Tribal Gathering Founder Dies Following Goa Motorbike Crash

Published April 26, 2013 | By skrufff

Pioneering British techno promoter Paul Shurey has died after sustaining serious head injuries in a motorcycle accident in India.

Scores of dance industry luminaries donated funds to a fund-raising appeal for medical bill assistance launched by Paul’s family as he lay unconscious in a Goa hospital though despite undergoing two brain operations, he failed to recover.

“It is with great sadness that I have to say my brother passed away peacefully yesterday evening. I am in Goa arranging to bring Paul home,” Simon Congiu-Shurey wrote in a message on the crowd-sourcing site.

“This has been quite simply the hardest day of my life. Paul was loved by so many, his enthusiasm was infectious, his ideas revolutionary and as a brother he was quite simply the best. He was also without doubt my best mate ever. I will miss him forever. Rest in peace Brother,” said Simon. http://www.gofundme.com/2nnvdc

His sentiments were echoed by many from the nightlife industry including DJ Rolando, Circoloco/ DC founder Andrea Pelino and one time Muzik/ NME editor Conor McNicholas.

So sorry to hear the sad news. Very best to the family. He will always be remembered as a pioneer,” said Conor in a posting on the site. “The dance music community and UK pop culture owe him a huge debt. Rave In Peace.”

Leading London underground tech house promoter Rob Star also paid tribute.

“Sending my best wishes to all his friends and family. I worked for Paul on both the Final Frontier and Tribal Gathering nights in the mid 90′s, and him and the parties he produced were a major inspiration for what I do today. He gave so many great memories to so many people.”

Starting his nightlife career in 1990, Paul was one of the key individuals responsible for popularizing underground techno and house in the UK, in particular through his Final Frontier Friday night parties at Wandsworth’s Club UK in 1994. Showcasing everyone from Dave Clarke, Sven Vath, Darren Emerson, Laurent Garnier and the entire elite of Detroit techno, the club packed in 2,000 revellers weekly for several years, before police crackdowns forced the club to shut.

He also helped invent the template for today’s dance music festivals- Tribal Gathering.

Launching in 1993, the events were effectively Britain’s first legal raves and were as massively successful as they were politically controversial. Staging a 30,000 sold out event at Luton Hoo in 1997 (headlined by Kraftwerk), Paul was firmly established as Britain’s most successful dance music promoter though a disastrous fall out with his then partner Mean Fiddler in 1998 saw him squeezed out of the market.

While he dabbled in event promotion on occasion a number of times in future years, he later settled in marketing, media and content creation in the tech business.