Ministry Of Sound “break-in” and “illegal rave” confirmed as stunt “homage to UK rave culture”

Ministry Of Sound has confirmed the “break-in” reported earlier this month was a planned stunt inspired by “OG rave culture”.

The London club revealed pop-up party promoters Lab54 were behind the 19th March “illegal rave”, which Ministry Of Sound referred to as a “serious incident” with “significant damage” and a “seizure of high-value equipment” in a 21st March Instagram post. Several news outlets reported on the break-in at the time based on Ministry Of Sound’s statement as well as social media videos showing DJs playing as well as trashed bathrooms and people using a crowbar to open the venue’s doors. 

Ministry Of Sound and Lab54 have come forward today, 1st April, April Fools’ Day, to share they “teamed up” and “were in on it” together in an Instagram statement titled “FAKE NEWS (SORT OF)”. “It’s this kind of rebellious event that made the rave scene so powerful back in the day and the energy we’d wanted to bring to Ministry today”, Lab54 wrote in the Instagram caption. “The OG rave culture has always inspired us to come up with the craziest ideas and bring our people and party Anywhere But a Club. This is no exception.” 

The intent behind the stunt is to launch Lab54’s residency at the venue, with the first official event taking place, once again, in the club toilets on 4th May. Line-up details and future dates are still to come.

“I think the paradigm shift we’re seeing in nightlife at the moment makes it important for clubs like Ministry to work with communities like ours to help reflect this in their offerings to ravers”, Lab54 founder Joe Gordon said in a press statement. “…What better way to do that than going back to their roots and pranking the online rave community!”

Ministry Group’s Managing Director Caitlin McAllister added: “Club culture has always been about pushing boundaries, and the intersection of pop-up culture with establishments like Ministry of Sound is a reflection of how the industry is evolving. There’s an irony in a pop-up ‘breaking in’ to a club but that’s exactly the point – we need to bring new ideas to our spaces.”

Ministry Of Sound recently announced it’ll be starting up a sober day-rave party series, beginning 11th May with DRIIA. 

To celebrate its 33rd birthday, Ministry Of Sound is selling tickets at 1991 prices through September. 

See Lab54 and Ministry Of Sound’s Instagram post revealing the collaborative stunt.