Boccaccio

Destelbergen · 1972–1993 · club

Boccaccio, on the Solariumdreef in Destelbergen near Ghent, became Belgium's first megaclub in 1987 as Boccaccio Life. The Sunday nights of Olivier Pieters and Eric B made it the cradle of new beat, until the closure order of October 1993.

The story

The building by the pond

Boccaccio stood at Solariumdreef 5 in Destelbergen, on the eastern edge of Ghent, between the Damvalleistraat and the fishing ponds of the Damvallei, close to the R4 and the E17 exit. On the same site stood the restaurant Solarium, which was also owned by the De Maesschalck family. Visitors parked along the Damvalleistraat and the Dendermondsesteenweg.

The man behind it all was Robert De Maesschalck. He started out as a mattress manufacturer. According to his own account in De Morgen (22 September 2001), he saw the crowds at the Leuven dance hall Blauwe Donau while making deliveries in his lorry and decided to open a dance hall of his own. On the Brusselsesteenweg in Gentbrugge he and his son Dirk built the Balmoral, first a function hall and shortly afterwards a dance hall with a jukebox. He then bought a plot by the fishing pond in Destelbergen. There, in the 1970s, he opened the first Boccaccio in a boat-style villa. Because the building stood by the water, it was fitted out like a ship, with parts salvaged from old vessels. Regulars called it the 'boathouse'. The name was supposedly borrowed from a discotheque in Madrid. In a 2001 interview his son Dirk De Maesschalck, half laughing, took the credit: he was said to have taken the name from the Decameron by the Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio.

Robert and Dirk De Maesschalck started the business in 1972, according to the old club text and VPRO. Het Laatste Nieuws also writes that Dirk joined at the helm in 1972. Their lawyer told the court in 1998 that Robert had been using the name Boccaccio 'since the early seventies'. Other sources give 1963 (see conflicts). The first Boccaccio was a dance hall for 'the better sort of people' aged twenty and over. At first two hundred people came, and after a refurbishment some five hundred. The music was disco, soul and funk, with Dick Van Gelder and Phill Watts as the best-known DJs. Dick Van Gelder, who also ran his own DJ agency, played there on Sundays.

The Carrera and the new megaclub (1985–1987)

Around 1985 the old Boccaccio got competition right next door: the Carrera. There DJ TeeCee (Dirk 't Seyen) played dark, slowed-down new wave and electro, the forerunner of new beat. According to one regular, the old Boccaccio's crowd quickly drifted away. The De Maesschalck family responded with a completely new building next to the old one. The building permit dates from 3 June 1986. Dirk De Maesschalck travelled around Europe looking for models: the megaclubs on Ibiza and, in London, the Hippodrome and The Rose, his brother Danny recounted after Dirk's death. The result was a vast shed with several levels, staircases, waterfalls, mirrored walls and the latest light and sound technology. Regulars watched the building 'grow week by week'.

According to the magazine Fabiola (no. 29, November 1988), the new 'giant disco' opened in April 1987. Robert De Maesschalck later called himself 'the inventor of the megaclub in Belgium': 'It was a gold mine the moment I opened it in 1987. Thousands of visitors, beautiful and wealthy people, the best music, lasers and smoke.' From then on the club was called Boccaccio Life, in the press and on the forum also Boccaccio Life International. A huge blue-and-red neon sign with a big 'B' blazed on the façade. The Carrera did not hold out much longer: according to Fabiola, it went up in flames shortly afterwards.

The Sunday nights and the birth of new beat (1987–1989)

The new Boccaccio became the home of what was first called 'AB music' or 'Bocca music' and, from late 1987, new beat: slow, heavy dance music that grew out of new wave, EBM and records played at the wrong speed. The linchpin was Olivier Pieters, who had once worked as a helper at the Ancienne Belgique in Antwerp and started the Sunday evenings in Destelbergen. 'Two to three thousand young people flock in every Sunday from every corner of the country and even from France, the Netherlands and West Germany,' Fabiola wrote in November 1988. Not everyone was enthusiastic. In the same article TeeCee felt that Pieters was 'strutting in borrowed feathers': in his view the seeds had been sown at the AB and the Carrera, but 'new beat only truly came to life in the Boccaccio'. There are several versions of who first played Flesh by A Split Second at 33 rpm plus 8 (see conflicts).

On Sunday evenings thousands of people headed for Destelbergen, often after a night in clubs such as the 55 in Kuurne. According to Het Nieuwsblad (19 November 1999), there were 'queues around midnight' at the E17 exit. The car park was full of French, Dutch and German number plates. Forum members even saw Swiss cars there, and people sleeping in the boot of their estate car. In the early years the party went on until Monday afternoon. A waiter recalled in 2001 that he had weekends of 'working 24 hours'. Anyone who still did not want to go home moved on to the Balmoral in Gentbrugge, the same family's afterclub, or later, on Tuesday morning, to Cherry Moon. One regular called the Boccaccio 'a cathedral' and 'Ibiza in Destelbergen'.

The crowd was as defining as the music. Regulars remember drag queens, transvestites in enormous hats, dandies, people in leather and latex, but also well-heeled young people stepping out of a Ferrari and ordering champagne. According to them, new beat fashion was born there on the dance floor: cycling shorts with striped sports socks, Mercedes and VW logos, caps covered in badges, smileys and sunglasses in the dark. According to a waiter, it was also in this club that the later frontman of The Confetti's, 'lange Peter', was discovered. He was dancing on his own on a stage next to the bar. That dance group produced the hit The Sound of C (1988). According to a regular quoted in De Morgen, even Grace Jones once performed there. In its early years the club also had its own professional cycling team, 'Boccaccio Live', which existed for two years. According to the staff, former rider Roger De Vlaeminck was a regular customer.

In 1988 the Boccaccio attracted international attention. On 1 October 1988 the French channel FR3 made a report for the programme Rocking Chair about 'le temple de la house'. In November 1988 Humo sent a satirical letter writer in search of his daughter 'in the Boccaccio'. That year the German label BCM released the LP Boccaccio – The New Beat Source and a New Beat Megamix with photos of the club on the inner sleeve. Under the label Bocca Life, four anonymous 12-inches (BL 01–04) appeared in 1988 with typical Bocca records, such as Public Image Ltd – Death Disco, Logic System – Unit, Renegade Soundwave – Cocaine Sex and Carol – Breakdown. According to forum members, this was a bootleg series from the Aalst new beat scene. Producer Luc Devriese, according to forum members once a doorman at the Boccaccio, made the Bocca record Even Now with Olivier Pieters, among others, as L&O.

Residents and guests

The best-known names from the glory years are Olivier Pieters (Sundays, c. 1987/1988–1992), Eric B (Eric Beyssens, later Eric Powa B; according to an interview in Out Soon a resident for five years, and the oldest known tape dates from 1987) and Phill Watts (1987–1989 according to the reunion posters). Henk Salon, later a resident at the Balmoral, played there 'from day 2' and for the first four years. In the early nineties came Mike Thompson, who did the late hours with Eric around 1992, Stevie Star, who is billed as a Boccaccio DJ on the flyers of 1990–1991 and of whom a set from 13 June 1992 survives, and Mario (Mario Beirnaert), who is billed as a Boccaccio DJ on the flyers in 1992. Tapes also feature Marshall (1989), Jessy Deep, Bram (1993) and, in 1993, Phi-Phi, with a 'Phi-Phi Monday' from 20 September 1993. Phi-Phi later said that at the Boccaccio he 'felt for the first time that the crowd was really behind me'. Laurent Warin played there for a few months in 1993.

The flyers also list major guest nights. On Friday 31 August 1990 there was the 'Nacht van Boccaccio', with a giant barbecue and 5,000 free brochettes, for 200 francs admission. On Wednesday 31 October 1990 came the 'Scarlett House Night' with The Project, Soul Patrol, Quadrophonia and Dr. Alban live, DJs from La Rocca, 55, La Démence and Belgica, and the American Frankie Bones. The responsible publisher was Olivier Pieters. On Wednesday 8 May 1991 came the 'Worldparty' with Steve Cop, Philip Traikos, Frank De Wulf, Jan V and Spinmasters (808 State), among others. One flyer announces 'open every Monday from 9 pm from 11 November' (1991). In 1992 followed the Phutura Party (Friday 31 January) and 'S.O.S. Boccaccio – Belgium Mayday' (Friday 29 May). Producers tested their latest tracks there, sometimes off DAT, and R&S boss Renaat Vandepapeliere came along with artists such as CJ Bolland, Frank De Wulf and Maarten van der Vleuten. Around 1991–1992 Pieters and De Wulf also organised the large-scale 'World Party II' in the Floraliënhal in Ghent, 'a kind of Boccaccio on tour' according to one visitor.

The club

On entering, you walked down a neon-lit corridor to the till (in 1992 admission cost 100 francs). On the left a staircase led upstairs, on the right was the cloakroom. One regular describes 'several stages with lots of little stairs': a bar and a small merchandise stand on the right, the DJ booth in the corner on the left at the top of the stairs, slightly higher than the sunken, packed dance floor, and at the back a raised area with seating. Behind it hung a large circle of lights with a stage and the lasers. Above the dance floor hung the 'UFO', a round lighting rig full of spots, and the walls were lined with mirrors and blue and red neon tubes. Sitting on the stairs was not allowed: staff pulled tired dancers back to their feet. Visitors mainly remember the green laser that came on during Drop the Deal or Rock to the Beat, the cool air blowers by the stairs and 'the legendary JBL tweeters'. Robert De Maesschalck estimated that the floor could hold 'up to two thousand people'. According to a newspaper article from 1991, the club 'easily drew five thousand visitors per weekend'.

Nuisance, closing time and police raids (1990–1992)

The success had a downside. Residents of the Damvalleistraat complained about noise at night, illegal parking, vandalism and drugs. In May 1991 Guy Colpaert, operator of the neighbouring swimming pool and leisure park Kristalbad, wrote an open letter about 'Boccaccio terror'. Mayor Roger Gijselinck had already taken measures by then: a total parking ban in the Damvalleistraat and the Solariumdreef, and towing away of illegally parked cars. Dirk De Maesschalck rented extra parking space himself, along with security guards with dogs.

In early July 1991 the municipal council approved a police by-law: all dance venues in Destelbergen had to close between 5 in the morning and 6 in the evening. It was clearly aimed at the Monday 'day parties' at the Boccaccio. The operators considered the by-law unlawful. Their lawyer Hans Rieder spoke of 'abuse of power' and went to the Council of State. On the first Monday the party simply carried on until after midday. Two weeks later the gendarmerie (Rijkswacht) moved in on a Monday morning with some twenty vehicles and around seventy officers led by Colonel Roger Van de Sompel. Within an hour 1,200 dancers were out on the street. At subsequent evacuations some 600 to 1,000 people were still present. When the lights came on, according to the newspaper, 'spontaneous jeering and chants of Boccaccio, Boccaccio' broke out. At the mayor's request Dirk De Maesschalck stopped the music himself. The operating company, nv Mardi, and the staff took the municipality to court in summary proceedings. The case also featured on the BRT debate programme Zeker Weten. The compulsory closing time gave rise to a classic: Ottorongo's Five O'Clock… My Ass, Let's Tango!!! (1991), which according to the old wiki text was invariably played at the end of the night.

Around the same time the management also changed. Day-to-day running was in the hands of nv Mardi, set up by Dirk De Maesschalck and his then partner Martine Oosterlinck. According to his lawyer (2001), Dirk held only a minority stake. After their split he disappeared from the management. His father Robert did remain owner of the land and the building. According to Robert, a former waiter and lawyer Boxstaele, things went downhill from then on. Forum members accordingly place the peak in 1988–1990. During a raid by the gendarmerie and the judicial police in December 1991 on the Boccaccio and the Balmoral, a set of off-the-books accounts was seized. According to the newspaper, only half of the quarterly turnover of 24 million francs had been declared. A Ferrari Testarossa was also seized as a precaution. In 1992 and 1993 there were repeated drug raids. During one such raid, visitors threw their pills onto the dance floor.

The closure in October 1993

On the night of Monday 4 October 1993 the gendarmerie carried out another major raid, during which, according to the press, a record haul of drugs and prohibited weapons was seized and several suspects were arrested. On Friday 8 October a closure order from Mayor Gijselinck was posted on the door. The club had to shut for five months, up to and including 25 February 1994, 'because of a threat to public order' and because the business was not in compliance with environmental legislation (Het Belang van Limburg, 11 October 1993). Accounts of the real reason for the end differ (see conflicts). What is certain is that the Boccaccio did not reopen after 25 February 1994. nv Mardi went bankrupt.

Court cases after the closure

The courts kept the operators busy for years. At the end of September 1995 the criminal court in Ghent convicted Dirk De Maesschalck and Martine Oosterlinck of tax evasion on the basis of the off-the-books accounts found in 1991. Dirk De Maesschalck received a one-year prison sentence, Martine Oosterlinck two years, half of it suspended, and both had to pay a fine of 250,000 francs. The company also had to pay 5.6 million francs to social security (Het Belang van Limburg, 28 September 1995). On appeal the sentence remained 'just as heavy': one year in prison and 250,000 francs for both. A bookkeeper received a suspended sentence (Gazet van Antwerpen, 26 December 1997). In a separate drugs case, the Ghent court of appeal sentenced Martine Oosterlinck in January 2000 to two years, suspended. A second former operator received two years in absentia, one of them to be served. The court ruled that they had 'made the discotheque available for drug use': in the raids of 1992 and 1993 investigators had each time found quantities of speed, ecstasy, LSD and hash 'sufficient to supply a third to half of the crowd present' (De Gentenaar, 26 January 2000).

Seven years' fight for a permit (1994–2000)

Owner Robert De Maesschalck tried to restart the business himself, but the municipality and the province refused an environmental permit every time. An application under the new name Bocca (1996), with the promise to 'run drug-free', also failed. In February 1997 the provincial executive of East Flanders refused once and for all, after 89 local residents had lodged objections (Gazet van Antwerpen, 15 February 1997). In June 1998 the club, the restaurant Solarium and the surrounding 7,000 m² were put up for sale. Prospective buyers wanted to turn it into a recording studio, a gym, a karting track (1999) or tennis courts (1999). According to De Maesschalck, he had paid '70 million at the time' for the business.

From 1998 the fight was led by lawyer Luc Boxstaele, himself a former DJ at the Fifty-Five in Ghent. He invoked a circular from minister Theo Kelchtermans under which venues without an environmental permit were allowed to hold a party twelve times a year. The municipality, by then under Mayor Marc De Pauw, held that this arrangement did not apply to clubs. In 1999 came a third permit application, which was refused again in mid-May 1999. Only one objection was lodged against that application, by councillor Guy Colpaert on behalf of the neighbourhood. Boxstaele filed a complaint with the provincial governor. In July 1999, at a VLD election party in the Solarium, Robert and Dirk De Maesschalck handed out leaflets attacking the mayor and Colpaert, who threatened a complaint for libel and defamation. On 30 September 1999 the provincial executive also refused, partly because part of the car park and the hall had been built without a permit and the venue did not meet the stricter noise standards. Boxstaele went to the Council of State.

Meanwhile the empty building was being stripped. On the night of 1 to 2 October 1999, 21 speakers and several light scanners disappeared, 'the twelfth break-in since the closure' (Het Nieuwsblad, 7 October 1999). In early November 1999 the Melle gendarmerie picked up some twenty local youths who had got in through a hole in the wall. All the loot was recovered. In October 2000 the adults among them mostly received suspended judgments and community service. In November 1999 new beat producers Roland Beelen, Jo Casters and Patrick De Meyer presented their double CD Rock To The Beat – The Ultimate New Beat Collection in the empty Boccaccio, 'the former dance temple where it all began'.

The battle for the name

According to the press, when nv Mardi went bankrupt the receiver also sold the Boccaccio brand name. In 1995 or 1996 it passed for 310,000 francs to Benny Strouven, who converted his club Pharao in Halen into Boccaccio Life and later also opened Boccaccio clubs on the coast (see Pharao Dreamland). When Robert De Maesschalck announced in October 1998 that he would reopen as Boca Ballroom, Strouven brought summary proceedings. The De Maesschalck family argued that the receiver had no right to sell the name, since it belonged to Robert and not to the company. Nevertheless, on 27 October 1998 commercial court judge Sioen banned the use of 'Boccaccio' or any derivative such as Boca Ballroom, on pain of half a million francs per infringement. Lawyer Boxstaele even suggested opening the club 'if need be' as 'Het Swingklooster'. In April 2000 Strouven won again: the neon sign bearing the name had to come off the façade, and Topradio was not allowed to use the name either. Proceedings on the merits in Brussels were still under way in 2001. According to forum members, the name never returned to Destelbergen.

Topradio parties and Megatempel (2000–2005)

In early 2000 the municipality conceded that under the new Vlarem rules the venue could open twelve times a year. It did, however, attach a police by-law to this, requiring notification 21 days in advance and imposing a 5 am closing time. On Easter Sunday, 23 April 2000, the venue opened again for the first time since 1993, with an Easter party by Topradio and SIS Gent. Because the name was banned, it was called 'Retro Arena' in 'the megatemple of Destelbergen'. According to lawyer Boxstaele, the venue was full by half past nine and hundreds of people had to be turned away. The police reported no incidents (De Gentenaar, 25 and 26 April 2000). DJ Looney Tune (Ramses de Craene) became the monthly resident. In September 2000, after a Topradio party, a masked man tried to rob the day's takings. A doorman chased him off, a shot was fired into the ceiling and nobody was hurt (Gazet van Antwerpen, 18 September 2000). From March 2001 'the team from the former Boccaccio' also organised monthly Explosion parties at 't Kuipke in Ghent. In May 2001 the venue hosted a boxing gala for some thousand spectators.

After some twenty occasional parties, Robert De Maesschalck was granted a two-year trial environmental permit on 21 June 2001. Only three objections had been lodged against that application. It came with strict conditions: a maximum of a thousand visitors with a counter, open two days a week, closing at 5 am and parking attendants in the street. On Saturday 15 September 2001 the club reopened on a weekly basis as Megatempel (also spelt Megatemple or Mega Temple), run by the brothers Dirk and Danny De Maesschalck. De Morgen (22 September 2001) wrote that 'the blue and pink neon lights of old' and the name were gone. A regular who had been a 'Bocca' for fifteen years found it 'a shame: not that many people and few special touches'. Resident DJ Alec played 'dance and trance' there and mixed in old Boccaccio records. Just six weeks after the reopening, neighbour Colpaert was again complaining about nuisance, and the mayor refused a later closing time of 7 am.

From 2002 to 2004 Quincy and Ben Milo brought the Mondays of the recently closed Extreme to Destelbergen with the Rebuilding Mondays around Phi-Phi, 'in the club where it all began'. Highlights included a Bedrock session and Phi-Phi's fortieth birthday on 10 November 2004, with more than 1,800 visitors according to the organisers. In 2004 the exterior was renovated and a membership card was introduced. Around 2005 the name became The Temple, with residents such as David, PCP and Neon and the popular 'Retro Arena' nights. According to the forum, the interior largely stayed as it had been. The DJ booth did, however, move to the middle of the room, the mirrored walls and neons disappeared, and moving heads and a projection screen were added.

Reunions: The Sound of B (2007–2010)

On 29 and 30 April 2007 Eric B and Henk (Sunday) and Olivier Pieters and Mike Thompson (Monday) stood behind the decks of the Temple once more. A year later came a proper series: The Sound of B, a concept by Independent Promotions built around DJ Jo (ex-La Démence). The first edition was organised together with Topradio. For the first edition, on 29 November 2008, 'the original lighting from back then' was brought out again, 'including the world-famous UFO and the unforgettable neons'. When Phill Watts kicked off on the stroke of midnight with Nux Nemo, the dance floor filled up instantly. A second edition followed on 30 April 2009 with Phill Watts, Olivier Pieters, Eric B and Jo, and a performance by Taste of Sugar. Studio Brussel devoted an hour of new beat to it that evening. On 23 May 2010 (Whitsun) came a third edition with Phill Watts, Eric B, Mario and Jo. A Globe reunion also took place at the Temple on 27 March 2009. Earlier, on 30 April 1996, Cherry Moon had already held a 'Tribute to Boccaccio' with Olivier Pieters.

Riva, BOCCA and the end (2009–2018)

In January 2009 operator Danny De Maesschalck told De Standaard that the Temple, with a capacity of 1,250, was drawing only around 600 visitors on average. That year the municipality discussed taking over the site for a sports hall, but no agreement was reached. At the end of October 2010 the brothers leased the business to Steve Moreels, who opened Riva there on Saturday 30 October 2010, named after Riva del Garda (Het Nieuwsblad, October 2010). In January 2015 Dirk De Maesschalck died at the age of 61. 'It was partly thanks to him that New Beat conquered the world,' wrote Het Laatste Nieuws. That same year DJ Mario Bocca opened the club BOCCA there. According to Wikipedia, the complex closed its doors for good under that name on 26 April 2018.

Legacy

The Boccaccio is regarded as Belgium's first megaclub and as the epicentre of new beat, the first Belgian dance music to break through internationally. According to forum members, Belgian nightlife changed for good after the 1993 closure and the raids on other clubs. In the early nineties the De Maesschalck family, the Balmoral and Cherry Moon formed the 'Ghent triangle'. Regulars and DJs carried the Bocca feeling on to La Rocca (Eric B), Megadrôme D'Yore and Ckomilfoo (Olivier Pieters), Zenith and Empire (Phill Watts) and Extreme (Phi-Phi). Video footage of the raids and news broadcasts, kept on VHS by one visitor, still circulates on YouTube and on DVD. On 17 November 2022 VRT 1 devoted an episode of Those Were The Days to the club, featuring Martine Oosterlinck and Olivier Pieters among others. In April 2025 the Ghent label Music Man released Boccaccio Life 1987–1993: a numbered box set of ten 12-inches in an edition of a thousand, compiled by Olivier Pieters and Stefaan Vandenberghe (T-Quest). One regular summed it up in 2001: 'I'll be a Bocca until the end of my life.'

At this address

Solariumdreef 5, 9070 Destelbergen

Terrein aan de visvijvers van de Damvallei, met eerst een villa in bootstijl en vanaf 1986-87 een nieuwe megadancing ernaast; op hetzelfde terrein restaurant Solarium van de familie De Maesschalck.

Boccaccio / Boccaccio Life (1972–1993) — Eerste megadancing van België en bakermat van de new beat, tot het sluitingsbevel van oktober 1993.
Megatempel (2001–2005) — Heropening als wekelijkse club door Dirk en Danny De Maesschalck, met o.a. de Rebuilding Mondays van Phi Phi.
The Temple (2005–2010) — Club met residents David, PCP en Neon, de Retro Arena-avonden en reünies als The Sound of B en een Globe-reünie.
Riva (2010–2015) — Discotheek van Steve Moreels, geopend op 30 oktober 2010.
BOCCA (2015–2018) — Laatste club in het gebouw, dicht op 26 april 2018.

Timeline

1972 Robert De Maesschalck and his son Dirk open the first Boccaccio by the pond in Destelbergen, a villa fitted out like a ship.
1985 The Carrera opens right next door with DJ TeeCee. The De Maesschalck family responds with a completely new building (building permit 3 June 1986).
1987 In April the new megaclub Boccaccio Life opens. Olivier Pieters starts the Sunday evenings, which soon gain international fame.
1988 New beat at its peak: reports by FR3 (1 October) and Humo, the LP 'Boccaccio – The New Beat Source' and the Bocca Life 12-inches.
1991 In early July a police by-law imposes a 5 am closing time. The gendarmerie clears the club on Monday mornings. In December a raid uncovers off-the-books accounts.
1993 After a raid on the night of Monday 4 October, Mayor Gijselinck orders the club closed on 8 October until 25 February 1994. The Boccaccio never reopens and the operating company nv Mardi goes bankrupt.
1995 The receiver sells the Boccaccio brand name to the Limburg operator Benny Strouven (Halen). The former operators are convicted of tax fraud, which is upheld on appeal (1997).
1997 After a failed attempt under the name Bocca, the province refuses an environmental permit once and for all, following 89 objections.
1998 The judge in summary proceedings bans the use of the name Boccaccio and of the planned 'Boca Ballroom'. The complex is up for sale.
2000 In January the court of appeal convicts two former operators of making the venue available for drug use. On Easter Sunday, 23 April, the first Topradio party is held in the building since 1993.
2001 After a trial permit (21 June), the club reopens on a weekly basis as Megatempel on 15 September.
2002 Launch of the Rebuilding Mondays with Phi-Phi (until 2004). Around 2005 the club is called The Temple.
2008 29 November: first 'The Sound of B' with the original lighting. Further editions follow on 30 April 2009 and 23 May 2010.
2010 On 30 October Steve Moreels opens the discotheque Riva in the building.
2015 Dirk De Maesschalck dies in January. That same year the building becomes the club BOCCA, which closes for good on 26 April 2018.

DJs & residents

Dick Van Gelder — Sunday DJ in the old Boccaccio (seventies and eighties)
Phill Watts — DJ in the old Boccaccio and resident in the new Boccaccio c. 1987–1989
Olivier Pieters — Sunday resident c. 1987/1988–1992; organiser of major guest nights
Eric B (Eric Beyssens) — resident c. 1987–1992 (five years by his own account)
Henk Salon — resident from the opening of the new Boccaccio, for the first four years
Mike Thompson — resident in the early nineties (incl. 1992, late hours with Eric B)
Stevie Star — resident c. 1990–1992
Mario (Mario Beirnaert) — resident c. 1991–1993
Phi-Phi — Mondays and Sundays in 1993; later Rebuilding Mondays at the Temple (2002–2004)
Laurent Warin — a few months in 1993
Alec — Megatempel resident at the 2001 reopening
DJ Looney Tune (Ramses de Craene) — monthly resident during the occasional parties in 2000
David, PCP en Neon — Saturday residents at The Temple (c. 2004–2008)

Videos

Live sets

Known for

Belgium's first megaclub (opened spring 1987) and the cradle of new beat
Sunday nights with Olivier Pieters for 2,000 to 3,000 visitors from Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Germany, running until Monday afternoon in the early years
Residents Olivier Pieters, Eric B, Phill Watts, Henk Salon, Mike Thompson, Stevie Star and Mario; Dick Van Gelder in the old Boccaccio
Neon façade with the big 'B', mirrored walls, staircases and the 'UFO' lighting rig above the dance floor
The compulsory closing time of 1991, the evacuations by the gendarmerie and Ottorongo's protest record 'Five O'Clock My Ass, Let's Tango'
Closure order after the raid of 4 October 1993, followed by seven years of fighting for an environmental permit and for the brand name
The Bocca Life 12-inches and the LP 'Boccaccio – The New Beat Source' (1988), and the Music Man box set 'Boccaccio Life 1987–1993' (2025)
Reopening as Megatempel/The Temple (2001), Rebuilding Mondays (2002-2004) and the 'The Sound of B' reunions (2008-2010)

All discussions about Boccaccio

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