In 1991, Steve Baxendale opened the doors to a small, unknown backstreet club in the centre of Sheffield that went by the name of Niche. Little did he know, this club would become one of the most legendary dance music venues in the world.
Niche began life as an all night dance club on Sidney Street, opening at midnight and closing its doors at midday, serving up underground house and garage. As the years progressed, Niche came to the forefront of the UK underground clubbing scene as it began to fuse house, garage and R'n'B creating a unique sound all of its own. Niche soon became a thriving success story on the underground clubbing scene. Clubbers would travel the length of the country, and indeed across the globe, just for a night at this legendary venue. Niche had an atmosphere like no other, clubbers came together to dance as one, leaving their differences at the door. It was a unique haven where everyone was welcome. Niche had become globally recognised by the dance music community as a place with a truly distinctive underground sound, a place where millions of memories were leading to many long lasting friendships and relationships. Niche became known as the birth place of bassline. But sadly, on 27th November 2005, Niche closed it's doors for the final time.
In October 2006, Steve Baxendale opened a new venue called Club Vibe on Charter Row (Sheffield) after being inundated with messages of support from the clubbers that had fallen in love with Niche. During the three years that Club Vibe was open, it carried the baton for Niche and further forged and shaped the bassline scene. In particular, the now cherished era of 2007. The '07 era to the nu-school ravers is cherished just as much as the late 90's/early 00's are by the original Niche veterans. It was a time when little known producers burst out from their bedrooms and on to the main stages of clubs and events like The Limit, Twilite and Warehouse. These were the new kids on the block, producing the bangers that the new era of ravers were demanding from iconic DJ's on the scene. The crowds flocked in every weekend, and with a lot of hard work and cooperation with the authorities, the trust and respect that Niche built with the authorities was promising.
Summer 2008 brought the next big step for Niche. With the bassline scene receiving full hype, Steve received a call about the possibility of producing the first ever commercially released bassline album. The call came from non other than the mighty Ministry Of Sound. After long discussions, the deal was done and volume one of The Sound Of Bassline was released and went gold, selling in excess of 100,000 copies. Due to this huge success, The Sound Of Bassline 2 followed in January 2009. For the first time ever, Niche was viewed as a brand and a music genre in its own right; dance music fanatics were now regularly referring to bassline as 'Niche' music.
At the start of October 2009, contracts were signed for Club Vibe to extend into the empty unit next door. There was only one real option of what to do with the huge space; create a bassline super club. After long discussions and seeking the support of the authorities, it was decided that there was only one name that could fly above the door of this huge new venue; Niche!
On 27th November 2009, clubbers waved a fond farewell to Club Vibe as it opened its doors under the name of Niche exactly four years after the original Niche building on Sidney Street closed. The grand opening of Niche on Charter Row was without a doubt one of the single biggest clubbing events Sheffield had ever seen. The doors opened at 9pm, and by 10pm they were closed because Niche was completely packed! Steve quickly took action and did an on the spot deal with the club opposite, the Empire bar. Empire acted as an overflow club for those who couldn't get into Niche. But it wasn't long before Empire too closed its doors because it was operating at full capacity; the event was a success like never seen before! Whilst Charter Row played home to Niche, it hosted some of the biggest bassline events to date, had some amazing DJ's grace the decks, and created yet more lasting memories for the clubbers.
In October 2010, Niche left its second home on Charter Row and went 'On Tour'. During the next few years, Niche hosted capacity events at some of the largest commercial music venues around the UK. The Niche name was a sought after commodity, and it showed no sign of slowing down, even without a permanent home in Sheffield.
During August 2016, the original, now iconic, Niche nightclub building on Sidney Street was demolished to make way for city centre apartments. The city of Sheffield had to say goodbye to yet another music venue that once called it home. It was a sad sight to see for all loyal Niche fans, many of them shedding a tear whilst claiming a small piece of the building to keep as a memento as it came down. The demolition of the original building was much more than just the removal of bricks and mortar; with it went that little permanent reminder of the music, the memories and the love that was created there. But one thing that did not die with the venue however was the passion and enthusiasm of its loyal followers. The physical reminder was gone, but the memories will never die, and the fire rages on hotter than ever inside the hearts of the Niche community.
The demolition of the original Niche nightclub struck such a strong chord with the Niche community that in September 2016, Steve decided to open a new venue. Located below arches 9-11 of the old Wicker railway bridge on Walker Street, a new chapter in the Niche story was about to be born. The new venue shared that industrial backstreet feel that made the original Niche nightclub such a phenomenal success. So the brief was simple, to create a feeling as close as possible to walking into the original Sidney Street building; layout, colour scheme, sound system, toilets, chill out area; everything! An investment of £250,000 was made to bring the venue up to standard, allowing Niche to return to its home city of Sheffield.
On 28th January 2017, with the approval of the authorities once again, the doors opened. Crowds flocked to the opening night to experience the new venue for themselves. It was an emotional night for everyone involved, reuniting many long lost friends. The physical venue had changed, but the passion and atmosphere were still there. Old-skool clubbers from the Sidney Street days embraced younger generations of new-skool Niche lovers who had never had the chance to experience the original Niche nightclub. The magic of Niche had returned to Sheffield!
On the 19th April 2018, Niche makes it way to the home of luxury, Dubai! Opening its doors on the stunning rooftop terrace of Metropolitan Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road. With views of famous UAE landmarks at every angle!
For the music. For the memories. For the love.
