The Saturday Night Powerhouse
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| Established: | 1997 |
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| Founder: | Richard "Tice" Taylor |
| Location | Shifnal, Shropshire |
| Venue Type: | Club and Live Music |
| Website: | the-powerhouse.org.uk * *no longer operational. |
The Saturday Night Powerhouse was a rock and metal club in Shifnal, Shropshire.
[edit] History
Founded in 1997 by Richard "Tice" Taylor as a rock and metal club in the sleepy town of Shifnal, Shropshire. The area was in need of an establishment of the kind as everyone in the area was traveling to Wolverhampton or Birmingham for their nights out. The venue for the club was The Anchor Room, a room at the rear of The Crown and Anchor pub in Shifnal.
Before the dawn of internet mediums such as MySpace and Facebook all the advertising for the club was done with flyers. The original basis for the flyer was an image of Rob Zombie in green. Famously (in the area) you would never fail to find a flyer when reading through a copy of Kerrang Magazine in WHSmith or flicking through the CD racks in HMV.
The first night opened on Halloween weekend in 1997. The nights featured live bands followed by the club with DJ's afterwards. The opening night saw Airbag perform. Other bands such as Rust*, Tomb, Pigeon on a Mission, Mentallica, Newbreed, Occupational Hazzard and NWOBHM legends Demon performed over the years.
Legendary rock DJ and former artistic editor of Kerrang Magazine Steve "Krusher" Joule appeared as a guest DJ in April of 1999. Having advertised the club for a number of months on his Rock Radio Network show he joined the club for a guest DJ slot. Having been MC for the night as well the landlady of The Crown and Anchor pub had him removed from stage after the bands performed for swearing whilst addressing those in attendance.
As the club grew the Saturday Night was dropped from the name as it became known as The Powerhouse. A website was established to compliment the club, reviews of bands past were featured along with details of the upcoming club nights. A message board was added and as traffic increased through the site competitions were added along with gig reviews from other venues in the area and a gig guide that covered the whole West Midlands area.
As the popularity of the club increased in 2001 the club expanded to a fornightly basis. The last Saturday of the month still ran on the live band followed by club night format. The second night was purely a club night. As the clubs owners priorities moved elsewhere the club eventually shut its doors in mid 2002.
[edit] Spin Offs
As the club grew its reputation a number of "Spin offs" were launched across the West Midlands.
- No Limits was run out of 42nd Street in Oakengates, Shropshire. The club format was the same as that of the original Saturday Night Powerhouse with live bands followed by a club night. This was run on a Monday night in conjunction with the Powerhouse.
- The Devils Kitchen was run out of the downstairs bar in the Little Civic in Wolverhampton. On a Friday night this was purly a club night.
- Last Resort was run out of Bar Academy, in Birmingham. This too was run on a Monday night purly as a club night long after No Limits had closed its doors.
- Corrosion was run out of the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton. Run on a Saturday night mainly as a club night this is the only one of the spin offs still running today.
