THE FRENCH ARE INVADING......

Last Saturday saw Sankeys bring an end to this summer's 'Kaluki 5th Anniversary' parties. After a truly spectacular 11 events in the lead up it seemed only fitting that number 12 bring a lineup, to the Sankeys collective, deserving of a strong farewell. This responsibility was given to a Gallic trio that epitomizes the Kaluki zeitgeist by bringing a futuristic take on live performance, tech grooves and deep house.

To start with, however, it was the turn of Treehouse to provide the main room with its warm up act of the evening. DEAD ROSE MUSIC COMPANY got everybody grinning with a set spanning disco, tech and even splatters of acid. It was an apt close to the union born between Treehouse and Kaluki over the last 3 months with the Treehouse boys proving yet again that the pedigree of their lineups have acted as the perfect complement to the headline action (Fear not Treehouse fans, the night will return to Sankeys in the coming months).

By 1 the first of the night's Frenchmen was in the booth. TOLGA FIDAN gave us a 1 hour live set worthy of any Sankeys Saturday. Fidan was followed by SEUIL and then LE LOUP who together sent the basement into a French frenzy.

The men seemed to really buzz off the night's atmosphere, all enjoying a drink and dipping in and out of the DJ booth to catch moments of one another's sets.

The honor of bringing to an end the Kaluki closing party went to Manchester favorite and Sankeys friend DARIUS SYROSSIAN whose final hour was a fitting finale to a summer of seminal parties that have seen the likes of Miguel Campbell, James Teej, Hercules and Love Affair, Nicky Curly and Richie Ahmed, to name just a few, grace our rave rooms. Here's to the 6th anniversary everyone......

  



wolfGANG CULTURE......

As the clouds tumble back towards Manchester, and the evenings creep ever darker, all the signs point to the end of yet another, all too brief, British summer. We at Sankeys believed it was only fitting therefore to give the sun and our 'Thank F**k it's Friday' summer program a proper send off as both of our clubbing floors welcomed some very special guests.

Sankeys opened at 11 to a crowd eager to hear one of dance music's rising maestros, WOLFGANG GARTNER, smash the main room to pieces. First up it was the job of HARVARD BASS to warm the crowd with some Friday flavored floor fillers as the main room atmosphere gradually took shape. By 1 the basement was busy, just in time for Wolfgang to take over mixing duties and give the crowd a taste of his particular medicine.

For the following hour 45 Gartner inflicted his own brand of no holds barred aggressive electro on the Friday faithful. The hard, crisp sounds being thrown out had some behaving like lunatics, crawling in the bass bins, almost up the walls, in rabid appreciation. All this reached a crescendo as 'Undertaker', Gartner's track released last year, was dropped.

Fittingly the final word on our 'Thank F**k....' celebrations went to our summer's regular go to guy for Friday, DUTCH RUDDER. Finishing off just after 5 he waved goodbye to what has been a great set of parties over the last three months. Thanks to everyone who made it down.

Something sinister was brewing upstairs meanwhile......

After the truly inspirational party from August 1st once again Spektrum hosted the CONTINUE free party. Issuing instruction to dance hard the music once again gave Manchester's most clued up clubbers the chance to experience some serious future music as the forging of techno, dub and garage created a soundscape unrivalled in this neck of the woods.

This night seems to be capturing the imaginations of the city's music lovers as a real following seems to be developing, be sure to be a part of it when the next party arrives on Friday September 16th. We continue......



Penultimate Warriors......

Saturday night's revelers really were spoilt for choice at our little establishment last weekend as the second from last 'Kaluki 5th Anniversary' party landed.

Everywhere you lucky punters looked there was an array of talent waiting to bless the ears. Raising the bar to a huge level straight from the off our Saturday resident JOZEF K did what he does best, sending some unrelenting grooves through the speaker stacks.

Keeping with the emerging tradition established throughout this summer's Kaluki parties, of fusing djs with electronic live acts, the program changed up to bring the crowd a showcase from the first of the evening's headliners, JAMES TEEJ. Filling the booth with a vast collection of keyboards, samplers, laptops and a microphone Teej wowed the crowd with a set filled with live vocals over some banging tracks of his own design.

After this treat Kaluki Musik's godfather, ELLESSE, was tagged into the ring to whip the crowd into an even firmer frenzy, although, you guys didn't need much encouraging. Meanwhile, amongst the madness, we sneakily opened the doors to Spektrum where up the staircase Treehouse presented a back to back session where guests MATT TOLFREY and INXEC spun tunes and heads for two special hours. So intense was the atmosphere even our light ceiling blew a fuse......

All this and our main room was still yet to welcome its second headliner, and second live act, of the evening in the form of SAYTEK who maintained the really high standard of musicality in the building and cemented the magnitude of this, the penultimate Kaluki of the summer.

Rounding things off old favorite Mike Haynes of OD MUSIQUE completed proceedings for the weekend, nailing it for those sticking around till 6. Be sure to come say hello next Saturday as we celebrate 12/12 in our series of Kaluki birthday parties, it's sure to be epic......

Tasty Berger......

August 19th gave us the penultimate 'Thank F**k it's Friday' of the summer as a stellar line up of DJs was offered up to the clubbing gods.

DUTCH RUDDER's sets as our Friday resident over the summer months have been constantly on point. By tapping into the mindsets of those letting their hair down at the end of the working week and channeling this through the decks and speakers he has proved the perfect antidote to the stresses of your jobs. This week's exhibition was no exception.

Thanks to this hard work the smoke filled main room was primed for the evening's headliners, TUBE AND BERGER, to take to the decks at 1. The German duo took the room by the scruff of the neck by creating an atmosphere that conjored memories of classic Sankeys nights gone by. Dropping loops from tracks such as Mr Oizo's 'Flat Beat', Claude von Stroke's 'Whose Afraid of Detroit' and Timo Maas' mix of 'Dooms Night', those in the room were made to reflect on huge nights from the past couple of decades. The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for T+B's own dance monument 'The Young and the Wild Ones' which was met with a sea of arms in the air.

Proving that the men aren't the only ones who can smash the main room on a Friday we welcomed NATALIE BROGAN to the decks at 3 for a two hour set of underground crowd pleasers including Lucine's 'Two Dots', Felix Da Housecat's remix of Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' and one of the standout tunes of the summer, Jamie Jone's mix of 'Hungry for the Power'.

Be sure not to miss out out on this Friday's FINAL 'Thank F**k it's Friday of the summer. We will be giving a worthy send off as we present Wolfgang Gartner to the basement for what is sure to be a night to savour. Get your tickets online now, here - https://shop.sankeys.info/Thank-F-ck-It-s-Friday-Dutch-Rudder.html

Saturday night kick off......

Saturday marked the joyous return of the football season to our lives and in recognition Manchester's party people were out in force to celebrate a Sankeys lineup every bit as premier as our league.

Those who failed to be quick off the mark would have missed a special opening to proceedings at 11 with resident supremo ELLESSE teaming up with PETE ZORBA to embark upon a two and a half hour session that took in the hottest new Kaluki offerings.

The boys handed over to STIMMING at 1.30 who had the crowd in raptures as he cut loose during a one hour slot sitting within the primetime of Saturday's shenanigans. It was our headliner UNER who really stole the show however with a set that acted as a checklist of what's what for the here and now in 2011. Capturing summer's zeitgeist with huge current tracks from the likes of Julio Bashmore, Tale of Us and Deetron (the latter's 'Starblazer' being used to mash with Paul Kalkbrenner's 'Sky and Sand' for a spine tingling set closer) the Spaniard really did stamp his mark on the minds of the Sankeys faithful.

A seamless shift in pace was ushered in by our Treehouse guest for the evening, LUCA C. He took to the vinyl decks for the final hour and a half with some proper vocal tech and nu disco nuggets, feeding those sticking around 'til 6 in the morning. Once again a triumphant Kaluki 5th anniversary shindig went off with a bang. Get them whilst you can, there's only two left......   

Manchester, united......

Proving that nationwide riots are not enough to dampen the party spirits of Manchester's clubbers 'Thank F**k it's Friday' hosted a packed event at our place to kick start the weekend. Showing that a few bad eggs don't represent the youth of Britain Sankeys was filled with positive thinking, happy-go-lucky party people, more content with throwing shapes than stones. Rewarding this outlook we brought a group of DJs intent on ending Manchester's week on a positive note.

MY DIGITAL ENEMY got the ball rolling in the main room with a set fuelled by house grooves and electro edits. They got things perfectly warmed up for the night's headliner, Sankey's old favorite, JOHN DAHLBACK. Making a triumphant return to our main room Dahlback brought an evening of surprises to the decks in a showcase for his Mutants record label. Playing solo from 12.45 Dahlback delved into the darkest and hardest recesses of today's electro canon to bring the ears of those in the room under serious attack. Teaming up with label mate ALBIN MYERS at 2.15 Dahlback stayed in the booth, the pair playing back to back until 3.30.

The Rock-n'-Rave atmosphere in the main room was being cranked by two DJs clearly enjoying themselves. Myers, in particular, grabbing the bull by the horns, stage dived into a sea of outstretched arms on the dancefloor at one point.

For those with anything left after this bombastic display TOMMY TRASH completed the night's proceedings stripping every ounce of energy left in the legs of Manchester's finest......shout it from the rooftops MCR, we spread love, not war......

'YOUR GRAPHIC HERE' COMP - CLOSED

A big thank you to everybody who entered our 'Your Graphic Here' competition. The competition is now closed and our winning entries have been notified. Due to such an overwhelming response the competition will return in the coming months for another chance for you to win free entry to the club and make an impact on our LED wall.

The remaining Friday and Saturday lineups of 2011 revealed......

It is with great pleasure that we can now reveal the lineups for the remaining months of this year.

All the information you need is over here -

http://www.sankeys.info/emails/aug11/sankeys_sept_dec.html

Some events are still top secret, however, they will be revealed on this site and the official Sankeys facebook page in the coming weeks. Rest assured, they are monumental.

*A special SANKEYS SEASON TICKET is also available for purchase for a limited time. Priced at £75 the tickets will grant you entry to any of our events between September and December. Use the link above for further info.*

And now for something a little different......

The nature of our Kaluki 5th Anniversary parties altered for a special event last Saturday. Instead of simply giving you the spectacle of back to back DJ sets we also welcomed to our main room, with all the bells and whistles of a full blown band, HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR.

With their unique take on fusing disco, house and electronica the New York collective stormed the staging with an array of synths, drum machines and vocalists, in the process blowing the minds of the clubbers in attendance. Don't just take our word for it, check out the video evidence above and below.

The energy in the room was palpable, as you can witness, and this evening will surely go down in the books as one of the best stage events our little club has ever had the honor of hosting. Joining such acts as Dead Prez, James Blake and Tinie Tempah (to name just a few who have graced our stage over our 16 year history), Hercules and Love Affair established themselves within the array of non-dj performers who have created one off spectaculars for our crowds. Incredible crowds whose fingers have always been firmly on the pulse when it comes to expanding their minds musically and welcoming events of diverse sonic exploration with open arms. We thank you all for making this evening so special.

Arms in the air......

Last week was a busy 'Thank F**k it's Friday' night at Sankeys as we were joined by a headliner popping his main room cherry aswell as a tried and tested veteran of our basement booth.

Our Friday resident over the summer months, DUTCH RUDDER, got the ball rolling at 11, ushering in the weekend for all those joining us at the club. Playing an array of jacking tunes for the music conscious clubbers in attendance he heated up the room as only he knows how.

At 1 we welcomed the night's headline act, EDDIE THONEICK, for the first time on the hollowed turf of the main room DJ box. Dispensing 2 hours of euphoric, vocal laden, arms in the air electro Thoneick created a party vibe reminiscent of Laidback Luke's Sankeys specials from recent years. The combination of mashups with a commercial edge and banging electro struck a chord with those on the floor who went mad for it.

Making his third appearance for us this summer D.RAMIREZ took over mixing responsibilities at 3 for the final two hours and did what he's been doing to Sankeys crowds for years, turning to the darker recesses of electro to bring a driven set that had those who stuck around till the end begging for more. Alas, by 5.15 it was time to pull the plug, until next week's Friday celebrations that is......

Coming Saturday......

The lineups for this summer's Kaluki 5th anniversary celebrations continue to go from strength to strength with this week no exception....

We take great pleasure in welcoming one of the most exciting and successful dance-infused bands in the world to Sankeys for what is sure to be a night to remember. HURCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR will be playing on our stage. They will be followed by our heavyweight residents JOZEF K and ELLESSE all the way till 6AM. Treehouse once again host Spektrum, this week's special guest ANDY ASH will be joined by residents PLASTIC CO. and JAY SMITH. 

*IMPORTANT NOTE - Doors open early, at 10PM, for this one with Hercules and Love Affair playing first when the main room opens. Be sure not to miss out*

Coming Friday......

This week 'Thank F**k it's Friday' offers one of it's strongest lineups to date. Off the back of collaborations with dance music legend, Erick Morillo, we welcome to Sankeys EDDIE THONEICK as this week's headliner. Joining him for Friday festivities is friend of Sankeys D.RAMIREZ taking part in his third 'Thank F**k....' of the summer. DUTCH RUDDER once again provides support.

Be part of the party......

A Special Saturday......

Still vibrating from the success of the night before (see our last post) Sankeys flung open the doors at 11 on Saturday for a night that was to prove just as significant.

Giving those who arrived one of our strongest lineups of the summer so far Kaluki's continued 5th anniversary celebrations went off like a bomb.

Resident extraordinaire ELLESSE got the ball rolling in the basement for the huge number of you that had arrived really early for this one, Manchester’s clubbers obviously primed for the array of talent that was to be laid out in front of them.

By 1AM there was close to a thousand people crammed into every nook and cranny of the basement bar and smoking area just in time for us to open the double doors to our upstairs Treehouse gathering. RICHIE AHMED  was ready to go. A mild stampede ensued as ravers hungry for every last beat of his hotly anticipated set clambered for prime position in front of the DJ booth. He didn’t disappoint.

For those not tempted by the Hot Creations’ star in Spektrum NICK CURLY provided a stunning alternative in the basement. Playing for two and a half big hours the main room, filled with ice cannon smoke and ice cool party animals, was truly a sight to behold.

By 3.30 things changed. Richie had reached the end of his set upstairs, the Treehouse residents PLASTIC CO. and JAY SMITH now taking over to stoke the fire for those grooving all night long. At 4.30 they closed Treehouse festivities by dropping Prince’s classic ‘When Doves Cry’, a nod to the 80’s synths currently inspiring the artists and releases we love. CHRISTIAN BURKHARDT meanwhile brought his live set to the main room with an hour of his productions giving the Manchester crowd a taste of where Germany’s tech house scene currently sits.

By 4.30 all attention was focussed on the last DJ of the night, DARIUS SYROSSIAN, whose take on true house music has had crowds in a state of adoration for years thanks to releases on his own ‘Breakout Audio’ label. It is always a joy to have Darius with us, his focus always being strictly on the music, this time was no exception. Huge thanks to you all who made it down and made the event a really special one.

PHEW, what a weekend...... Fancy it next week?......

Colossal Friday......

A unique weekend got underway at Sankeys as we hosted simultaneous gatherings on both levels of our Ancoats club hub.

Our regular Friday summer program continued in the downstairs basement as ‘Thank F**k it’s Friday’ welcomed headliners PLEASUREKRAFT to the booth for some tech inspired, head bob inducing, party music. The U.S pair did not disappoint those gathered like moths to the flame of our basement LED screen. Serving up banger after banger, including mega crowd pleaser ‘Tarantula’ of their own making, the yanks cemented their reputation as a pair fully capable of getting the floor jumping.

The torch was passed to LUKE POMPEY at 3AM who squeezed every ounce of energy from the working-week-weary legs of those in attendance. Tracks such as Julio Bashmore’s ‘Battle For Middle You’ were used as weapons holding the crowd hostage, Pompey daring them to stay till the night’s end at 5AM.

Those venturing to our venue really were spoilt for choice as Spektrum, separated from Sankeys for the night, presented a CONTINUE free party. Following on from the hugely successful and inspiring launch night back in March the night’s promotion team went one step further by creating an intimate, 300 strong, gathering for those finely tuned into the most forward thinking artists and music our ears are currently being treated to. Taking inspiration from Berlin’s legendary techno temple, Berghain, the line-up gave a showcase to unrelenting bass heavy future music and dub edits galore.

CHOW DOWN welcomed those arriving first, at midnight, with two hours of tracks easing our punters into the darkness that was to follow. Surrounded by Continue vinyls and photography, that hijacked the usual decoration of Spektrum, our early birds were given no excuse but to have a good one.

By 2AM we were almost at capacity, just in time for our headliners AnD to take to the vinyl decks. The Manchester based pair, who represent the crème de la crème of the North’s electronic pioneers, took those on the floor on a journey through a set rich in industrial, moody techno. At 4 Tom Diciccio joined the AnD boys who were now in full flow. Until 6AM the 3 embarked on a fluid back to back session that tore the club apart.

The raw underground nature of the evening was a real gift for those who made it down. It offered a place to gather for those in the North looking to hear techno music in its purest form, a genre often sidelined when going up against more easily accessible dancing music. But, like fine wine, those with this acquired taste were rewarded for their commitment to the cause with a truly enriching experience.

A huge thank you to everybody who made this night such a success. Off the back of this we can announce that Continue will return, in late August, for another event at our club. More details will be revealed here closer to the time.