Back to Basics is one of the most iconic and longest-running club nights in the UK. Founded in Leeds on 23 November 1991, it has now been going for over 34 years and is still very much alive.
It was started by Dave Beer and his friend Alistair Cooke, who he met at art college. They launched it as a deliberate reaction against the increasingly commercial and polished acid house scene of the time.
The name “Back to Basics” was literal — they wanted to strip things back to the raw, fun, punk-spirited energy of proper underground clubbing.
The very first night was held on the top floor of The Chocolate Factory (later renamed The Music Factory), a three-storey gay club on Lower Briggate. It started small, with just 80 people, but quickly grew into something massive. Dave Beer has been the driving force behind it ever since.
Back to Basics Founder
A teenage punk rocker, Dave Beer began following The Clash and The Cure around until he fell into jobs as roadie and tour manager for various 80s indie bands.
When acid house arrived in the late 1980s, Dave threw himself head-first into the movement and at the turn of the 90s started a club night with best friend Alistair Cook in their home city of Leeds in the north of England..
It was the friendly, community feeling and hedonistic aesthetic that made Basics one of the success stories of the 1990s.
Musically, the award-winning nights were on-point: they gave UK debuts to US DJs such as Danny Tenaglia, Derrick Carter and Francois K, early opportunities to Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada, and helped nurture resident DJs such as Ralph Lawson, Denney, Paul
Woolford, Tristan Da Cunha, James Holroyd, Huggy and Burnski.
Back to Basics is Europe’s longest-running weekly club night, founded in Leeds in 1991. Known for its punk ethos and focus on quality house music, the club has moved through several iconic venues over its 30-plus-year history
A brief recap of the back to basics happenings over the last three decades
