The Rhumba Club

How do you describe a truly unique club that has been around for 20 years changing like a chameleon through the years as new and old enjoy the entertainment that is called The Rhumba Club. The unique blend of music through the years kept this clubs reputation as one of the best club nights in Scotland and at some points in it's life the best in the UK.

The start...

The Rhumba Club first appeared on the dance club scene on a Friday night in February 1991 at Roxannes nightclub in Perth Scotland. Wayne Dunbar and Zammo, under the banner of Floatation Perceptions, were the promoters and founders with Zammo taking up the part of resident DJ. At this moment in time Tayside had no real Club night where you could go and hear house music for an entire night, properly presented as a club night. Many things attracted house music lovers to the Rhumba for some it was the music, others the scene and others the ambience. One thing which shone from the start was how this was a distinctly different club night. Word spread fast and every night began to sell out.

Time for the DJs...

Around July 1991 for reasons unknown the club moved to Fat Sams in Dundee where it began to introduce the most up and coming DJs to the Rhumba faithful. Names to grace the club at this point were Justin Robertson, Andrew Weatherall, Paul Wain, Slam, Steve Bicknell, Nipper, Jacqui Morrison, Harri, Parks & Wilson, Jon Da Silva to name but a few. Zammo held residency pumping out the best in Balearic beats while the guests each week brought their house music blend to the club creating a truly Balearic club. The club also developed a huge loyal following who came for the music, vibe and to see a guy called Higgins who became a clubbing legend with his Rhumba antics. Incredibly within 3 short months DJMag had named the Rhumba Club No1 in the UK in it's monthly charts. MixMag would follow that up with awarding The Rhumba the title Best Balearic Club 1991. The last night played at Fat Sams in Dundee was the First Birthday party in February 1992.

Moving direction towards super club...

Again upheaval hit The Rhumba and it wasn't until April 1992 that a venue was secured for the future of the club. The move to the Citrus Club in Edinburgh raised a few eyebrows not least as the Rhumba fan base now had a 60 mile round trip to visit their club. Dance music was changing and the demand for quality clubs, music and a safe atmosphere was in demand. The Rhumba moved away from being a weekly promotion to a monthly promotion. The Rhumba began it's stint at The Citrus Club with the line up of Gaerth Somerville, Steve Bicknell, Zammo and Paul Wain on Friday 03/04/1992. With such a growing reputation the Rhumba was able to capture the cream of club DJs to its monthly nights. With the emergence of Cream, Ministry of Sound and Back to Basics down south the dance scene was reaching new heights. Most of the top club DJs of there time managed to squeeze an appearance in at the Rhumba from Alistair Cooke, Craig Walsh, Kelvin Andrews, Rad Rice, David Holmes to Dave Seaman and the guest DJs from the early days at Fat Sams flocked back as well. The Rhumba lasted for 3 years at the Citrus Club finishing in 1993 with the Christmas Festivity starring John Digweed, Rad Rice, Paul Wain, Zammo and Gareth Sommerville.

Super Club...

What started as a one off in 1993 with the Rhumbasaruas Rex began a 3 year stint at the Arbroath sea front Ballys nightclub which could hold 1000+. The Rhumba had now ascended to superclub status. It commanded the biggest crowd in Scotland and the biggest DJs made there way there every 2 or 3 months as the club night went from monthly to quarterly. DJs that came were the biggest in the business with Jeremy Healy coming at his Ibiza peak, the master himself Sasha with his Northern Exposure night and Paul Oakenfold just after his acclaimed Radio 1 Goa essential mix. Being a super club opened up avenues to attract the superstar DJs like Sasha, a DJ who was long overdue to play at the Club and really should have been there in the early days. In 1994 after 4 years at the top the Grand Finale night was announced and Rhumbateers young and old descended on the Flicks nightclub in Brechin. It seemed like the end, and for some it was, for others it had been a long time ago and for others it was only beginning. It was announced as the end but just like a phoenix from the flames the club night moved back to where it all began. In 1995 the Rhumba used the state of the art Ice Factory nightclub in Perth to hold it's 4th Birthday party. In 1995 Club Metro would once again open it's doors to the Rhumba crew who would keep coming up until the start of 1996 where a change in direction would see it permantly move back to it's roots.

Back to its roots...

The Rhumba took no time at all in 1996 to be convinced that the brand new Ice Factory nightclub in Perth with it's state of the art design was the place where The Rhumba club could flourish again with new and old. It had already held a few club nights under The Rhumba banner but had always kept it's ties with The Metro. With around a capacity of nearly 1000 the club was reintroduced to the Perth landscape and the club night changed to add a host of DJs at each club night. The nights were fresher more artistic feel to them. The club had maybe lost it's cosy feeling of the Roxannes/Fat Sams era but it had grown into one of the strongest commercial nights out in Scotland. The Rhumba held many a club night throughout 1996 to 2009 until the Ice Factory shut it doors in 2009. This was unfortunate for The Rhumba as in 2008 and 2009 it began to move from "best of" nights with Zammo and Michael Kilkie to once again attract the top name DJs in the business like John Digweed, Dave Seaman and the likes. It may have been the end of the Rhumba at the Ice Factory but a familiar friend was witing just round the corner to allow the club a new lease of light.

Back to its roots part 2...

The Rhumba came full cirlce when in October 2009 it reurned to a very different Fat Sams in Dundee to take up a qaurterly residency. It had been 16 years since The Rhumba had been on overnight sucess at the original Fat Sams and it picked up where it left off all those years ago with Orbital opening up to a rejuvenated nightclub which was now twice the size. With the always popular Christmas Festivity planned for the end of December another era beckons for rrrrRhumba.

The Music...

One thing that has always been strong has been the music. Back in 1991 the only place you could here the tunes Zammo laid down was in his club. The guest DJs back then simply didn't come to Scotland very often and it was an honour for them to grace Dundee with their talent. Aberdeen had the Pelican club and Glasgow had the Tunnel or Slam nights but the Rhumba was different in that it didn't stick to a music code like the others mentioned. You could go to the Rhumba where one DJ would play American Garage and then the next hit you with Techno and then Zammo would hit you with what ever was in his William Lows plastic bag. Early days it really was a ground breaking club. It's move to Edinburgh seen it establish a more house music scene but it still was never afraid to ask the Techno master Steve Bicknell to do a turn. In Arbroath it tended to be a younger crowd who filled the place, or maybe it just seemed like that as there was double the amount of tickets available now to the club night. The music was probably at it's most consistent here with Sasha and Oakenfold laying down tunes. Some will say that the original cosy, "every knows your name" atmosphere had been lost by then and that it simply became just like every other club night. This is maybe true but it still kept the crowds coming back. When it reappeared in Perth it just hit the big time. The Ice Factory club was superb and the DJs attracted really did make this night one that no clubber of any age could miss. The Rhumba now has found its city roots again and big things beckon for the music as in Fat Sams it can still attract the big name DJs as well as paying homage to the classics. Fat Sams, Dundee is where you can still enjoy this unique and enduring club.