Stage3 was a nightclub in Leysdown on the Isle Of Sheppey during the late 1970's to mid 80's. Run by Rob & Mark Wilson and hosted by resident DJ Thomas Felton and resident light jockey James Annells playing  a mix of Jazz-Funk, Soul and Disco, it earned legendary status amongst clubbers, who would travel to the club every Friday and Saturday night from all over the London and South of England area. Heavily influenced by the world-famous New York nightclub "Studio 54", Stage 3 lead the field in the UK both in it's technology and it's ethos.

For the opening of the club in July 1979, Studio 54 trained DJ Peter Römer was brought over, along with light jockey Jörg Schönemann. He was probably one of the first DJs to "beat-mix" in the UK. One regular once said: "I was totally in awe of his turntable trickery that I never danced and spent the whole night watching what he was doing with two turntables. When I first heard the music playing I thought the music was playing along to some kind of drum machine until I saw what he was actually doing. He did some amazing things (at the time) with 2 copies of Le Freak and Dan Hartman's Instant Replay"

It was not long after a successful summer opening that the club began to change it’s musical direction and started attracting the legendary funkateers. After the departure of Peter Romer and Jorg Schonemann who went on to perform at the legendary Dorian Grey club in Hamburg, it was the music of Thomas Felton and influence of James Annells that began to emerge and before long the club had changed into the Stage3 that became known through out the UK.

Along with Thomas and James there was the legendary Steve Walsh who was the first star DJ to lend his name to Stage3 and give it the credibility to attract other star names such as Greg Edwards, Chris Hill, Robbie Vincent, Tom Holland, Sean French, Pete Tong and of course Froggy. Indeed these were heady days for Stage3, being voted No.3 in a national poll in Blues and Soul and winning many local awards.

Stage3 became a household name in and around the South East and without doubt it was due to the people that made it their spiritual musical home. Never in the history of nightclubs in the UK has there ever been such a passion for good music by such a friendly free spirited crowd of people, that loved nothing more than to express themselves in the most colourful of ways possible. They dressed together as tribes, they were modern romantics with a love for Jazz-Funk and Soul. The dress code in Stage3 was ripped up by this new band of soul brothers and sisters to the extent that customers in suits were barred!.. talk about a complete change around from the opening night, the Judge who passed the licence was refused entry because he dared wear a corduroy suit!

Along with the music, it was Stage3's loyal followers that made it one of the best clubs & clubbing experiences the UK had ever witnessed. Among the regulars were the "Tribes", these groups would travel from miles around on a pilgrimage to Stage3 each weekend. These tribes had names like; The Leysdown Coasters, The Bellamys, The Sittingbourne Sycos, The Bexley Mentals, The Ilford Funk Union, Mob Ballum, The Larkfield Looneys... to name but a few... and we hope see you all at the reunion!!!

This spectacular nightclub, located in the heart of Maidstone's town centre in Kent is Rob & Mark Wilson's current flagship nightclub. Originally opened in 1992 as a "Showbar" in a smaller venue (now known as RoadHouse), this new venture saw the Wilson brothers take a radical new direction and brought us a new and very original (at the time) version of what we now commonly call the "theme pub". Mixing Hollywood and theatrical inspired decor, the bar was like nothing you had ever seen before.

Employing street performers along side highly skilled cocktail bar tenders, every night you'd see members of the "cast & crew" jump up on the bar and perform dance routines and often act out songs to great comedy effect. Along with these crowd pleasing spectacles you'd also see some amazing "cocktail flair" (eye popping bottle & glass juggling), the likes of which had never been seen outside of swanky London cocktail bars & Hollywood movies like "Cocktail".

When the licensing laws changed to allow longer opening hours, the bar change rapidly into an "all night" venue, with customers partying until 2am! With it's loyal regulars, ever growing popularity and ever growing queues of people each weekend left out in the cold with the venue packed to the rafters, it was soon evident... maybe it was time for a bigger venue!

The new bigger Strawberry Moons (directly opposite the old venue) is split over three floors and every weekend plays host to the biggest night out in Maidstone. Every Friday and Saturday resident and regular guest DJs play a spontaneous mix of great music that keeps the crowd & the dance floor pumping well into the early hours of the morning. An added slice of variety is to be found on the 2nd floor in the "Zuma Bar", where resident DJs play an uplifting mix of new dance and club classics. And yes, the cast & crew still perform on the bar every weekend and the queue continues to grow!

So now history will go full circle, with Strawberry Moons hosting the Southern Soul Spectacular Stage3 reunion this Easter Bank Holiday Sunday. Set to be an amazing night of Jazz-Funk and Soul, with the top DJs from the heady days of Stage3, including resident Tom Felton. Joining Tom will be soul DJ legends Greg Edwards, John Osborne, Sean French, Tom Holland & Paul Clark, making this surely an mind-blowing night to remember and reminisce.

So what more reason do you need to re-live those "good ole days" and see some slightly older, but still smiling faces?