A certain Tiktok set-up has become familiar: Ring doorbell footage captures punters arriving at a house – some shouting their wildest confessions, others testing awkward pick-up lines – all about to enter what feels like a Project X-inspired house party. This is the set-up for a Lab 54 event.
It all began a couple of years ago, with founder Joe Gordon throwing his brother a birthday party. Three hundred guests, a camera and a viral video later, Atlantic Records came calling with an invite to host a proper event. For the then-university student in his early twenties, it sparked an idea: maybe his love of raves could be a business.
Soon after came a string of house parties and larger brand-sponsored “pop-ups” in cafes, pizza joints and public spaces. “I shut down Charing Cross Library with [DJs] Hannah Wants, Jammer and Arielle Free, and Mixmag doing a load of content for Ikea,” Gordon tells Broadsheet, beaming as he recalls his favourite memory from the past couple of years. “There were some crazy sets, and some really big DJs came and played it. My mum even came down.”
The ethos is clear: anywhere but a club. By avoiding traditional venues, Lab 54 dodges overpriced drinks, heavy-handed security, and rigid closing times. The crew has hosted parties in places as varied as a Georgian mansion in Dulwich, a silent disco at Mighty Hoopla festival, and a 22-city UK tour with Ministry of Sound, transforming student kitchens, garages, and lounges for freshers’ week.
The team also accepts private party bookings. A year ago, Londoner Louis Goddard-Watts hosted a Lab 54 night in his Battersea flat, complete with a DJ, full-scale production and a long guestlist. “I loved seeing how cool it was,” he says. “But when you’re the host, you’re more focused on everyone else enjoying it than yourself.”
Looking back, he laughs about the crowd size and vibrating walls, but says he’d do it again. Gordon explains there’s a vetting process: hosts must describe their space, confirm neighbour approval and keep things tidy. Lab 54 even pays for a cleaner now, a far cry from when it started.
“It was basically a student party,” Gordon says. “I’d put Jax Jones or Eliza Rose in your living room for your birthday, for free. The least you could do was clean up after your mates trashed it.” Plenty of people apply, signing a contract to say that they’ll prepare the space for the party beforehand. “If we turn up and your house isn’t clean, or you haven’t got loo roll, we’re not throwing the party.”
Bigger projects are also on the horizon, including more London house parties and the launch of a record label.
“We started down the end of my garden in a little bungalow and now it’s a 25-person team,” Gordon says. “We’re throwing events around the world, and we aren’t stopping until we’re overtaking the likes of Mixmag, DJ Mag and Boiler Room. The community we’re building feels stronger, so why wouldn’t we go hell for leather with it?”
