“You will receive a text message after this call. Just follow the instructions….”
This was the message for fans hoping to bag a spot for something unusual at Abbey Road Studios tonight.
It is the world’s first – and most famous – music studio, synonymous with The Beatles and with a Who’s Who of artists it has welcomed over the decades, from Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder and Kate Bush to Oasis, Radiohead and Blur, as well as the late Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga and Stormzy.
Now, it is doing something a little different – opening its doors to clubbers.
The Beatles at Abbey Road in September 1962. Pic: Apple Corps Ltd
Abbey Road After Hours, curated by electronic pioneers Soulwax, is the venue’s first-ever “rave”, a late-night party for just 340 fans who will be hitting the dancefloor in Studio 1.
Brothers David and Stephen Dewaele, the Belgian musicians behind Soulwax, say it was an opportunity they could not refuse.
“Who doesn’t want to do a party at Abbey Road?” says Stephen. “It’s very hard to explain to people, but there’s something when you walk into this building because there’s so much history, but it also feels…
“For Dave and me, one idea after the other came just by walking from one of the rooms to the other room. So there’s something about this place. And hopefully we don’t ruin it.”
Soulwax, on stage at Brixton Academy in January, are curating the first ‘rave’ at Abbey Road Studios. Pic: Jim Dyson/ Getty Images
Soulwax went old-school, asking fans to call a special hotline in a nod to the method of discovering the secret locations of raves in the late 1980s and early ’90s. While tonight’s event won’t be as rough-and-ready as raves were back in the day (the venue is already known, and it finishes at 1am, for a start), they are promising “a good party”. (Glow sticks optional).
Around 4,000 people tried to get tickets, with demand at more than 10 times the available capacity.
Noel Gallagher with Oasis photographer Jill Furmanovsky at Abbey Road in 2024. Pic: Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/Shutterstock
“It’s really been exponentially way more than we thought and also way more than we can fit in,” says Stephen. “But we’re filming the whole thing, so hopefully people will be able to see it afterwards.”
The brothers have been working at Abbey Road for the past few days, recording new music and cutting directly to vinyl, ready to play out live for the first time to tonight’s ravers.
They are sitting in Studio 1 as they talk to Sky News during a quick break from their work.
This is the room where recorded music history began in 1931. The Beatles performed All You Need Is Love for the world’s first global satellite broadcast here, and where some of the greatest film scores of the last 45 years have been recorded, from Raiders Of The Lost Ark and The Return Of The Jedi, to Harry Potter and Wicked.
An attraction to ‘stupid’ ideas?
Stephen (left) and David Dewaele at Abbey Road Studios. Pic: Carsten Windhorst and Gerard Hynes
Soulwax are electronic innovators who have been pushing boundaries since the mid-1990s. As well as being a band, they are DJs (2manydjs), a record label (DEEWEE), co-creators of their own custom-built soundsystem (Despacio), and Grammy-nominated producers.
They are also known for their boundary-breaking live shows, so an Abbey Road rave seems like a good fit.
“Are you saying we have an attraction to stupid ideas?” laughs David. “Because we do… yeah, it fits completely because we’ve got sort of one foot very much in this world where… not just for us, I think most people’s musical DNA is sort of shaped by these rooms, isn’t it? Whether it’s popular music or classical, and it’s such a big part of the musical vernacular. So for us to be given the opportunity to bring something new in here, of course, yes, in our minds it makes complete sense.”
Abbey Road director of creative and marketing Mark Robertson says he is always looking for new ideas for the studios
The idea is the brainchild of Mark Robertson, director of marketing and creative at Abbey Road, who says they are always looking for ways to innovate and expand on the traditional uses for the venue.
“I guess that spirit of creative exploration is why hosting a rave here in our house feels like the right thing to do,” he says. “Number one, it’s unexpected. Number two, it’s a way that we can bring people into the building, for fans to actually embrace the music…
“Being able to share some of our story with those people that are coming here for something really special is a great thing.”
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As a rave fan, Mark says it is exciting to bring that world into Abbey Road.
“It’s kind of a strange thing… I think about all the different club nights that I’ve been to over the years, and now to come back and actually bring it into this place is amazing.”
So will there be more Abbey Road raves in the future?
“Never say never.”
