Chibuku — November 2006

Chibuku

More reviews

Circus, 29/10/2007

After spending the best part of the '90s gurning to Oakey in The Courtyard, it has been quite some time since I have been to Nation and was unsure how it would be under new management. As I've never had a bad night at Circus's nights in the Masque, the night promised to be good and the lineup was first rate. We arrived at Nation at around 11.30, the night was completely sold out so we were expecting it to be really busy. The queue for internet-bought tickets and guest list had a waiting time of about 10 minutes. We first headed to the main room which was packed, where Felix Da Housecat had already started. I knew I had friends wandering around but didn't think I'd easily find them, so it was nice to bump into them left right and centre, particularly when they all congregated in the Courtyard for Eric Prydz. He was an unexpected treat! After only hearing his chart releases I really didn't pin much hope on a good set but was set straight soon after stepping into the courtyard. It was so busy it was difficult to get a spot to get in your dance swing where you weren't be jostled, but the crowd was really getting into it and the atmosphere was buzzing. I wandered between rooms for a while to see what was on offer. I ended up back in the Courtyard to see Paul Woolford who really got the crowd going with his eclectic, original house. Wanting to make sure I still had enough energy left to dance, I was a bit disappointed that SOS were on in the Annex at 3am (legs just aren't what they used to be!) I've been a massive Desyn Masiello fan since hearing his seminal Essential Mix in 2004, but I've only has the pleasure of seeing him once, as he hardly seems to venture up North and over the last 18 months he's taken some time out to produce and work with the other SOS members, Omid 16b and Demi. However they didn't disappoint. As they were on last the crowds had dispersed a bit so there was room to dance. The crowd loved them and everyone seemed to be big fans. I spoke to a guy who had never heard of them before but was really impressed. In the Main Room, Groove Armada really got the crowd jumping with Superstylin' and all who saw them said they were brilliant. Armin Van Helden took it back to the Oldschool with 'House of Pain' and 'We Want Your Soul' and the Courtyard loved him. I was expecting to see some cracking fancy dress outfits but was sorely disappointed, the most shocking thing I saw all night was a guy buying two bottles of Smirnoff for £250!! Must have had a good night as my ears didn't stop ringing until Monday. READ MORE >

90 Club Hits From The 90's

An amazing collection of dance and crossover tunes from the 90s, '90 Club Hits From The 90's' is a much-needed 4 CD album packed with top club hits from the era that brought you the most hedonistic super-clubs, the biggest earning DJ's ever and the coolest remixes! With tunes from Armand Van Helden, Robert Miles and Faithless this album encapsulates the absolute best of 90's dance music for the first time all in one package. For anyone who lived through the 90's, reading the tracklisting is like reading a who's who of the dance music charts, with songs such as Professional Widow by Tori Amos, Missing ' Everything But The Girl and The Brand New Heavies ' Dream on Dreamer, surely nothing can define an era more than this album? Highlights include Baby D, Armand Van Helden, Berry, Orbital, Grace, Stretch n' Vern, Josh Wink, Lisa Marie Experience, Rui Da Silva, Sonique, Wamdue Project, Olive, Moloko, Corona, K Klass, Deee Lite, Robert Miles, Faithless, Tori Amos, Mario Piu, C&C Music Factory and much much more' Club Connected rating 7 out of 10. An interesting journey back to the 90s. READ MORE >

The Warehouse Project

Believe the hype ' the warehouse project is back and this time its bigger and better then ever. Manchester's biggest series of nights has landed on the city again but this time in a new venue beneath Piccadilly station right in the heart of town. For everything the Boddingtons brewery lacked, beneath the streets makes up for plus more ' more bars, better sound system and more places to crash out and flake, for those points in the night were all you can do is chill out and listen. Contained within a series of arches and tunnels, the venue has gritty industrial excitement to it; more intimate and more involved with the audience. Although the capacity is smaller then last year, the slight decrease in size only makes the venue better. Coupled with more intense visuals and cracking line up, the warehouse project is the only place to seen this year. For those of you who are familiar with resident Manchester night Ape, the line up will come as no surprise. Only on the Manchester scene for two years, launched as the brainchild of well established Manchester promoters, Sam and Lee aka Sabre, Ape reputation has exploded beyond belief, regularly filling venues of a capacity of over 2000 people. It combination of brakes, D n B, MC's and basically any thing with a good beat and base has kept Manchester's party army happy for the past two years. And tonight was no exception. Arriving around eleven, the event was already well away. Hidden underneath the entrance to the station, it lacked the ques and security presence there was at the previous location. The surprise of the night was the last minute addition of Manhattan notoriety and chart favourite Mark Ronson, who despite sound problems went down a storm. But name of night had to go to Ape favourite DJ Yoda whose combination of classic tunes and deep beats was all round favourite ' who else could get away with dropping some Dolly Parton in the middle of a set and make it sound so good!!! The end of the night steered more toward harder breaks and drum and base, with only the hardest of drum n base fans remaining for high contrast and jungle drummers closing sets. Notable mention has to go to Exit Festival favourites Stanton warriors, who brought that festival feeling back to UK for a stunning set. All in all, ape did not disappoint. The eclectic range of acts coupled with a top venue meant that the third weekend of this year's warehouse was one to remember. A high standard was set for the weeks to come, so make sure you don't miss out. Sat 13th October The Ape 2nd Birthday High Contrast Mark Ronson (just added) Subfocus DJ Yoda Foreign Beggars [ Live ] Q-bert DJ Kentaro Stanton Warriors DJ Food Youngblood Brass Band [ Live ] Jungle Drummer Vs DJ FU Rich Reason 9pm - 5am /// £15 READ MORE >

Judgement Sundays

Judgement Sundays have always been a highlight of our previous trips to the island. For months leading up to this year's holiday our eyes had been firmly focused on the Ibiza Party Calendar to check who was part of the line up. This year Judge Jules, Eddie Halliwell, Fred Baker and BK had been brought READ MORE >

Nation, Liverpool

November 2006

Chibuku Shot After watching the mighty Shack at the Carling Academy, it was time to head off down the road to Nation for Chibuku. It's a bit of a variation but nonetheless still an all-round night out. Chibuku has gone strength to strength in the past few years from the Lemon lounge then to the Masque, and now some of its nights take place at the mighty Nation.

I didn't know what to expect really in terms of the atmosphere and the type of people who were going to attend the night, but fortunately it'd just taken the regular Chibuku crowd over the road and not a scally in sight. To start our night Annie Mac was about to begin in the main room, it was pretty hard for me to imagine the main room with any other music being played apart from trance with all the crowd with their hands in the air. But surprisingly, the crowd were just as enthusiastic, maybe even more enthusiastic. I not the biggest listener of Annie Mac and I've always thought her style of music being a bit more down tempo compared to some of the other stuff that gets banged out in the main room, but she was pretty banging. I thought beforehand that I'd be a bit critical of her set, but I really liked her style. She was playing out some really good tunes and she was enjoying herself as much as the crowd. There's not many djs around that like to interact with the crowd but she's certainly one of them.

After a good hour of listening to her, I thought it was time to have a little wander around the other two rooms and see what was happening. Firstly, we went over to the courtyard a room that holds so many good memories for me to listen to a little bit of Drum & Bass. I very rarely listen to d'n'b, and the one time I did try it listening to Roni Size I was not impressed. but as I'm doing a review of the night I had to give it a try. As I entered the crowd were going mad, really going for it. I had visions of the courtyard being full of gangs ready to kick crap out each other, as I had a previous experience at Gatecrasher summer sound system where the police raided the d'n'b arena as a few gangs decided to start a mini-war. But that opinion has gladly changed as the whole crowd were as friendly as ever and just interested in the music. I didn't know who the dj was as I'm not very clued up in that area, but the tunes were pretty good although I struggle to dance to that type of music. After a while I decided to go over to the annexe to listen to a bit of techno. I'm bit of a fan of techno but I'm not really clued up on all the different techno djs there are, and I hardly know any of the names of the tunes. I know of only the big name djs such as Dave Clarke, Richie Hawton. And I knew of headline dj they had for the annexe which was Ben Sims. The first dj I got a glimpse of was Stacey Pullen, at first I thought it was a woman going by the name. I'd never heard of him but I really liked what he was putting out, a bit of variation from the courtyard. After his set we decided to head over to the main room for the last part of Annie Mac and then afterwards Erol Alkan. By now the room was in full swing and rammed with up-for-it clubbers, so the setting was set for Mr Alkan. I've heard him a couple of times this year both at Godskitchen events and I really liked his style, and his set this time was no exception. He was fairly banging with crowd really loving it. Unfortunately once again I didn't know the names of any of the tunes but they were really good. The atmosphere near enough imitated the good old days in Cream, which in itself Chibuku should be proud of. After Erol Alkan it was time for Ben Sims back in the annexe. I've actually listened to Ben Sims a couple of times already this year at Alcatraz and at Global Gathering, I'm a big fan of his. Once again he played a blinding set which was loved by all and I can't wait to hear him again.

All round I thought it was an excellent night and I think everybody else there thought the same, it's always good to back to Nation and be able to have a good night surrounded by friendly people all up for a laugh. The line-up I was a bit wary of first, but after listening to the tunes being played out it was very hard to fault the line-up.

The only issue I have with the night is the ale which is on offer. It's not just the Chibuku night but I think it's down to Nation itself. I'm getting sick of paying over £3.00 for cheap imitation crap which they offer. If you ask for a Smirnoff Ice you get this crappy imitation bottle which you can buy down at your local Home & Bargain for about 50p. I'm a firm believer that if you're going to pay top money to get into a club, you should at least have the option of buying a decent drink. This is something that the people who run Chibuku should look into when doing another night there. If they can't get that sorted then I'd rather them have their nights at the Masque because the venue is just as good and they don't rip you off on the ale.

Apart from that I had really good time and I'll definitely be looking out for future nights. And I'll also be trying to get to know some of the names of the big tunes for future reference.

By Alan Tinsley