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Your support makes all the difference.Lovers of dance music had always had to travel abroad for festivals. But last year, Encompass was born in London to celebrate the capital's electronic-music scene. The annual shindig showcases sonic art, music technology and, most important, the DJs and producers behind the music, about 100 of whom will perform this weekend in London clubs. The highlights are the label showcases, with Soma's top artists at 93 Feet East, the Swedish techno maestro Adam Beyer putting The End through its paces, and the German Poker Flat stable taking over Fabric in Charterhouse Street, EC1.
Fabric was set up in 1999 by Keith Reilly as an antidote to a stagnant London scene. "They'd made virtually all the clubs into the house top 20," he says with distaste. Reilly, 47, spent eight years planning Fabric. The blueprint is simple. "This place is about music," Reilly says. "We embrace all types: drum'n'bass, grime... who else touches grime? I've got so much enthusiasm for grime and dubstep at the moment - Plan B, Kano, Faith SFX.
"We try not to be too pretentious about it being a great club. It's not; it's real stupid down here, real spit and sawdust. My background was in promoting warehouse parties, and what we really wanted was a warehouse party without the police coming."
The club was, in Reilly's words, "gloriously successful from day one, but a nightmare for me. It has been three years of hell, and the next three years clearing up the mess. But I've got everything back exactly as it was now. We're in a wonderful position."
Reilly will relive his memories in an interview/ Q&A session on Saturday afternoon in Shoreditch Town Hall, as part of Encompass. He will no doubt relate how Madonna was never refused entry - contrary to reports - just her security entourage; how Macaulay Culkin stood in the queue with the other punters for two hours in a pink, fringed cowboy jacket; how Prince Edward and Prince Andrew were turned down because they couldn't convince him they were into the music; and how he rejected a mix for his Fabric CD series from the revered Detroit-techno DJ Rolando because it was "hideously retro and boring".
Thursday to Sunday ( www.encompass-london.com)
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