The Tunnel Nightclub was the Gold Coast's clubbing hub from 1988 to 1995.
Nowhere else came close. Nowhere else would dare try. 18 years after the vinyl stopped spinning, Adam Roberts and DJ Senard are plugging in the amp for a reunion.
The Tunnel effectively missed the digital age and so there's a natural dearth of memorabilia online. We did, however, find this innocent gem uploaded by 'chefalistic'. Anyone who was 'there' couldn't hope to find a better way to spend 15 minutes than sitting back and being transported to a different time, even though the place is oh so familiar.
We spoke with DJ Senard ahead of the March 23rd event to be held in the same iconic premises on Orchid Avenue.
What was the Gold Coast scene like in the early 90s?
Our scene was the clichéd 'underground'. You still had 'commercial clubs' like Penthouse, Bensons, Cocktails and Dreams but a few venues were doing underground dance music like The Front and Tunnel.
There was and never has been anything like Tunnel on the Gold Coast. Calling it unique doesn’t add enough gravity. Mark B, Cam & Marty really took the scene on the Gold Coast through the roof. Mark was responsible for throwing parties outside of Tunnel which, looking back on it, were the best dance music events the Gold Coast has ever seen. Nothing has ever come close to Mark’s 'FREEDOM' parties.
DJs back in that period had a real following as the club culture for us was about the music. Guest DJs were fine but the residents were the headline act. I suppose we were in a sub-culture as people going to commercial clubs had no idea about what they were missing out on. 'RAGE' on ABC and 'ALCHEMY' on SBS were the TV shows where you had a hope of hearing tracks played at Tunnel. 4zzz FM in Brisbane was the only radio station where you could catch Tunnel-style music.
Cam and Marty, the other two heavyweight DJs of the Gold Coast scene back in the day, and Nathan and me are who is playing at this reunion also playing at Tunnel back in the day.
The Tunnel's music ...
It was a melting pot of genres not just restricted to techno, house, hip house etc. You could drop into the club and hear anything from Italo House, Piano House to funky grooves like ‘Back to Life – Soul ll Soul’ or ‘Connected – Stereo MCs’. Central Station in Brisbane was a temple for vinyl shopping.
There was no internet, so you had to invest time in crate digging. Due to no internet, Tunnel fans would be over the moon if they got a blank tape slammed in to record what was playing on any given night. The patrons came to ‘discover’ new music as Tunnel was their source for a weekly dose of new music you couldn't hear on radio on the Gold Coast. It was a golden age — there was something about 1992, so many tracks produced that year were astounding and have become classic anthems.
Tell us about the sense of ownership that clubbers had towards Tunnel?
For example we had people driving from Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba every weekend just to get a dose of Tunnel. Devoted and loyal is the best way to describe patrons of Tunnel, it was a culture, not just a nightclub.
To this day people still retain their mementos from Tunnel. Tunnel tapes, T-shirts, keyrings, torches are just a few of the items so treasured among the old crew. Again Mark B’s FREEDOM Parties were the the ‘most wanted’ events to be at outside of the club nights. So loyal was one punter, he jumped off Sundale Bridge onto the boat for the FREEDOM Boat Party. Another unbelievable FREEDOM party Mark B threw was at Seaworld. That, without doubt, was the most iconic and genius event the Gold Coast dance scene ever witnessed. Tunnel was a place to escape from the world and was extremely dear to the hearts of those who went there.
Fashion of the day: what do you remember?
Again a real sub-culture. The boys would follow what the DJs wore label-wise, pretty much. I dare say Stussy was the King of labels for boys. For girls, jeans and see-through chiffon shirts were in for a fair while. Things went into super casual, dance-friendly clothing seeing punters arrive in overalls, Simpsons t-shirts, bucket hats and the beloved Puma Suede’s. Long sleeve turtle neck t-shirts came in as a trend for a while and the coolest thing to wear was a Tunnel T-shirt is you were lucky enough to be able to buy one as a patron. In winter, bomber jackets were the rage or Stussy jackets for the boys.
Do you think social media would have enhanced or detracted from the Tunnel's community?
I think it would of enhanced it and in the same sentence say it would have detracted. It would of been a positive but I feel it would of detracted from it as it too many people would know about Tunnel and therefore we would of had too many mainstream people trying to get in. Tunnel was a sub-culture, that happened in the right time, the right place, and with the right people. Social media has definately helped us with getting the word out to the old Tunnel crew as they are spread across Australia and beyond.
What's happening on 23rd March 2014?
For the first time since Tunnel shut it doors about 18 years ago we are doing a reunion party in the original place. Thanks to current venue owner Jamie Pickering, he has granted our wish to return to what was home for us.
All night long from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am at Vanity Nightclub (original Tunnel) were serving up 8 hours of Tunnel choons. Myself, Nathan, Drew Jackson, Craig Obey and DJ Nobby are doing an all vinyl night.
We just got a run of Tunnel T-shirts done so all the DJs will be decked in one. The response has been amazing with over 200 people confirmed for the reunion. It really shows the power of Tunnel, nearly two decades after it closed its still got the pulling power.
