7 Ayrshire nightclubs Colin McArdle remembers from the 90s
1. Amanda's, Irvine
Amanda's was located at the entrance to the Rivergate Shopping Centre, or as anyone who grew up in Irvine called it - 'The Mall'!
It had a stairwell to take you down from the shopping centre to an underground public bar area, then another lower level which had a subterranean world of full length mirrored walls, flashing neon lights and lasers.
2. Prestwick Airport
Yes, really! So not strictly a nightclub, but the foyer of the airport which hosted Streetrave dance events in the mid 90's with hundreds of ravers dancing until the early hours.
Imagine that scene next time you're heading off on your holidays!
3. Babylon Nightclub, Ayr
This now lies empty; a shell of its former self. An old cinema and bingo hall, the building kept many of its Art Deco features during its reign as the club at the bottom of the town.
4. The Metro, Saltcoats
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We have to pay tribute to the massive venue that was the Metro in Saltcoats. The town would double in population every weekend with rows of buses parked in Dockhead Street as ravers from all over Scotland converged on the Mecca of dance music. The Metro attracted the cream of acts such as Q-Tex, Ultrasonic and many more, with DJs Joe Deacon and West FM's very own Billy Reid playing the tunes.
5. Parkers, Kilmarnock
Another underground venue with a public bar and function room then through to the smoke filled nightclub with mirrored walls, lasers, a stage area and the famous wall of TV screens all showing the latest music videos of the day.
6. Bobby Jones
An ever versatile venue, and the venue your parents - or possibly even grandparents - courted! It changed in the early 90s to cater for the dance music explosion, with DJs such as Bob Jeffries and Trevor Reilly playing to a full house every weekend.
Who could forget the tricky stairwell downwards to leave at the end of the night?!
7. Hangar 13
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This legendary venue of course made headlines in the early 90s for all the wrong reasons. But we couldn't write this article without mentioning the contribution this venue made to the Ayrshire dance music scene. Hangar was packed every weekend with clubbers travelling from far and wide to Ayr Pavilion.