Tracks of the Sankeys weekend.

Weapons of Mass Seduction......

Jozef K - Culture,Vibes & Life
Da Luniz - I got 5 on it (Kissy Sell Out Edit)
Okain - Go for what you know
Deetron - Starblazer
Miguel Campbell - Baby I got it

OUR resident advisors......

Once again Saturday saw a huge lineup crash land into the rave cave of the Sankeys basement. Presenting Manchester with the perfect excuse to cut a rug in celebration of being released from the shackles of employment for the weekend we served up a platter of the best house and tech music for you to fill your face with.

Getting us started it was with great pleasure that we got to welcome MIGUEL CAMPBELL back to our main room decks. After the Hot Creations star got us pumped as part of Kaluki's 5th anniversary celebrations in the summer we thought it only right to get him back on board to do it all again at the nearest opportunity.

Miguel handed over to two men who over the years have become experts at getting the most from the sacred space at the heart of the Sankeys main room. Firstly ELLESSE, proven as one of the best DJs in the city, knocked out one of his trademark sets that have helped, down the years, craft and mould the sound and ethos of the Sankeys experience into what you can see and hear now at the back end of 2011.

Passing the torch later in the night Ellesse introduced GREG VICKERS who jetted in from Brazil for old times sake to recreate the buzz he so often made as our Tribal Sessions resident back in the day. The cycle was completed when Vickers himself dropped 'Culture,Vibes and Life' from Jozef K, our newest Sankeys in house DJ, to a rapturous reception. A real moment.

After all this we welcomed OKAIN to the decks and he smashed it for the final 2 hours of our weekend. The producer/label boss/Frenchman played us a set brimming with various musical influences all welded together to create some stunning groove music. It was a fitting end to yet another great weekend at our venue. Be sure to check out the Saturday lineups for the coming months. Things are about to get even better......

They came to bounce......

On Friday the king of A.D.D electro mash-up, KISSY SELL OUT, paid a visit to Sankeys as part of his current national tour bringing his particular brand of bounce and bass to the newly returned University students in the city.

Support was offered firstly by TOY BOY AND ROB DRAKE who welcomed the party people to a specially laid out main room. As the crowd filtered in the fellas offered the choicest, accessible, tunes of recent times with generous helping of Swedish House Mafia and Boys Noize thrown in, just what this Uni crowd were after.

UNION took over at 1.30 and changed the approach a little by introducing their own brand of hard, bass heavy, electro winding everybody into a jump-up frenzy before Kissy emerged from his dressing room around 3.

Upstairs support was being offered by the boys from GOLD TEETH who were laying down some attitude laden rap and hip hop fused with some of the newest dubstep cuts and back in the day classics.

Downstairs meanwhile Kissy's show took on the appearance more akin to a rock and roll gig with all eyes focused on the lighting rig and equipment set up on our main room's staging. Crowd barriers and a team of stewards were called upon to hold back the rawkus fans clambering for a look at the Radio 1 favourite from the front row.

Mashing tracks from across the genre spectrum taking in euphoric dance, gangsta rap, dubstep, drum and bass, house, even a few TV show themes, Kissy demonstrated a technical ability to be admired as he juggled tracks across 4 decks at some points.

His adoring fans lapped it up and by 5, as the music stopped, the DJ was forced to hang around to sign the obligatory autographs and pose for photos.

Big love to everybody who packed out the venue and ensured it went off at this one. See you again soon......

FRESH MEAT......

This week has signalled the return of the University masses to the Northwest. In celebration Sankeys is holding a series of student nights at the club to welcome you all.

Check out the details here;

 http://www.facebook.com/officialsankeys#!/profile.php?id=100002914824393&sk=wall

Tunes of the weekend......

Some tracks made a real impact on the Sankeys weekend.

Music leaving a trail of mass seduction;

Lucky Paul - Thought we were alone (Gadi Mizrahi + Eli Gold - Money vs Gold Rmx)
Sigha - HF029B1
Sebastien Leger - Bees
Noir & Haze - Around (Solomun vox mix)
Eleven Eleven - Tourist Trap (Jamie Jones Rmx)
Claude Von Stroke - Who's Afraid of Detroit
Danny Daze - Your Everything
Art Department - We call love

Start spreading the news......

Saturday saw a transatlantic invasion descend on Sankeys as 'NY in Da House' crashed into the club with a lineup of DJs giving Manchester a sumptuous bite of the Big Apple's dance music scene.

Kicking off the main room action our resident JOZEF K looked to the NYC sound for track inspiration and created a great set leaning on the trademark sounds of deep house from back in the day and dragging it all the way into the two-thousand-and-now.

By the end of K's set there was close to a thousand people in the venue all ready to witness a series of debutants popping their main room cherries. First up new talent MAX CHAPMAN, fresh off the back of his release 'Escape' on the Kaluki Musik label, signaled himself to the Manchester masses as a force to be reckoned with, more than worthy of the hype surrounding his sets.

Taking the reins from Chapman, FUTURE BOOGIE opted for a more melodic slant on the musical theme of the night as we hit primetime Saturday night territory. The mood shifted once again when one of America's finest, our headliner for the night, M A N I K took to the decks. A sea of arms was up in recognition of a set full of NY inspired dancing tunes. Taking disco elements from the heady days of Studio 54, house influence from the loft parties of the 90s and all the attitude from the streets of the ghetto, a tapestry of what we know and love from our friends across the pond was laid down before our ears.

MAXXI SOUNDSYSTEM ensured the good times continued after this, dropping a number of tracks from Britain's own flavor of the year label, Crosstown Rebels, to the obvious joy of those on the floor. By 5.30 the numbers being able to hack it may have dwindled in the room but the tunes were no less colossal as old favorites OD MUSIQUE took to the decks for a final hour touching on many of the standout tracks currently doing the rounds on the best dance floors of the world. The party atmosphere was ensured until well after 6 as the DJs climbed the walls of the booth and ravers climbed each others shoulders.

Thanks to everyone that made it down, let's raise a glass to NYC......

Continuation......

Friday saw us bisect the club in two once again into a rave up ying/yang of epic proportions. In the Sankeys basement we welcomed an old favorite to the decks in the form of SEBASTIEN LEGER whilst upstairs in Spektrum we once again leaped headfirst into the future of electronic music by hosting the third CONTINUE free party in 2 months.

The schedule really did spoil the fans of the artists on show for these parties as they were treated to 3 plus hours of Leger in the basement whilst, the Continue headliner SIGHA went one better by playing for just over 4.

Before all this though the night kicked off at 11 in Sankeys with a man establishing a real following in our club, DUTCH RUDDER. After regularly tearing it up as the resident DJ at this summer's 'Thank F**k it's Friday' nights at Sankeys he is now being trusted to regularly kick start the weekend for all you party goers.

By 12 the doors to the cobble courtyard and winding metal staircase up to Spektrum were open and Continue began. Showcasing the finest techno and dub music on the planet this event boasted a roster of DJs entirely UK based, a truly exciting prospect bearing in mind the momentum this type of music is gaining on a global scale. Things are looking up as once again it seems Britain is leading a musical revolution, forcing a real influence over music minded people in the know. It might be like The Beatles in the 60's, only with more bass and a lot more sinister. Who knows, aim high.

The cornerstone of the night was Sigha's 4 hour stint going on till 6 in the morning. It was a pleasure hosting the man who not only played a killer set but also wooed us with a winning demeanor throughout the night. As he went on to say on Facebook the day after the gig,
"a big big thank you to the Continue crew in Manchester for inviting me up to play. Great party, great crowd and really great ethos behind the night".
We couldn't have put it better ourselves......

As if this wasn't enough Leger was smashing the basement in Sankeys at the same time to around 800 people, all with their arms in the air. Playing from 2 straight through till the end, just after 5 he dropped bomb after bomb of his own creation as well as old classics from recent years such as Tiga's mix of Thomas Anderson - Washing Up. To finish Leger made sure everybody left buzzing by playing his track 'Bees' to round off the party.

Much love to everybody that made it down for both parties on Friday. We will see you all soon......

Jack your body......

Saturday saw us welcome back to Sankeys one of our favourite female friends as HEIDI returned with one of her now legendary 'JACKATHON' nights at the club.

Previous spectaculars have seen such high powered guests as Claude Von Stroke and Jamie Jones join Heidi for DJ love ins bringing the world's best jacking house and techno tracks to the Sankeys masses.

This evening was no exception as MAGDA and DARIUS SYROSSIAN were brought along for the ride. Simultaneously Treehouse hosted Spektrum and welcomed DEATH ON THE BALCONY to have the crowd upstairs throwing it down.

Check out the video below for some highlights of the evening uploaded by Darius himself.

A sold out crowd bore witness to barn storming sets one after another. Darius warmed up for queen of the evening, Heidi, who dropped tracks such as 'It's time for the percolator' and Green Velvet's 'Flash'. This set things up nicely for a hotly anticipated set from Magda who ensured everybody left drenched in sweat at 6 after being given no option but to dance their arses off well into the early morning.

It's nights like this that you wish would never end, but don't be too upset, Heidi will present the Jackathon at Sankeys on New Year's Eve. We've got goosebumps already......

The New Beginning......

Ever since the bond between house music and Ibiza was cemented through the revolutionary Amnesia parties of the late eighties this particular Balearic island has been the ultimate proving ground and gathering point for all things dance.

This summer has seen the people behind Manchester's dance music epicentre embark upon a venture, to give something back to the island where it all goes down each summer, with the grand opening of SANKEYS IBIZA.

As we reach the end of another huge season on the island the people behind the new club can pat themselves on the back for holding packed events at their weekly nights, MONZA, CARNIVAL and FULL ON FERRY (where Ferry Corsten has played week in week out to sold out Trance crowds).

Re-igniting the special bond between Manchester and Ibiza, something that has existed since New Order, and the rest of the Hacienda creators, had epiphanies dancing in the sun with Oakenfold and Danny Rampling back in the day, Sankeys IBZ offers something just a little different for those making a trip to the island.

Like Liam Gallagher being caught wearing a sombrero Sankeys IBZ really is like a pocket of the Northwest existing in Spain. Just as with Sankeys MCR the main room is a dark cavern with a pulsing neon ceiling and LED screen giving a backdrop to the djs dropping the bombs.

What makes this space particularly special however is the sound system. Thanks to specially crafted hollow sections under the dance floor the crisp sound reverberates through the body like nowhere else.

As you cruise up the wide staircase to level 2 you enter the boutique room, all Spanish tiled floor and comfy white armchairs. Creep a little further and you reach a mirrored corridor that feeds you into something we don't have at our home in Manchester, an open air, roof terrace, smoking area. Basking in the relaxing warmth of the Ibizan evening this area is a great place to calm down a bit after throwing serious shapes in the other rooms.

On our trip to the club there was a great mix between clued up English workers on the island and the Spanish locals, apparently flocking to the club because,

"there's a lot of huge discotheques on this island but before there was no clubs that you could feel a part of, Sankeys is a club" we were told by one regular.

There is still chance to grab the last few weeks of this year's parties. Ricardo Villalobos gracing the decks for the Monza closing night on September 29th is one in particular to look out for. Failing that, get saving, next year's season is only 8 months away. See you out there......

Party back at ours......

One thing the party people in Manchester certainly excel at is throwing a good house party. Without the luxury of sun kissed rooftop terraces or glorious sea side vistas Mancs have, for years, been perfecting the art of the indoor after hours shindig.

It is this grand tradition that proved the inspiration on September 3rd as our Sankeys residents hosted the ultimate 90s house party within the dark confides of our 4 walls.

With old sofas and even a double bed taking up positions on the main room floor (along with a decorated staging area playing host to our djs for the evening) our place really did take on the shape of a homely rave up - just without the sticky carpet and warm cans of booze.

Bringing the noise our residents placed a firm focus on the finest house cuts from an epic decade of dance, the 90's. Marking the era where the Ibizan superclub phenomenon was born, where djs began being worshipped as superstars and even when Sankeys humble birth took place, this night proved a fitting reminder of the music that made it all possible in the first place.

The concept seemed popular with all you clubbers as we welcomed well over a thousand people through our doors who were treated to the TREEHOUSE DJS dropping tracks such as Armand Van Helden's 'Funk Phenomenon', and Basement Jaxx's 'Fly Life Xtra'.

ELLESSE's set opening drop of Donnor Summer's '95 re-release of 'I feel love' marked a high point of the evening having just mixed out of one of the finest dance songs ever made (discuss?!), Daft Punk's 'Around the World'.

JOZEF K chipped in to remind the crowd that they were not actually in a 90s timewarp by playing some 21st century tracks that were still strictly rooted in the house party vibe, Girl Unit's 'Wut' going down particularly well.

Thanks to everybody that made it down, especially those going to the effort of getting out their finest 90s fancy dress threads. All in all the night really was one to write home about. Who knows, we might bring it back in the future......

Club Capital......

This week the Sankeys blog is going on tour.

We will be presenting a special report from SANKEYS IBIZA bringing you the lowdown on the white isle's newest superclub.

Check back next week for all the news......

Rude Awakening......

There was a birthday atmosphere at Sankeys last night as celebrations for RUDE's 18th anniversary took place under the roof of our Ancoats club.

The resident Rude djs kicked off the party in the main room just before midnight and got the floor jumping straight away.

By 1 the party people in attendance were ready for the night's headliner JASON HERD to take over. Using vocals from choice cuts from the likes of Justice, Basement Jaxx and Fatboy Slim, over a bed of slamming electro beats Herd dragged everybody to the floor for some Friday release.

Herd was followed at 2 by MELODIE who turned to a techno slant for her track selections. After this it was the turn of the Rude residents to return to the booth to round off their birthday shindig with tracks such as Cirez D - On/off and Oxia's 'Domino'.

Hats off to everybody who made it down, see you next time......