Northwest Clubbing Highlights – August 2013

Summer is here in scorching form, fulfilling its purpose of melting away whole sections of motorway and filling in awkward gaps of trivial conversation with colleagues; well, at least at the time of writing. Is it still sunny? Is this paper wet? There’s a litmus test for you. Alternatively, you’ve dropped it in the toilet, and you’re currently scrabbling at the soggy ink with your fingernails, desperate and hungry for seasonal clubbing selections. That is exactly how I want this column to be read, after all.

With festival season in full swing, all of your favourite DJs are probably earning far more money than usual – and than you – elsewhere, which leaves a slightly emptier than usual column this time around. This seems especially true of Liverpool, where the majority of listings seem to focus on charity Psychic Evenings at this time of year. While we’re all keen to reconnect with the dead, please instead connect with me, and in the meantime accept my apologies for the relative lack of Merseyside raving content.

Zutekh’s outdoor parties in Manchester, during headier temperatures and otherwise, have gained a cult following, and the always reliable tech house promoters are once again combining with similarly-minded party planners Tpot to host Ibiza legend Adam Shelton on 4 Aug in the Courtyard at South (£10). With the whole thing running from 3pm until midnight, Shelton’s four-hour set will be bookended by the heads from Zutekh and Tpot themselves. If a lovely stroll home as it’s getting light rather than after dark appeals, you could do much worse than attend the return of Wet Play to Kraak on the evening of 3 Aug, where local style icon and bubbling synth master Ste Spandex will be taking his new and improved live show for what’s bound to be a soaking psychedelic ride (£4).

With Manchester’s once-thriving DIY indie nights becoming less and less prevalent on the scene, those invested in the darker, dancier side of things might do well to pop down to Dancing and Laughing on 15 Aug (£4) in the underutilised basement of Retro Bar, once reportedly a very particular type of fetish club but now all mopped up for a night of 'post-punk, synthpop, minimal wave and dark indie music.' Alongside local live acts including the tellingly named Factory Acts, the eclectic promised playlist ranges from Bauhaus to Crystal Castles, and, as it’s a weeknight, all punters may be totally wired by midnight at the latest.

Those willing to take a short trip through the hills may be very interested indeed in Beacons festival at Skipton's Heslaker Farm (16-18 Aug). After a satisfying start in 2012, the event's sophomore year sees one of the best line-ups of specialist electronic music in the UK, bringing together crowd pleasers such as Bonobo and SBTRKT (performing a DJ set) with RA-friendly talent such as Move D and Ben UFO – and climaxing with a three-hour back to back session between Theo Parrish and Andres, creator of last year’s euphoric and ubiquitous anthem New For U. As festivals go, it’s a snip at just under £100, and that country air will do you no harm I’m sure.

Few DJs have remained as in-demand in Manchester as Greg Wilson, who first took two-deck DJing to television on The Tube in 1983. Despite a two-decade long sabbatical since, Wilson has enjoyed huge success on his second run. A sort of professor of dance, his considered sets blend the old school electro-funk forgotten classics he was originally known for, as well as a series of devastatingly effective edits of modern pop. He was one of the few selectors to be offered three hours at Glastonbury recently – a set that’s available for download at his suitably prolific SoundCloud. The first batch of tickets for his set at 2022NQ on 17 Aug has gone, but you can still grab one for under a tenner.

Celebrating five years of service, as well as the golden reputation that precedes them, meandyou return to the recently refurbished basement of Soup Kitchen on 23 Aug, where the better-than-ever soundsystem will bring an extra crisp edge to the rough and ready techno that the night is best known for. Not so secret resident Joy O is, well, resident, and alongside other regualr Juniper you can expect a double headliner when forward-thinking Strength Music boss DJ QU joins L.I.E.S. records founder Ron Morelli for an off-kilter but doubtlessly satisfying pairing of two of the finest, most out-there underground labels in the world today (£10). 

Elsewhere, Homoelectric continues its search to find a venue to replicate the sleazy madness that was once guaranteed at Legends, which is now a tear-inducing hole in the ground awaiting a Travel Inn. This time, the legendary disco for ‘Homos, Don’t Knows and Disco ASBOs’ heads to Fac51, which should allow the club to return to its multi-room roots (25 Aug, £12). Guests are topped by Rory Phillips, and you can expect one in each room going head to head with more than reliable residents Jamie Bull and Trash-O-Rama, plus the anything-goes atmosphere that might well cause a few raised eyebrows and quivering lips among any of the venue’s usual Manc indie lad clientele who happen to drop in. You have been warned/wholeheartedly encouraged.

Meanwhile over in Liverpool (you guys!), things finally get going for Summercamp festival, an inner-city two-day event hosted by Camp and Furnace that makes up for a sparse month in just two nights (24-25 Aug). The line-up encompasses the likes of Mount Kimbie and Delphic, and climaxes each evening with a well-curated cluster of DJs including Optimo and Ewan Pearson, as well as Joe Goddard and Raf Daddy’s retro-house leaning side project, The 2 Bears (£50 adult weekend pass).