place they can finally call home.  Together with the vision and inspiration from new partner and industry heavyweight Neil Moffitt, they have placed the third and final piece of the Godskitchen jigsaw in place.   

Godskitchen have gone on to launch many club tours and also the huge Global Gathering.   More information to come............