Edinburgh superclub Eros Elite 'was on another level', says former resident DJ

Welcoming its first revellers just a few weeks shy of Hogmanay 1999, the 3,000-capacity Eros Elite broke new ground as a superclub fit for the new millennium.

The dance floor at Eros in Edinburgh could hold up to 3,000 people. Picture: Mikey Watt

Operated by First Leisure, the giant venue, which was located in Edinburgh’s Fountainbridge district, regularly attracted big name acts from all over the continent, including Ian Van Dahl and Dee Dee.

Lee Haggath, 42, a former resident DJ at Eros, admits he was blown away at the scale of the club when he first ventured inside as a young DJ.

He said: "I had been working at a 2,000-capacity venue in the north east, but Eros was on another level.

“It was the over-the-top decor, it was the size, and we had big name DJs and film stars coming through.

"You would struggle to fill a club anywhere near the size of Eros these days.”

Mr Haggath joined Eros Elite in 2001, at a time when clubland music was taking over the charts and the airwaves like never before or since.

Lee Haggath was resident DJ at Eros in the early 2000s.

He continued: "The floor fillers around that time, you still had Faithless Insomnia, Ian Van Dahl, ATB – all those tracks that are classed as old school now.

“This was the clubland era and it was mainstream, but Eros provided something a little different from what you got in all the other clubs.

“It was the place to be in Edinburgh at that time. I honestly can’t think of a better place to be than Eros in the early 2000s.”

Prior to the closure of the club in 2004, Eros was often associated with violence. However, Mr Haggath insists he rarely saw any fighting on the dance floor and the music blaring out of Eros’ state-of-the-art sound system was all the revellers cared about.

He said: “I hardly ever saw any trouble inside. I don’t know what would happen outside the club, as I would literally come out, get in my car and get back to my flat.

“But inside it was managed to a high degree and there was always a great buzz about the place.

"Telling people to put their hands up in the air and seeing 2,000 pairs of hands going up from you just saying it sends a shiver down my spine even now. It was an honour to be doing it.”

Mr Haggath shared his Eros Elite residency with legendary DJ Jim Etherson, who sadly passed away in 2019.

In tribute to Jim, Mr Haggath and others organised an Eros reunion night at Edinburgh’s ATIK night club, which he says was a great success.

He said: “I worked with Jim most nights and we would swap around with me doing Eros and him doing Elite and vice versa.

"Unfortunately we lost Jim to illness a couple of years ago, but I had promised him we would do one more reunion.

“The fact we saw so many faces from 20 years ago coming back through the doors was a great testament to the club.

“At Eros we were all one big family and I’m still in touch with customers and staff from all those years ago.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription at https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions.