On nights like this, fabric falls somewhere out of the semantic scope of 'nightclub'. A nightclub, for most, is a strict, flashy environment, with surly, angry and intrusive security, prohibitive dress codes, a music policy designed to 'keep the girls happy' and a basic opening/closing time schedule. Not at EC1. Forever pushing the boundaries of the underground community, Saturday night fabric is simply a vast, subterranean temple for only religious followers of all things techno. If you are one of those people, you could be forgiven for not really wanting to venture anywhere else on a Saturday. Once inside when the night is beginning to peak, usually about 6am, it becomes clear why this place is a legendary institution. With a dress code that permits all but business suits, there is the most fascinating cross-section of cultural identities inside. The security are so passive that almost anything goes. People openly are lighting up cigarettes and more on the dancefloor with no opposition. The only thing the security is there for it seems is to eradicate trouble, which is in everyone's best interests and for which I've seen none every time I've been . With the music as the main attraction, of course, such is the reputation of the club now that big name guests are weekly. Carl Craig, Jeff Mills, Tiefschwarz and Seth Troxler are just a few of many that regularly appear in the cockpit-like booth of Room One and with their 24hr license, nights frequently conclude no earlier than 9am. I am yet to stay the entire duration of any night, a feat Chris is eager to reach.

But then one day, someone from the fabric team came up with the idea of a night that really doesn't seem to end. Because 8 or 9am is far too early, for their 10th birthday last year they celebrated with a 30 hour rave, commencing at the standard 11pm on Saturday, but not concluding until at least 5am on Monday. The concept was nothing short of a success, and a ground-breaking event for club programming. What it proved was there people that liked this sort of thing, and enough of them to create a residency of which would become known as On & On & On... After their birthday bash, two more On & On & On events have taken place with some quite incredible line-ups. This time fabric took a breather and reduced the duration of the event by half creating fabric On. If you ask me though, it started out as a standard fabric Saturday but after they secured Ricardo Villalobos to headline Room One for the second time this year, they just knew they had to do something special for his notoriously epic sets.

Unless you're there to see a live act or anyone other than the main headliner, the later you get to fabric the better. We headed there about 3am which was still too early to avoid the high-heeled girls and 'out-on-the-town' London lads who cluttered the bars if not the dancefloors. We also discovered to our slight disappointment that we would be waiting about 5 hours until Ricardo would be gracing the decks of Room One. Not to worry though, in the meantime we had a bit of Dinky, a live performance from Canadian project, the Modern Deep Left Quartet live, Terry Francis spinning in Room Two, Swayzak and Baby Ford b2b up in Room Three and of course, the legendary Craig Richards warming up for Ricardo all the way until at least 8:30, according to the set-times pinned round all over the club. That on its own would be some line-up, but knowing that Ricardo Villalobos would eventually rule the night is some prospect.

We caught the tail end of Dinky's set, a classically deep house set that kept Room One happy. Not exactly the scary sounds you would hear later on but perfect at a time when the place is still merely simmering. The Deep Modern Left Quartet followed Dinky on the other side on the room, on stage. Their live set-up looked incredible. Four Canadian producers, including Matthew Jonson, around a hard-wired array of machinery. All members frantically tweaking, twisting and pressing to produce some delightful sonics. But with so much to see, we vacated Room One for a Terry Francis session in the narrow cave of a second room. As usual, his sleek blend of Techno and House fueled a breathtaking surge of movement on all corners of the room. Fabric's Room 2 has always fascinated me. For someone who hadn't been to the club before, it would be easy to mistake it for the legendary Room One. During the club's busiest hours, usually from 3-6am, Room Two is arguably more frenetic and thrilling. Coming from the foyer area as you enter from the stairwell, it's visible but only through a tiny arched entrance tunnel. From there it looks formidable, nothing but chasm of darkness, smoke and lasers and floor-shaking bass. Francis is perfect at this time, using everyone's raw energy with every trick his spinning experience gives him.

Fabric's Room Three could often be likened to a proverbial 'chill room'. It's tiny for a start and is never that densely packed even on particularly busy nights. I expect this is partly because many newcomers to the club either simply don't know there is a third room or if they do, don't know how to get to it. Even I scratched my temple at one point in slight confusion of how to get there despite having been there several times before. There is undoubtedly a much less intense atmosphere compared to the two rooms downstairs. We entered during Swayzak and Baby Ford's B2B set which yielded some deliciously groovy deep tech and minimal sounds.

After we resurfaced to the outside world for an essential break in the smoking garden, we moved back to Room One where Craig Richards was busy spinning in his first of two sets of the night, first on his own before Ricardo, and after with Ricardo. Richards' sets are when the extraordinary brilliance of fabric really becomes clear. When you really do begin to forget there is normal, mundane, civilized and quiet life elsewhere. Always different, his sets are musical nutrients for everyone outside the legendary booth in the club. Nightmarish is one interestingly accurate adjective that emerged from his set this particular time. A teeming, relentless tour of dark, trippy, fragile beats, breaks and acid pitches that on Room One's intimidating soundsytem does send you into a frenzy of near insanity as well as movement. At one point, the entire room was pierced with the unrelenting sample of someone screaming, while waves of thumping techy beats rolled in and out.

We stuck around during Richards' set a little longer than we probably would have before perhaps switching rooms, purely because of the promise of seeing Ricardo Villalobos open a set at fabric. Fashionably late? Maybe he was but at almost 9:30 in the morning having been there since 3, our patience was tried. We gave up waiting for him and instead took a breather outside. Little did we know the night before he was in Ukraine closing a festival, so his lateness could be forgiven. Soon after we returned where at last to our excitement we could see the old master at the helm in Room One through a storm of smoke, lights and camera flashes, and also hear him. Immediately we entered into climate of extreme minimal, classic Villalobos. Reminiscent of the kind of work he produced on his album Thé au Harem d'Arichmède. He then moved onto more tribal techno sounds, still maintaining the microhouse structure but with the typical latin flavours and bizarre vocals that are a staple of Villalobos' sets. A self-confessed audiophile, Villalobos tested the Room One soundsystem to it's maximum, manipulating it with all his wisdom, unearthing frequencies never delivered before.

Probably the most endearing, most enjoyable thing about Ricardo Villalobos at fabric is experiencing arguably the most naturally gifted electronic musician play so freely because he feels at home. It's easy to forget that if it wasn't for fabric, Ricardo may not be the musician he is today. That room one booth couldn't be more comfortable now for a man who has been spinning there before anyone had heard of him. It's this relationship with the club that makes nights he returns so special, so memorable. I just can't wait for next time, where I will strive to stay beyond 11am.