Northwest Clubbing Highlights – May 2013

The big news this month is, of course, the oft-rumoured death of Manchester's Sankeys, which is closing 'indefinitely' on 6 May. It's worth noting that the closing procedure involves knocking down a wall as part of the event, which suggests that the club won't be returning in its current form anytime soon – or at least when it does, it'll be much breezier. The midday to midnight part of the closing party, featuring Joris Voorn, tINI, and Darius Syrossian, is sold out – but you can still grab tickets to the afterparty, from midnight to 6am (£20). While Sankeys eventually, undeniably suffered in the face of The Warehouse Project – and a genuinely strong underground scene in the city – it still holds a special place in the hearts of many. Upon exiting, the last few out will even be offered a piece of said obliterated wall, which makes a change from a big bag of leaflets for trance reunion weekenders you'll never go to.

Beginning the first extended coda of partying on Friday 3 May, Manchester's South gets a visit from the legendary Kevin Saunderson, courtesy of Limbo (£12). Along with childhood friends Derrick May and Juan Atkins, Saunderson spent much of the 80s helping to create a now almost mythically regarded Detroit techno scene, and saw out the decade accidentally forming Inner City, best known for Good Life and the still rightly inescapable Big Fun. Since then, Saunderson has managed to balance his pop legacy – six million records! – with still forward-thinking DJ sets. Support comes from Manchester techno mainstays H2.

Heads with a taste for tough and uncompromising techno should opt in for Selective Hearing with Redshape on Saturday 4 May at Soup Kitchen, Manchester (£6/£8/£10). The German wizard's live performances are sonically smart, and he draws in the crowd wearing a fetching and enigmatic red mask, possibly to hide that he is both Daft Punk and Burial, but more likely just to intimidate anyone thinking of bouncing over with a shit request on their phone. More plain sighted but no less intriguing support comes from Ghosting Season, who offer one of the most underrated and engaging electronic live sets around. Up the road and down the stairs to The Roadhouse on the same night, and reliable disco haunt Cutloose welcomes Sean P back to Manchester for what's likely to be a deep and eclectic session from the man Idjut Boys call ‘The Knowledge' (£5).

Liverpool is swallowed up with Sound City for Bank Holiday Weekend #1 (2-4 May), where the real afterparty on 4 May seems to be in the hands of Chibuku at East Village Arts Club, formerly known as The Masque. Giving Redshape a run for his money, crossover success SBTRKT totes a slightly more extravagant mask, and presumably also some records for a DJ set. He's supported by a live appearance from Tensnake and the always on it Modeselektor, digging through heavy slabs of their 50 Weapons catalogue and beyond (£15).

The tyranny of choice continues with another big weekend in Manchester. On Friday 10 May, mysterious new night Cannibal Run launches with a serious bang over at Kraak (£10), offering perhaps the most impressive dance-focused lineup to have ever graced the venue, a strange disused office/art den that lurks behind the throngs of hens and office workers desperate to get into Hula Bar. Crème Organization is home to some of the finest analogue loving producers in the game, and two of them, John Heckle and Neville Watson, will be gracing the decks for a live and DJ set respectively. Support comes from cosmic players Deep Space Orchestra and ASOK.

Floating Points is one of the best DJs in the UK, a favourite of everyone from Four Tet to Gilles Peterson, and perhaps also the only DJ to hold a PhD in the neuroscience of pain. It's a set of skills not usually reflected in his often quite lovely outings, which take in all the aspects of warm boogie, acid and jazziness that have made his occasional releases – such as People's Potential and ARP3 – staple underground hits. Having not played Manchester in a while, he's handed the controls of Soup Kitchen on Saturday 11 May along with similarly minded former CityLife DJ of the year Kelvin Brown (£7).

At the time of going to press, Bank Holiday Weekend #2 is looking a little sparse – bad news if you're a clubber with a wall chart or a crippling fear of the future. Liverpool seems on form thus far, with MK-indebted house and garage enthusiast Huxley making a visit to The Shipping Forecast on Friday 24 May, still riding high on the back of last year's witty and anthemic Box Clever as well as showcasing newer and equally charismatic tunes for bubblin' up label Hypercolour (£7). Marco Carola, Deetron and Yousef finish up on Sunday 26 May with a proper heads down session for Circus at East Village Arts Club (£16), while Justin Robertson quite literally heads down into Williamson Tunnels, taking his usual combination of dandy headwear and slamming acid with him. Oh, and 250 local ravers (£12).

Back in Manchester, 26 May sees a very special extended set at Black Dog Ballroom's newer haunt on New Wakefield Street, as the venue gets unusually out there with the arrival of Mr Bill Brewster (£8). Bill is a true archivist of club culture and underground music, having penned the internationally celebrated and absolutely essential book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life. He also runs the fantastic DJhistory.com, where he continues to document his love of all things dancefloor with interviews and features, and is perhaps the only man ever to shift careers from a local football pundit – as one of the original editors on seminal zine When Saturday Comes – to underground New York disc jockey. Five hours of musical pleasure are all but guaranteed, and with a bank holiday-concluding lie-in to recover with the next day, who could refuse? Well, those with work the following morning, I guess. Or anyone with no interest in clubbing, but reads this column anyway out of perverse fascination. You're right, it does all sound the same.