Top club ‘Tokes’ set to reopen
ONE of Oldham’s most loved nightclubs is set to reopen this month.
Tokyo Oldham – known to most simply as ‘Tokes’ – will be relaunching on Roscoe Street with four rooms of music.
The ground level, which was turned into German-style Bierkeller in 2015, will become the new 480-capacity home for live music venue Whittles.
Whittles was forced to close in September this year, after the landlord sold the building to be developed into apartments.
At the time, the venue’s management posted on Facebook: “We are obviously all upset more so because it’s the end of an era for this iconic live music venue.”
There will be two rooms of music upstairs in the relaunched nightclub, as well as an outdoor yard area with a live DJ.
Known as Tokyo Project when it first opened in 1997, the club was a fond favourite of locals in its heyday and hit national headlines several times.
Who could forget the time a local teen went for a night out in Tokes and woke up in Paris, posting selfies of himself on Snapchat in front of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe?
Or the time a particularly rowdy New Year’s Eve party saw clubbers pull the ceiling down?
The venue was integral in the formation of Inspiral Carpets, with late drummer Craig Gill and keyboardist Clint Boon both regular DJs.
It’s also where Oasis played some of their earliest gigs.
The venue came under fire in 2010 with its all-you-can-drink for £5.99 deal, which sparked parliamentary review after an M.E.N. investigation saw revellers brawling and vomiting outside the club.
But Tokes closed back in 2016, following what the new operators Element Industries described as ‘a series of unfortunate events’.
Tokyo will reopen at 57 Roscoe Street in Oldham on November 29, and will be open Fridays to Sundays until 4.30am.