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DJ Mag Top100 Clubs
45
Noxx
| NEW ENTRY

Sure, clubs that have been converted from other buildings, be they churches, warehouses or even underpants factories - as was the case with the old Eskimo Bar in Ghent - do have a certain charm and character absent from some of the more sanitised superclub spaces. But on the other hand, nothing beats a purpose-built venue that's been engineered and fine-tuned to the most precise specifications.

It's like the difference between getting a secondhand car off your mate or buying a brand new motor for yourself, and in those terms Noxx is like the latest Ferrari straight off the production line with all the mod cons and details you could possibly want - which is why this club has streaked to pole position in Belgium's nightlife just over a year after opening.

Situated in Antwerp - the centre of Europe's diamond trade - Noxx really is a jewel of a venue that fuses elements of all the best clubs in the world into one shiny new whole. The enormous main room has been modelled on such iconic discotheques as Twilo in New York and Space in Ibiza, a huge arena that can accommodate gigs by r&b and hip-hop stars such as Pit Bull and Jay Sean as comfortably as DJ sets from the international top-flight like Sasha and Digweed.

Meanwhile, the Salle Noire side room takes the LED roof lighting system concept from Watergate in Berlin and allies it with a phenomenally powerful Funktion One soundsystem to create an all-encompassing audio-visual experience, whilst the Fusia Lounge has an intimate Latin twist, and the VIPs can look down at the hoi polloi on the dancefloor from behind their Gucci shades in the ridiculously lavish Diamond Lounge upstairs.

Noxx is a club that's clearly been designed for clubbers by people who've spent much of their own lives on dancefloors soaking up what makes them work, and with the wrappers just off it still feels so box-fresh and new that you can't help but get tingles of excitement from the moment you arrive.

A man who's played more clubs than most, even Sasha is mightily impressed.

"I'd had a few dodgy gigs last year and was feeling a bit depressed, so I was looking for somewhere that would really give me a shot in the arm," he tells DJmag. "John [Digweed] recommended Noxx to me and I was absolutely blown away.

"It's a real grand design because they've literally built an all-out superclub from the ground up and the technology they've got is stunning - both in the DJ booth and the sound and lighting for the dancefloor. The music's amazing as well. I can't wait to go back there because the crowd's so energetic.

"Noxx not only has the Belgian crowd but pulls in a lot of clubbers from Amsterdam too, so there's an amazing atmosphere," adds Sasha. "I suppose it's a bit like Field Of Dreams - 'build it and they will come.'"