UKF15 at Drumsheds — the worst-organised event at the venue yet?The UK’s nightlife industry is not in a strong place right now. With a reported 10 nightclubs closing per month since 2020, fewer people are participating in the nighttime economy. This only adds to the disappointment we, and others, felt on Friday at Drumsheds, a venue which is one of the UK’s flagship nightclubs and a beacon for the rest of the country’s nightlife scene.
And with a lineup including Pendulum, Nero, Knife Party, Modestep, Flux Pavilion and many other dance titans, it’s no wonder UKF15 at Drumsheds drew such a large crowd. But the measures in place to control the 15,000-plus attendees at Tottenham’s repurposed IKEA building on Friday 13 December were woefully inadequate, with many guests expressing serious concerns during and after the event regarding their safety.
READ MORE: Spotify Wrapped live in London: A Top Of The Pops-style end-of-year celebration at IKEA-turned-superclub Drumsheds
MusicTech was kindly invited to attend the event as a guest, and we were able to bypass a tightly packed queue of thousands waiting to enter. Still, we were forced to wrestle sideways through the crowd to reach the badly signposted guestlist entrance with just one steward responsible for maintaining its integrity.
But hundreds of attendees report on Instagram, Reddit and Google that they queued for two hours or more just to enter the venue, meaning they missed the sets of some of the earlier – and even headline – acts.
“The queue to get in was ridiculous,” one Reddit user writes. “We arrived early but still ended up waiting nearly two hours after ticket scanning. Because of this, we completely missed the three non-headliner acts we were most excited to see.”
Another writes: “I queued for two hours, [and] missed two acts I wanted to see. At one point it was an actual crowd surge to the point I was pushed so close between two people [that] when the crowd moved forward I moved without my feet touching the ground. Have venues not learned anything from what happened at Astroworld a few years ago?”
UKF – unsafe conditions/Rant byu/Sea_Flow_83 inDrumsheds

They are, of course, referring to the tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival in 2021, during which crowd surges and poor crowd management claimed the lives of 10 people.
Once inside, the old IKEA car park which hosted a bar, locker section, and various other popup stalls provided some much-needed space after the conditions of the entry queue. But poor crowd management reared its head once again at the entrance to the venue’s main room, Room X.
Between acts, attendees were directed, for no reason that we could see and as part of a glacially-paced crowd, outside into the cold simply to come back inside again.
“Whilst waiting to get in for Caspa and Rusko, many of us were subjected to a massive bottleneck in the lobby which caused a bit of crowd crushing and a poor girl near me was having issues breathing because of it,” one guest recalls. It was extremely unsafe. There was no announcement or anything of the sort to explain what was going on. Again – managed terribly by event staff.
The person adds – and MusicTech can confirm – that in these bottleneck situations, entering and exiting the main room, stewards were rarely seen, adding to the confusion. “We were funnelled outside, five minutes into Pendulum’s set for an unknown reason – and then sent back up the adjacent stairs whilst having to wait in the cold – for what reason?”
Absolutely appalling evening, welcome to 'Queuesheds'… byu/milancosens inDrumsheds

Elsewhere, some attendees reported crowd surges during Pendulum’s set, and others say they were denied entry.
“We were denied entry to Room X just before Pendulum started their set,” one writes. “Pendulum was the main reason we came, so this was heartbreaking. At that point, we got caught in the crowds outside of Room X with people pushing and shoving. It was so bad that we left early as we felt unsafe. The entire night was completely ruined for us.”
Drumsheds has not yet responded to MusicTech’s request for comment on the handling of the event.
A website has been set up to gather people’s negative experiences of the night, and a Change.org petition has even been launched demanding refunds due to the “frightful conditions” that risked guests’ safety. The petition has gathered 1,151 signatures at the time of writing.
Following the wave of backlash, Drumsheds has deleted its Instagram post for UKF15, and have yet to put out an official statement addressing guests’ grievances. Online users are also reporting that their one-star Google reviews are going missing, though we are unable to confirm the legitimacy of these claims. Many have contacted Drumsheds asking for refunds, and have been met with the a copy-paste response email, as shared by some users on Reddit.
“We want to start by sincerely apologising for the challenges you faced at the event on 13th December,” the email reads. “We understand how frustrating this must have been, and we’re genuinely sorry for the impact it had on you and your evening.
“As a team, we have always strived to create a great experience for everyone who joins us. It is incredibly upsetting to hear about your personal experience, and we want you to know that this is the last thing we would ever want.
“We faced a number of challenges on the night, including much longer-than-usual queues and congestion in some areas, due to a combination of factors, including enhanced security procedures. While these measures were necessary on the night, we understand they caused frustration and discomfort, and for this, we sincerely apologise.”
The venue says it is conducting a “full internal review of the event”, including a “thorough examination” of guest feedback and “reports from independent safety consultants who were present on the night”.
Reponse from Drumsheds byu/tomathy15 inDrumsheds

Grievances aside, once inside the music rooms, we were treated to some truly bass-face-inducing sets from Nero, Knife Party, Flux Pavilion and Pendulum, who played a nostalgic set packed with classics like Propane Nightmares, Witchcraft and Watercolour, as well as thumping new single Napalm. We also commend the venue for its thoroughly immersive and exciting visuals.

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A post shared by Pendulum (@pendulum)

Venues and brands can make mistakes. That’s ok. But as they face intense economic pressure and a dwindling interest in attending nighttime events, deterring punters by remaining silent after a dangerous event will do little to restore faith in those who attended and those who look to attend future events.
We sincerely hope Drumsheds remedies this issue and puts out an official statement addressing the genuine concerns of those in attendance on Friday 13 December.
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