Published
Mon, Jan 14, 2019, 15:14
- An investigation into the Farringdon venue, which coincidentally celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
fabric's online and street presence has faded to black.
All that remains on the London club's social media accounts and website is black. (Its Facebook page appears to have been deactivated, while its Resident Advisor club page remains intact.) The Charterhouse Street entrance has also been boarded up with painted wood, according to an image circulating on Imgur.
While the Farringdon venue's weekend programming appears to have gone on as planned, fans are now worried fabric's future is once again in jeopardy or speculating if a disgruntled ex-employee had one last hurrah (unlikely).
Emails to several members of fabric's staff received an automatic reply that contained only 20 black squares in response. With no other information or communication from the team, RA staff were left to decipher the few clues.
The nature of the social media blackout and website changes hint that this is an impermanent stunt. fabric's 2019 events calendar remains live on RA; its last listed event is Amelie Lens's Exhale party March 30th. Facebook accounts can be restored within 30 days to the page's original state, likes and all, and archived Instagram photos can similarly be returned to the feed. The url for fabric's website, fabriclondon.com, now automatically redirects to "fabriclondon.com/c7a3bd3e4233f5177ca5c438750b36e1918dde10," also suggesting a temporary change. Tweets, however, cannot be undeleted, though that is likely for the best.
fabric was founded in 1999, making 2019 its 20th anniversary. Those 20 black squares are the biggest tip we have into determining that the club is gearing up for a major birthday announcement very soon. What that exactly is, we can only further speculate (the all-black images could be blank flyers, meaning no public lineups), but 20 parties for 20 years has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
Revisit our 2016 In Residence feature on the legendary club.
Update: The boards outside fabric have been painted with two arrows instructing you to peer into two small holes. A sign posted to the front door reads, "The next chapter starts here. Love, fabric xx." XX is 20 in Roman numerals. Coincidence?
This post has been updated to reflect new information.
Photo credit: Imgur
