Clubs / BOG Bristol
The world’s most famous club toilet
In the trendy, bar-infested Reuterkiez district of Berlin sits a public toilet with an unexpected new use.
Converted in 2019, the famous loo now plays host to the world’s highest-grossing top DJs – and no one is even sure if it was ever really a toilet to begin with.
HÖR (pronounced “her”) Berlin has become something of a cult success since its inception.
is needed now More than ever
Founded in mid-2019, the radio broadcaster quickly became one of the leading names in the video-recorded DJ set revolution that has taken over since the livestreams of Covid-19. But, of course, Bristol has to take it one step further. Enter BOG Bristol.
“At the time I was running Clock Factory’s social media,” said Rob Mills, the founder and initial mastermind behind BOG Bristol.
“He was posting a clip from a HÖR set to promote an upcoming event at the venue in Broadmead when he had the brainwave: “I reckon we could fit DJ decks in the club toilets”.
BOG Bristol has morphed from a one-off spin-off to a weekly world-famous phenomenon
The first round of recordings was a low-key affair. Mills initially saw it as “a one-off joke spin-off” to the club’s already existing mix series Against The Clock (which included zero lavatories), but admits the toilet humour hit home with the Clock Factory’s audience far more than expected, and ended up scrapping Against The Clock and continuing BOG every week.
The first ten weeks of BOG sets stuck to relatively similar formulas, with low-tech lighting and production setups meaning you were unable to see much detail in the grimy 4 sq m (or thereabouts) water closet.
But production value soon ramped up once some larger names got involved, including Voltage, one of the faces behind mammoth drum’n’bass trio Kings of the Rollers.
“He asked if he could do his own takeover in there” explained Mills. “He wanted to get as many people in the toilet as possible, which, despite being absolute chaos, ended up being a great time”. It also opened up an entirely new events opportunity for the venue.
The end of 2023 saw Mills move onto pastures new, citing “spending numerous hours in a club toilet every week” as being one of the push factors.
But the BOG Bristol name lives on, now in the capable hands of Danielle Dell, the venue’s new social media manager.
The event series is inspired by radio broadcaster HÖR Berlin
They’ve managed to grow BOG into arguably the world’s most famous club toilet, with Dell claiming there are “artists in the USA that want to do a BOG while they’re over for their European tours”.
Having made an appearance in the toilet myself many a time, I confess to receiving an almost weekly slew of messages from DJs and collectives from Sheffield to Sydney who all want to crawl on the Clock Factory toilet floor under the DJ table (the only way to get in when a BOG is in session since the table blocks the door) to spin some tunes.
There’s something for everyone when browsing the hundreds of BOG sets on the Clock Factory YouTube.
Whether it’s DJ sets partnered with live haircuts from Cuts & Creps or chaotic fancy dress-fueled toilet parties from the likes of Balter & Dubtendo, the team at the venue has created a carefree, almost hedonistic who’s who of the Bristol and wider UK dance music scene, with more to come from further afield.
“Keep a look out next year as you may just stumble and find yourself in a little BOG,” says Dell when asked about potential future collaborations with festivals and other large-scale events.
I personally cannot wait.
All photos: Bristol BOG
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