65 62 61


ROBERT JOHNSON OFFENBACH, GERMANY CAPACITY: 250 ROBERT-JOHNSON.DE


64 RE ENTRY


NAMEDafter the infamous dapper-dressed bluesman whose fiendish guitar playing and hedonistic ways — not to mention fabled satanic pact — made him the father of rock ‘n’ roll’s long relationship with the dark side, Robert Johnson the club has plenty of that self-same ribald attitude. A tiny space that packs in a clued-up crowd to check out ice-cold DJs like Gerd Janson, Dixon, Ricardo Villalobos and Harvey through its slick Martin Audio system, Robert Johnson has that intimate hip joint vibe down pat. Open all year round with weekly Friday and Saturday parties, they host a Sunday party every two weeks. And with a record label and plush coffee table book bearing their insignia, the Robert Johnson name will continue to resonate far beyond its four bass-shaken walls.


BETA (WATERLOO) WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA CAPACITY: 640 BETAWATERLOO.CA


WOMB TOKYO, JAPAN


CAPACITY: 1000


ASK DJs of the cooler stripe where most in the world they’d like to play, and chances are they’ll say Womb. It’s not just its location in arguably the hippest urban conurbation on the planet. What makes this cavernous space so special is that the details are just right. The soundsystem, designed by Steve Dash, is one of the best that DJ Mag has come across: utterly enveloping, warm, cosy almost. The club’s name is apposite. Add a strictly no sell-out booking policy of the best DJs in techno, house, drum & bass and more, mind-blowing lasers, a gigantic mirrorball, the stripped bare, unpretentious, cavernous interior, a great crowd, and you’ve got the ingredients of a club that deserves to top this list.


25 14


RE-ENTRY


WHENpresented with the news that Beta had made the cut again this year, a Beta (Waterloo) spokesperson highlighted that Waterloo (Ontario) is universally infamous for two reasons: its universities and as the birthplace of fruity phone corporation Blackberry. Now they can add home to the 63rd best club in the world — as voted by the people — to the list, and the third highest from Canada, behind Montreal’s Circus Afterhours and Toronto’s Footwork. This 650-capacity box is not one of the larger entries in the poll, but don’t let that fool you. The sound is big, its Dynacord Alpha system one of the best there is, and its bookings are even bigger: Nicky Romero, Hardwell and Laidback Luke are just a few of the titans spotted on the ones and twos in recent months.


CABLE LONDON, ENGLAND CAPACITY: 1000 CABLE-LONDON.COM


02


63


WATERGATE BERLIN, GERMANY CAPACITY: 600 WATER-GATE.DE


18


WHENWatergate set up on the banks of the River Spree in 1992, just two years after the Berlin Wall came down, Kreuzberg, on the East/West border, was a stretch of urban wasteland. These days, Watergate’s neighbourhood is a bustling bohemia of bars, restaurants and clubs, this split-levelled mini-club-complex with an LED ceiling its ground zero. Unlike the political building from which it takes its name, there’s nothing corporate about the operation within its walls. The city’s home for Diynamic, Circoloco and Tiefschwarz’s Souvenir parties celebrated 10 years last year with open-air events, including a Henrik Schwarz live band on the river, and serves as a regular stomping ground for household names like Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, Solomun, Kerri Chandler and Ellen Allien. There’s absolutely no reason to hate Watergate.


“DURING a period when London clubland was due a much-needed kick up the backside, amidst many venue closures, we were there with our big size 12s,” Cable’s marketing manager Chris Halliday tells DJ Mag. And he ain’t wrong. Since opening its doors in 2009, the venue has continued to stand tall, fighting the cause for the capital’s turbulent club scene with wall-to-wall quality underneath London Bridge’s noisiest archways each week. Leaning slightly more towards d&b and bass/breaks during its early years, the venue has welcomed 4/4 sounds into its cavernous vaults increasingly in recent years. Even its flagship night, We Fear Silence, has found itself compiling Boddika, Dexter and Ben Klock one week, UK funky/garage heads like Lil Silva and Phaeleh the next, while sticking to its roots with a 15 Years Of Virus party (Ed Rush, Optical, Matrix) last month. Leeds’ underground powerhouse Ketoloco has also found a home here, encouraging it to book even bigger, with Solomun and Todd Terje making the cut so far. Grime’s cutting edge made a devastating incision with Butterz’s third birthday (page 104) recently, Jaded is the weekly go-to for wonky early hours troopers, and Connected has the deep house/techno shufflers out in full force — making this bare-bricked urban cave a fully fledged embodiment of London clubbing culture today, meeting the highest possible standards.


038 djmag.com


60


EXCHANGE DOWNTOWN LA, CA CAPACITY: 1500 EXCHANGELA.COM NEW ENTRY


YOU only have to see Exchange LA to ‘take stock’ of what it used to be. Once the official dwellings of the LA Stock Exchange’s downtown activity — which closed its operations in 1986 as fiscal business fled to other parts of the city — the building’s four floors were unveiled as Los Angeles’ most ambitious club concept in 2010. Designed by Samuel Lunden and built in 1929, this opulent eleven-story Art Deco building is no longer run by fat cat investors, but the article of affection for the world’s most successful DJs (Armin van Buuren, Carl Cox, AN21, Max Vangelli). The old trading floor is now a massive main room strapped with Funktion Ones, 200sqft LED wall and a lighting rig designed by Steve Lieberman. Two VIP rooms — The Rockefeller Room, which used to be the members’ lounge, and the Skyloft observation room overlooking the action — service those who DO have the dollar. The perfect place for LA’s high-rollers.


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