A seafront venue is celebrating its 21st birthday.

Hundreds of thousands of people have attended gigs and club nights at the Concorde 2 in Madeira Drive, Brighton, since it opened in 1987.

The original venue, which opened opposite the Palace Pier, was bulldozed to make room for the Aquarium Terraces.

DJ Norman Cook's Big Beat Boutique, which lent its name to the big beat genre, was in full swing when the venue moved to its current location in 2000 and became Concorde 2.

The video to the Fatboy Slim single Build It Up, Tear It Down, was filmed on the last night at the old venue and shows people ripping the building apart.

The current Grade II listed building was originally the shelter hall for the Madeira Lift, which has carried passengers down from Marine Parade since 1890.

The lift is now closed for a £250,000 refurbishment and is not due to reopen until next year.

The building was previously used as a tea room, a reading room and a bikers' café but had been empty for several years before the Concorde took over.

Production co-ordinator Trevor Madison said: "It was a wreck when we moved in. A lot of the stained glass windows were smashed and it looked dishevelled.

"We have smartened it up but it doesn't look much different than it did 100 years ago."

What has changed is the music.

A decade ago clubbing was far more popular, with tickets selling out days in advance. Now it is live music which pulls in the crowds - but these days audience members are just as likely to be middle-aged as teenage, with the trend for bands choosing to reform decades after splitting up.

The Concorde 2 has benefited from this trend, having recently played host to such groups as The Specials, The Blackbyrds and Curved Air.

Trevor believes the 24-hour drinking laws are partly to blame for the decline of clubbing, along with the smoking ban, which he claims has changed the venue's atmosphere.

He said: "The social interaction happens outside now so it's difficult for DJs to build up a mood.

"I think gigs are a more intense experience and people don't want to leave halfway through."

  • See the video here

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