The final weekend of May sees Sankeys saddle up with to two very different lynchpins of house music for another tour de force of contrast. With summer imminently around the corner and Sankeys about to embark on its second season in the Balearics, the focus closer to home also radiates of pure sunshine, with a DJ famed for his glorious transmission of feel-good vibes on the Friday and a set of Ibizan underground talismans the following day.
Friday is about one man and one man alone; Riva Starr. One of dance music’s chameleons, the ability to shift between differing spheres of dance music has marked Riva out as one of the leading lights within modern dance music with lofty comparisons often made, and justifiably so, to the original master Pete Tong. It’s not difficult to understand why; he manages to retain the underground vibes and values whilst cavorting with the more accessible strains of dance, all the while rapidly becoming the go to guy for radiating happiness through music.
He’s become one of the most important components of the WMC, and his recent Bateria Fantastica album on Defected was proof of his undeniable knack of delivering the finest in four-four grooves. Touted as ‘proper’ house music by everyone from Carl Cox to DJ Sneak (the latter having one or two things to say on the use of that word in recent times), he remains a true thoroughbred in a crowded ensemble of stars.
One day later and Sankeys will be madness; Pandemonium in fact. DC10’s Friday night institution has been at the centre of Ibiza showing that the weekend need not be the quietest segment of the week and proof that the club itself has a life beyond its glorious centre piece, Monday’s Circo Loco. 2011 saw them initiate a glut of Sankeys friendly bastions of house at their club, Dyed Soundorom, Kerri Chandler and Dan Ghenaica among the savvy jocks selected to bring some of the arcane madness DC10 has typified to a Friday in Ibiza.
It’s one of the pioneering forces behind Circo Loco that has been at the heartbeat of it all and the starlet who takes centre stage at Sankeys for the evening; Tania Vulcano. A firm fixture at Sankeys for nearly a decade (they were one of the first to recognise her glorious talents), she is joined by fellow Pandemonium residents DJ Qu and Garagem. Expect rawer than raw grooves direct form the underground, peppered with 90s house manoeuvres and jacking, visceral techno.
