Converted from a disused bingo hall, The Eclipse on Coventry's Lower Ford Street was the first legal all-night club in the UK.
The Club had 3 floor's at ground level was the reception where tapes and video's could be bought, the first floor was the chill out room where ice cold drinks and food were served, the second floor was the main dance floor and stage area for the PA's to play and the third floor was a balcony over looking the second floor where you could chill out also. On most Friday nights the 1st floor was used as a second dance arena which had its own line up of DJ's. The clubs official capacity was 1,600.
The brains behind The eclipse were two local young men Stuart Reid and Barry Edwards. People would travel from all over the Country to attend the club
The Eclipse opened its doors on the 13th October 1990 with the following line up Evil Eddie Richards, Fabio, Dobbo, Mickey Finn, Tony Ross, Sasha (although on a lot of the early flyers it was spelt Sacha) & MC tunes on the MIC who moaned about the sound system and walked off stage not to return.
There was a record shop opposite the Eclipse called Moonshine records (which later changed to Bang In Tunes) where you could buy your tickets from tapes and video's from various events and Saturday nights. Some of the tapes are now legendary and would set you back a fair few quid if your lucky enough to find one for sale. For example the first time Easygroove played the Eclipse on Saturday 4 May 1991 with MC Pandi P this tape which had Top Buzz at the start for about 10 minutes has turned out to be the tape that everyone wanted people who are hearing this for the first time cant believe the quality and energy that was created.
Fridays in The Eclipse were event nights like Energy, Amnesia, New Age, Omen, Helter Skelter, Weekend World, Bang In Tunes and Fantazia held their first events at the club, entry on a Friday would range from £15 - £20 to get in but a lot of these events would sell out before the event so you were always safer to buy your tickets in advance. A typical Energy night would consist of the following Dj's Sasha, Tin Tin, Carl Cox, Mickey Finn, Blobb & Nipper. MC's would vary but Energies most popular were Master P, Ezee Vibe, Man Parris & Coventry's own Sluggi.
Saturday's were for members in the early days the cost of entry was £10 which later changed to £15. The Eclipse's resident DJ's were again local lads Mickey Parkes and Mickey Wilson they played nearly every Saturday without fail and also played a lot of Friday's. The quality of the Saturdays were second to none for example on Saturday 24 August the line up was as follows Top Buzz, Mickey Finn, Joey Beltram, Carl Cox & Stu Allen with a PA from Outlander with a 10pm - 8am licence and only a £15 entry fee.
There have been a few highly successful Eclipse re-union parties the last of which was held at The Empire in Coventry which also celebrated the clubs 25th Anniversary on the 12th December 2015 9pm - 5am, the line up consisted of Grooverider, Slipmatt, Neil Trix, Shock C, Jay Holder B2B Distortion Cru, Rob May B2B DJ Dean. MC's on the night were Man Parris & MC Hi-Fi with a PA from Shades Of Rhythm.
Although a legal licensed venue, one of the stipulations of the license prevented the sale of alcohol.
The venue changed name to The Edge before ultimately closing down.
The building was subsequently bought by Coventry University, repurposed as a Student Union entertainment venue and called The Planet.
This project was also abandoned and the building was demolished to make way for a car park.