Anugrah Kumar.
The Church of England is facing criticism after St. Paul’s Cathedral in London signed a multi-year agreement to host concerts inside the building with Fabric, a nightclub that lost its license in 2016 after two drug-related deaths.
The arrangement gives Fabric sole rights to stage concerts at the cathedral through 2030, the BBC reported. The first show is scheduled for Oct. 29, though organizers haven’t named the performer.
Cameron Leslie, one of Fabric’s co-founders, summed up the arrangement as “an extraordinary and unexpected coming together of two very different parts of London.” He was quoted as saying that the club has long aimed to unite audiences through music, and that this booking felt fitting for such an unusual venue.
Sandra Lynes Timbrell, director of visitor engagement at the cathedral, reportedly said the goal is to help people “discover and engage with this historic building in new and exciting ways,” and that a “carefully curated program of exceptional concerts” should draw first-time visitors.
Organizers said the booked musicians come from varied backgrounds and were chosen because their sound fits the cathedral’s acoustics and architectural setting.
St. Paul’s has hosted concerts before, including a 2023 performance by musician RY X and a 2024 show by singer Patti Smith, according to St. Paul’s Cathedral’s press release.
A separate controversy has emerged over the concerts’ location relative to the tomb of Lord Horatio Nelson, who is buried in the cathedral’s crypt. Descendants of Nelson criticized the arrangement as “an insult to Lord Nelson’s memory,” accusing organizers of effectively allowing people to “dance on graves.”
Peregrine Hood, president of the Nelson Society and a descendant of Nelson’s brother, told The Telegraph: “Is nothing sacred any more? What a sad reflection on where spiritual integrity and Christianity are today. St Paul’s Cathedral positioning itself in this way is deeply depressing.”
Andy Smith, the Nelson Society’s press officer, described St. Paul’s as “the premier cathedral of the land,” and said that holding raves or concerts there was deeply offensive to Christians.
“It is a profound insult to his memory, [and] to all those national heroes who are either buried or memorialized at St Paul’s Cathedral,” GB News reported.
The cathedral has said the concerts are seated, that attendees are told to remain seated throughout, and that the events do not take place in the crypt where Nelson’s tomb is located, according to the Independent.
Canterbury Cathedral, which also began hosting silent discos in 2024 that have been derisively labeled by critics as “rave in the nave,” prompted more than 1,600 people to sign a petition calling for the events to stop. Petition organizer Cajetan Skowronski said such events “would not bring young people closer to Christ” and instead risked suggesting “that entertainment deserves our attention more than God.”
St. Paul’s Cathedral was completed more than 330 years ago. It was designed by the architect Christopher Wren and built after the Great Fire of London of 1666 destroyed the previous medieval cathedral on the site. It now functions as the seat of the Diocese of London within the CofE.
Jacob Phillips, a professor of systematic theology at St. Mary’s University in Twickenham, who identified himself as a former participant in the rave scene of the late 1980s and 1990s, wrote an op-ed about Fabric in The Telegraph.
Phillips wrote that the scene carried religious undertones even then, pointing to song lyrics built around imagery of Heaven and the biblical Eden, adding that the drug MDMA, commonly called ecstasy, took its name from the spiritual experiences long claimed by saints.
He added that the scene later declined into addiction and violence for many who lived through it, and that Fabric itself had already been shut down once over drug deaths before the current deal was reached.
Phillips wrote that Christian teaching holds that redemption comes through meeting daily responsibilities, and that stable communities built on commitment and self-sacrifice, particularly family life, offer something more durable than the temporary sense of togetherness found on a dance floor.
He added that intoxication tends to create more problems than it resolves.
Phillips warned cathedrals risk becoming “playgrounds for middle-aged ravers” if this distinction is lost. He wrote that St. Paul’s own patron, the apostle Paul, called on Christians to relate to all kinds of people without giving up the teachings that defined the faith.
Fabric, located in the Farringdon area of London, opened in 1999 and grew into one of London’s best-known electronic music venues, drawing international attention to the city’s club scene. It had its license pulled by Islington Council in 2016, which pointed to ongoing drug problems on site as its reasoning. Two 18-year-olds died in 2016 in unrelated incidents linked to drug use inside the club.
The nightclub reopened its doors in January 2017 once it worked out fresh terms with Islington Council and London’s Metropolitan Police. The terms raised the minimum age for entry and added stricter security measures.
