Watch a new documentary on legendary Coventry club, The Eclipse

A new documentary has been released online charting the history of legendary Coventry venue, The Eclipse — the first legal all-night club in the UK. 

‘The Eclipse Part 1: I Go Out On Friday Night, And I Come Home On Saturday Morning’, is the first chapter in a retelling of this story, which production company Reflection Media states has been “whitewashed from dance music history… until now.” 

Archive footage is interspersed with interviews featuring Man Parris, DJ Dobbo, Carl Williams, Jumpin’ Jack Frost, and Mick Wilson, one-half of legendary DJ duo and original residents Parks & Wilson, now DJ Mag’s Tech Editor. 

Established by local entrepreneurs Stuart Reid and Barry Edwards, The Eclipse opened as a 1,600 capacity nightspot inside the former Granada Bingo Hall in October 1990 with an impressive line-up. Namely ‘Evil’ Eddie Richards, Fabio, Sasha, and MC Tunes. 

The Eclipse was also reportedly the location for one of the very first gigs The Prodigy played, with unconfirmed anecdotes suggesting the outfit performed for a fee of just £60. The club rebranded as The Edge in 1992 and closed for good in February 1994. Two years later, Virgin records dedicated a two-volume retrospective compilation to its legacy, ‘The Eclipse Presents Dance ‘Til Dawn’. 

In the past two years, there has been a slew of insightful dance music documentaries released, capturing the spirit, sounds, and sights of global club scenes. Recent examples include a film on the birth of Punjabi garage, produced by Yung Singh, ‘Midnight Frontier‘, which focuses on the LGBTQI+ activism linked to Tbilisi nightspot Bassiani, and a video chronicling 1990s warehouse parties in Newcastle, UK.