Zanzibar Stockton-on-Tees – Remembering a Teesside Nightlife Favourite
If you went out drinking and clubbing in Stockton-on-Tees during the 2000s, there's a good chance you'll remember Zanzibar.
Sitting prominently on Stockton High Street, Zanzibar became one of the town's best-known nightlife venues. For a generation of clubbers it meant packed weekends, loud music, flashing lights and those nights out that started in Stockton's bars before everyone headed towards the club.
From Cinema to Nightclub
The building that housed Zanzibar already had decades of entertainment history behind it.
It originally opened as an Odeon cinema in 1968. The cinema closed in 1981, but that wasn't the end of entertainment at the site.
During the late 1980s the building was transformed into The Mall, which became one of Stockton's most famous nightclubs. The Mall opened around 1987 and developed a reputation well beyond Teesside, particularly for its impressive lighting and laser shows.
The venue later became Visage, before another major change around the beginning of the new millennium gave Stockton clubbers a new name to remember:
Zanzibar.
Zanzibar Arrives in Stockton
Around 2000, Zanzibar took over the former Mall/Visage premises.
With its huge ZANZIBAR name displayed across the frontage, it was difficult to miss when walking along Stockton High Street.
Through the 2000s it became part of the regular weekend circuit for people from Stockton, Middlesbrough, Billingham, Thornaby, Hartlepool and across Teesside.
Like many large town-centre clubs of that period, Zanzibar wasn't just about one style of music. Mainstream dance and club tracks mixed with the big chart records of the era, while special nights and appearances helped keep people coming through the doors.
There's even surviving evidence of some of those appearances. Limahl of Kajagoogoo performed at Zanzibar in Stockton on 25 August 2000, showing that the venue was already hosting recognised acts during its early days.
Saturday Night in Stockton
For many people, Zanzibar wasn't simply a nightclub. It was part of the whole Stockton night out.
You'd meet your mates, work your way through the pubs and bars around the High Street and eventually end up inside Zanzibar.
Then came the packed dancefloor, queues at the bar, booming sound system, lights, DJs and the inevitable search for everyone at closing time.
People who experienced Stockton nightlife during this period will probably have their own Zanzibar story — although whether they remember the entire night is another matter!
One Building, Several Generations
What's particularly interesting about Zanzibar is that different generations knew essentially the same building under completely different names.
Older Stockton clubbers might say:
“We're going to The Mall.”
A later generation knew Visage.
Then came the generation who simply knew it as:
“Zanzibar.”
The building subsequently became GLAM, continuing its long association with Stockton nightlife.
GLAM closed in June 2013, bringing the nightclub era at the old venue to an end.
The building itself survived for several more years before eventually being demolished in 2020.
A Lost Piece of Stockton Nightlife
Today, walking through Stockton, it's easy to forget just how important venues such as Zanzibar were to the town's nightlife.
Nightclubs weren't only places to hear music. They were where people met friends, celebrated birthdays, discovered tunes, met future partners and created stories that were still being told twenty years later.
The names disappeared one after another:
Odeon → The Mall → Visage → Zanzibar → GLAM.
But for anyone who spent their weekends there during the 2000s, Zanzibar Stockton remains one of those names capable of instantly bringing back memories of a Saturday night on the High Street.
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Were You There?
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Did you go to Zanzibar in Stockton-on-Tees?
Do you remember the resident DJs, particular club nights, tunes, staff, promotions or legendary nights out?
If you've got old Zanzibar flyers, photographs, tickets or stories, share them with the Weedy Garage Radio community.
Let's keep the memories of Stockton and Teesside's lost nightlife alive.
Weedy Garage Radio – Remembering the clubs, DJs, music and nights that made Teesside dance.