God Save the Queens......

Saturday saw us strip back the testosterone in our DJ booths by celebrating all things female. Not a male DJ was in sight as our 'Queens of the Underground' night landed with an all girl lineup.With a real 'anything you can do, we can do better' vibe taking over, the sistas really did show us how it should be done.

 Kicking off the main room action HANNAH HAMMOND pulled no punches with a set covered in Saturday emotion. The next lady up was LAURA JONES who we welcomed back with open arms following on from her storming set in Spektrum a few months back. She brought it once again.

 

 This able support ensured the main room was jumping by 2, just in time to welcome the evenings headliner ELLEN ALLIEN to the decks. Arguably the most kinetic of all the DJs we have hosted over recent months Ellen didn't stop ' giving it the big 'un ' throwing shapes behind the decks almost as big as those in front of them. The girls were clearly enjoying the spirit of the evening, downing the drinks and dancing the night away in the DJ booth.

 

 

Main room proceedings were rounded off by L.A.W who had jetted in from Dublin especially to represent the female of the species, in the process they completed the lineup of Queens in our dance palace.

Watch your back fellas, you should be getting worried......

Mad Skills......

Friday night saw us welcome to Sankeys one of the finest exponents of heavy, bass driven, urban dance music on the planet.

As part of his current nationwide tour JAGUAR SKILLS kick started our weekend with hours of Dubstep and Drum+Bass to a main room more tightly packed than a can of sardines stuck on a rush hour London tube train.

  

Word certainly got around to the Manchester clubbing faithful that this king of the social media minimix was in town. Through his infamous 'Twitter mixes' and radio station showcases this guy has established quite a following nationwide and his Northwest fans were out in force.

Wearing his customary black ninja disguise our headliner ensured that the Sankeys main room went off.

 The night proved a perfect example of the Dubstep phenomenon infiltrating clubland at the moment, a UK born genre spreading like wildfire across the globe. The influence of this can be seen within the work of a diverse range of big name artists currently releasing new material, ranging from certain tracks on Jay-Z and Kanye's 'Watch the Throne' collaboration and even old time Nu-metal heads Korn releasing an entire album produced by Skillrex.

 

While we wait to see what the lasting impact of this music trend may ultimately be 2011 has certainly seen a significant impact made by the genre. If Friday's events are anything to go by this rawkus music looks like it will be around for quite a while yet. We have Jaguar to thank for that......

Dyed banging......

Last Saturday saw Sankeys host a LOLA ED showcase giving an opportunity to this amazing French entertainment collective to show Manchester's club scene what it's all about.

DARIUS SYROSSIAN kicked off proceedings serenading the earlybirds with serious Saturday tunes galore. Syrossian was followed, at 1, by an artist fresh off the back of playing at the Sankeys Ibiza closing party a fortnight ago. DYED SOUNDOROM presented his unique technique for bringing a party room to life. Accompanied by b.f.f, SHONKY, the pair served up a feast of audio treats.

Giving us a taste of the delights awaiting us on November 12ths 'Sounds of Paris' event Dyed and Shonky played back to back for 3 hours dropping an array of tracks that have been utilised by the pair at a string of parties at DC10 over the summer.

The main room's ice cannons were cranked to 11 to give torrents of freezing air to the sweaty bodies throwing it down. They were given little chance to catch their breath as Dyed and Shonky were swiftly followed by the second house legend to grace our decks in a fortnight (following on from Kerri Chandler the previous Saturday), MK, who played all the way till closing at 6 with a back to back session with SCOTTIE DEEP.

Thanks to everybody who made it down and ensured another sterling Saturday shindig......

Return of the Skank......

For the second time in a month we welcomed our friends from 'Just Skank' to Sankeys on a Friday night. Presenting for us, this time, the 'Deep Medi Takeover' the Skank collective once again served up some of the heaviest and grimiest cuts the world's Drum and Bass scene has to offer.

Cramming into the 7 hour party, over three rooms and two floors, a vast series of artists dropped sets that had the club in raptures.

MALA, GOTH TRAD (playing live), KROMESTAR, SILKIE & QUEST, TRUTH, TUNNIDGE, VIVEK, CYRUS and HIJACK, amongst many others over the three spaces for music, ensured some serious sick chirpse was pulled off by the DJs and MCs present.

Opening the Friday program up to more left-of-centre dance music events is something we at Sankeys have embraced over the years. It seems you punters are responding in vast numbers, at the moment, as those making it down to both of this month's Just Skank events really have got the most out of our sound system and surroundings, helping to ram the place with up for it party people in the process. Big respect to everyone that made both of these nights so special. No doubt we'll do it all again soon...... 

King Kerri......

Using some mesmeric mixing techniques to bring the magic to Sankeys for a mammoth 7 and a 1/2 hour set KERRI CHANDLER created an unforgettable night on Saturday.

It was our complete pleasure to give a true legend of the underground music scene total free reign to forge the total evening experience for those setting foot in the main room.

Since his first release in 1991 Chandler has pioneered the sound of deep house and has facilitated moving it into the forefront of the dance music landscape. Through classic releases and inspired live shows incorporating an array of his own technological, self-made, toys Kerri has established himself into a position of tremendous respect and adoration.

This was reflected in the atmosphere in Sankeys on Saturday with the packed main room being left in awe as Chandler moved seamlessly between singing live, playing keyboards from the booth and tweaking every last beat coming from the speakers with his own sound machines and mini mixers.

Check out the video below for some highlights of the action giving a taste of the soulful grooves that were laid down.

In recent memory Sankeys has not given a single DJ the room to demonstrate such skill and stamina over such a long set. Such is the measure of the man's stature and the respect he holds within our community. A massive thanks to Kerri, who didn't disappoint, and to those who made it down to ensure a seminal evening within our basement...... 

Re - ee - wind......



Friday saw Sankeys exhibit an element of nostalgia by welcoming one of the most commercially successful garage acts of all time to the basement for an evening of 2-step beats and grimy rhymes. ARTFUL DODGER played to a packed out club all going mad for a greatest hits set of the finest urban dance music from the last decade.

Tunes from So Solid Crew and early Dizzee Rascal, coupled with many of their own tracks, made sure our headliners created a jump-up, high energy, atmosphere on the floor with plenty of chances to 'get low, get low' before exploding when the killer drops were implemented.

MC Alistair ensured the crowd was fully involved throughout, even dishing out large sections of his alcohol rider to those down the front to improve the party even further.

Big thanks to everybody who made it down for this night, you all made sure it was proper bo, I tell thee......

Sankeys gets a reboot, Spektrum in a daze......

One of the most hotly anticipated nights in recent months finally arrived at our place on Saturday as a complete wall to wall sellout crowd celebrated the CADENZA SHOWCASE at Sankeys.

The night saw the combination of storming sets from some of the club's most accomplished residents along with some artists riding higher than most on the crest of 2011's underground music wave.

Getting the party started in the Sankeys basement JOZEF K provided a set riddled with deep sounds and tremendous low end grooves. K was backed up by ELLESSE playing an impromptu set to fill in for Mirko Loco who had to drop out after falling ill in the run up to the event. Few people were left complaining however as the atmosphere was cranked right up by our in-house rave impresario.

Never has Sankeys witnessed such an unreserved free for all to clamber up the staircase to Spektrum when the doors were opened later in the night. Such was the hype surrounding the two acts who would be gracing the TREEHOUSE hosted decks up there. The top level filled to capacity within minutes of opening. TALE OF US, playing to a rammed room as they have been doing all summer long across the globe (most notably at DC10's 'From Disco to Techno' parties in Ibiza) rewarded those lucky enough to squeeze a spot on the Spektrum dance floor.

After this 2 hour set DANNY DAZE took over to continue the joy flooding through the room just like the neon lighting cascading from the ceiling. Dropping Madonna's 'Vogue' may not sound the coolest thing to do at 4 in the morning but it sure felt like it at the time.

Downstairs meanwhile REBOOT was owning the Sankeys main room looping and sampling his way through some of the finest tech house tracks of the here and now. What has now become customary for the man's visits to our place happened yet again as the breakdown in his own track 'Caminando' was greeted with a unified sit down by the crowd who exploded into the air 6 minutes in when the bass dropped.

Much love goes out to the 1500 of you who made it down and made this night one that will last in the memory for a long while to come. The Saturday ball keeps rolling this week as we host house legend Kerri 'Kaos' Chandler in the basement for a 5 hour set. Be sure to join us......

Cameras ready, prepare to FLASH

We are proud to announce that supreme decknician / hip-hop pioneer / musical legend GRANDMASTER FLASH is coming to Sankeys on December 10th.

This will surely be a spectacular night, get your tickets below to avoid missing out.

https://shop.sankeys.info/Kaluki-House-Party-Grandmaster-Flash.html

S is for SKANK

Friday at Sankeys was hosted by our friends from JUST SKANK and they filled the aural landscape with an array of heavy Drum & Bass action.

Across three rooms a huge rosta of DJs and MCs ensured the whole 8 hour extravaganza was packed with dirty basslines, high energy performances and some sick rhymes.

The main headliner, GROOVERIDER, proved the ultimate highlight of the evening by playing a set that had the crowd verging on a slam pit at times, each drop on the track being greeted with unified hollas and a throwing of wild shapes en masse.

The evening offered a chance for those rave-heads who perhaps wouldn't venture to Sankeys on a usual tech / house driven weeekend event to taste the delights of our club. Going by the looks on the faces of the people in attendance there seems to be a little something for everybody offered by the main room, regardless of your electronic music tipple of choice. Electronic music lovers unite, see you next time.