Dance music royalty, including Sister Bliss, Paul Oakenfold and Fatboy Slim, have shared their memories of Cream, the legendary Liverpool club night, as Creamfields marked its 20th year at its current Daresbury site over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Cream's early days at Nation
Cream was founded by Darren Hughes, Andy Carroll and James Barton in the early '90s and hosted at Nation in Wolstenholme Square. It welcomed some of the biggest names in dance music, including Pete Tong, Carl Cox and The Chemical Brothers, before growing into the international brand it is today.
DJ Paul Oakenfold was the 'King of the Courtyard' from 1997 to 1999, helping to shape the sound of the late Nineties. More than 25 years since his residency, he told the ECHO why Cream will always be close to his heart.
He said: "I remember the most important thing about Cream was really the crowd and the sound system. James Barton, and Darren Hughes, were running it. [They were] pioneers at that time. The club, we put in a fantastic sound system, and it grew from there."
'A mecca of raving'
Oakenfold added: "It was a crowd that came from all over the country, all over Britain—Ireland, Scotland, Wales, you name it. They were coming to that club. At that time, it was probably the best club in Britain, arguably Europe."
He described Liverpool as his "spiritual home", saying: "Liverpool's my second home. I'm born and bred in London, but Liverpool, I'm very close to. I have great friends there. I travelled every week there. I was the resident of the club. And for me, it's always been, arguably, my spiritual home."
Sister Bliss, a founding member of Faithless, recalled her first performance at the club night. She told the ECHO: "This place was a big dirty warehouse. It was a mecca of raving. People would travel from all over the country and it was a beacon for Liverpool. It put Liverpool on the map in terms of clubbing."
She added: "I for one DJed there in the very early days and it was a very big moment in my career as a DJ. This is even before Faithless, or I was already doing Faithless but perhaps the band wasn't successful yet. But to DJ there, it was high praise indeed."
Creamfields' journey to Daresbury
The first Creamfields festival was held on Saturday, May 2 1998 at the Matterley Estate in Winchester as a one-day event. It moved to the old Liverpool Airfield in its home city the following year, before relocating to its current Daresbury site 20 years ago.
Fatboy Slim, who played at the first Creamfields, described the event as the "original". He said: "I played at the first ever Creamfields when it was at the airfield. My friends, the Barton family, had this idea of, 'Let's get all the DJs and all dance music, have a festival for us, by us.'"
He added: "It was a great idea, and it was a beautiful thing. It's still a beautiful thing, and it's a much bigger and stronger beautiful thing. But it's still one of the original and best dance music festival that was just for DJs and for dance music culture and a celebration. That's why we all come and play it every year."
