Pretty Hate Productions and the Birmingham Music Archive have collaborated on a new documentary, In The Que: Celebrating the Que Club, which reflects upon the famed venue’s impact on dance music in England throughout the ’90s.
The 35-minute documentary, which was uploaded on December 29, combines archival footage from various club nights held at the venue with talking-head interviews with those that were there in the venue’s heyday – including “DJs, promoters, clubbers and staff”, as per a statement from the filmmakers.
“With an imposing central hall, complete with a huge organ and steep, terrifying balconies that would shake as clubbers danced on them, the Methodist Central Hall also had some 30-plus rooms and miles of corridors and roof space,” the blurb read.
“It was unique in being able to have 2000 clubbers raving to techno in the main hall, whilst 100 people might be listening to drum & bass in a side-room, 50 listening to jungle in another and others listening to garage, basement or breakbeat.”
Watch In The Que below:
In The Que was first announced with a trailer in April of 2020. Its production was halted and delayed, however, on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was funded in part by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The Que was forged out of Birmingham’s Methodist Central Hall in the late ’80s by promoter and manager Billy Gaff. Aside from running regular club nights throughout the ’90s, the venue also hosted performances by acts such as David Bowie, Blur, Massive Attack, Pulp, PJ Harvey, Run DMC and Tricky. Daft Punk‘s debut live album, ‘Alive 1997’, was lifted from their performance at the venue.
The venue rebranded as The Q Club in the 2010s before it ultimately closed in 2017. Its legacy has, however, been preserved through several archival projects. A photography exhibition, The Que, ran at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in April of 2022. It included a series of unearthed photographs by the late fashion photographer Terence Donovan, which were believed to be among the final ones he ever took prior to his death in 1996.