Easter weekend was so huge, we’ve only just recovered. Catching up this weekend,  Kurt-Lee, SpamellaB and James have tried to capture the highlights in one article, so you can relive your Easter with DMM!

EASTER SATURDAY

Bitch Presents Will Gold & Kryder @ Venus Manchester

Bitch commenced with Reworked Robot, kicking off the night and getting the crowd rowdy for another sold-out Bitch night at Venus. As always, he warmed the crowd up well, and when B3ast took to the decks at 12, the atmosphere was already buzzing. Keeping the bar high, the B3ast trio of Lempo, Pedro and Russo had the club’s hands up in the air, improving their performances every time we see them.

We spoke to Will Gold prior to playing his debut Bitch set and tried to describe the passion and enthusiasm that make Venus unique. Dropping ‘Sweet Harmony’, his collaboration with Bitch resident Reworked Robot, proved to be a huge crowd pleaser, the Venus faithful bouncing to every beat. Will said how shocked he was at how much a small club could make such a huge impact on a DJ.

Next up was this months headline act and Bitch favourite, Kryder. The man behind the visor received a huge reception from the crowd, playing an explosive, progressive house set, dropping his newest tracks ‘Vyper’ and ‘Scorpio’ alongside releases from Alesso, the Swedish House Mafia and other huge names in the prog-house scene. A little bit of variety from the DJ we know to play heavy, filthy bass-lines but cool to see that whatever he plays, it goes down well.

As a huge favourite of the Bitch regulars, a fair amount of the crowd got involved in slightly different and quirky ways, bringing Kryder masks and Bitch sunglasses, ready for the huge drops, purely to show their love for the Manchester DJ, returning after travelling the world on tour.

As always, the Bitch residents kept the party going past 6am, wrapping up another cracking, sell-out event. Expect more of the same for Michael Woods next month!

Words by @KurtLee_DMM - Photos by Oh My Gosht Photography

EASTER SUNDAY

Cassini Boat Party / Sound Control

As the aftermath of the hangovers from the night before were only just subsiding, by 3pm it was time to get back on it all over again for round two of the Easter Weekend. James and I headed down to Sound Control to meet the rest of the Cassini boat party crew then ventured over to Dukes 92 where the sun was shining and the Dry Barge boat was waiting for us to jump on board.

We weren’t sure what to expect as we stepped down into the spacious area, complete with a DJ area and decks plus a fully-stocked bar and outside undercover smoking area. A crowd of about 50 were all smiling from ear to ear as the boat set sail down the canal and the music kicked in, a great 3 hours set of tech house.

Seeing the delights of Manchester on such a gorgeous day by boat, with drinks flowing and a fun, chilled atmosphere, we couldn’t have wanted anything else to soothe our heads and get us in the party mood for another heavy night later. While some were dancing around others were enjoying the views, chatting with their mates and getting the drinks in, everyone was having a great time and the novelty of partying on a boat definitely added to the experience.

By 7pm we returned to our starting point, the boat anchored up and we all got off slightly merrier and keen for the party to continue back at Sound Control, where the likes of Gemma Furbank, Hew Williams, Epic Noise Guy, Kreso and loads more were to treat party-goers to hours’ more of tech house sounds. We headed home to freshen up, grab some food to keep us going, back to Sound Control for a couple of hours before heading to our next party; Jaymo & Andy George over at Underdog / Black Dog Ballroom.

Words by @SpamellaB

Underdog Presents Moda Black’s Jaymo & Andy George @ Black Dog Ballroom

James and I hit one of our favourite venues, Black Dog Ballroom, for a few chilled drinks before heading down to its basement area, Underdog, where Radio One In New DJs We Trust pioneers and the names behind Moda Black, Jaymo & Andy George, were to perform a live set. Being huge fans of the label and hyped for their Moda Black Vol. II compilation, the guys filled the underground space with their recognisable deep bass/house sounds which gradually had the dance floor moving and progressing from the shuffle/two-step!

We must mention Underdog’s fantastic Funktion One sound system which really added to the experience and allowed us to enjoy and appreciate the music even more; more clubs and venues should certainly invest in this. Both Jaymo and Andy George are not only insanely talented at what they do, but both were incredibly friendly and approachable, happy to talk to fans who came up to their booth and get photos taken with them. We caught them for a quick chat about being in Manchester and the anticipation of the new compilation; both lads were buzzing and could not be more excited for their next release.

We had to cut the night short so could catch the second half of Pirupa‘s set at Gorilla so we said goodbye to the guys and promoter of the night, Keiran Sharples, and agreed that we had to return to this New Wakefield venue in the near future.

Words by @SpamellaB

Gorilla & mute! Present Pirupa

To conclude our evening of madness, SpamellaB and I mooched around the corner to Gorilla to catch the second half of Pirupa’s set. A name we talked about a lot throughout 2012 but one we had yet to see in person, we were intrigued to see and hear how he would perform. Arriving to a packed club, the bass-heavy, minimal tech was pounding out of the speakers to a captive audience of drunken revellers, lost in their own worlds of simple but addictive beats.

As our first trip to the new(ish) venue, we commented on how impressed we both were with the distinctive, “under-the-arches” / “somewhere between a club and a live-performance stage” room. The high ceilings provide for a different (but welcomed) sound, in comparison to the usually low, basement rooms that we are more familiar with across town. The relatively large stage proved to be a focal point which had more in comparison with the smaller rooms at the Warehouse Project than most clubs, whilst keeping the slightly more intimate club vibes we know and love.

A huge shame we couldn’t see Thick As Thieves, Bump and the mute! DJs as there were just too many acts this weekend but we’re all really looking forward to the next opportunity to seeing them live in our awesome city of Manchester.

Words by @dmm_james.

Warehouse Project Presents Alesso & Friends

After an already amazing weekend, we decided to end it with a bang at The Warehouse Project. Heading to room 2 to check out local lad Nick Coulson, dropping some bombers including a massive mix of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Summertime Sadness’ to a huge crowd. Up next was Otto Knows, who needs no introduction with his huge success in the charts with ‘Million Voices’ and generally being huge  in the dance scene.

The WHP crowd was in the palm of his hand as he dropped some big house hits. It was great to meet Otto after his set, complimenting him on his performance, to which he explained how much he enjoyed playing his first ever set in the UK with such an awesome crowd reaction.

Next up was the hugely talented DMM favourite, Alesso. From start to finish, he went all out in his set, showing his enthusiasm and passion for the music throughout. His own track, Years, sent the crowd into a state of euphoria as part of one of the biggest and best sets I have ever seen. Hugely popular within the Victoria Warehouse venue this Easter Sunday.

Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano finished off this already amazing night with a B2B set to the more hardcore ravers who were partying until the end. This was another huge WHP night and with DMM going to virtually all the gigs last year,  the Summer will feel empty without a regular gig down in Trafford Park. We cannot wait for the finished renovations to room 1 and to see who the WHP team will be brining to Manchester from September.

Words by @KurtLee_DMM

We turned up at Venus early just as it was opening (11pm) to be faced with an already-long queue waiting to experience tonight’s Bitch. After last month’s sold out event and with Bitch easily being one of the best nights Manchester has to offer, we couldn’t wait to see what the night would bring.

First to kick off the night was the very talented Reworked Robot, a DJ/producer signed to Zulu Records and part of Applique Music, who got the crowd going instantly thanks to his brilliant warm-up set. Martyn Russo and Pete Mobey were up next, who together with Mike McGuinness (Lempo) are also known as b3ast.

Due to health reasons Lempo had to miss out unfortunately and you could tell how much everyone was missing him throughout the night; the crowd showed their respect and support by chanting his name and doing the famous Venus ‘L’ signature, which made it a very emotional but fantastic set. All of the Venus staff and DJs were blown away by the reaction of the crowd which shows that Bitch isn’t just another club night and Venus isn’t just another venue; it’s a family. Here’s what Russo had to say:

“There are a lot of nights I’ve played at where people come and have a good time, dance and a beer. But last night during our set at Bitch something became clear to me and Pete on the decks… And Mike not there due to serious illness/injury resting in hospital. The music came into a breakdown and the whole of the crowd started into chants of ‘Lempo, Lempo, Lempo’. It then made me realise that this isn’t just a bunch of ravers in a club, it’s a family, the night is a family, the club. Nearly brought a tear to my eye mid-set and I know Ric and Pete both felt the same way.”

D.O.D followed on from this powerful set and as always, smashed it and sent the dance floor wild. It was now time for this month’s headlining act, Dannic, who had just returned from a world-wide tour with some of the biggest DJs. We had anticipated that this guy knew how to kick off a party with his own individual style and dirty beats and he did not disappoint on the night, bringing something different which resulted in a huge applause from the crowd when he finished.

It was Venus resident DJ, Paul Nag, who really topped off the night. After speaking to Paul about music regularly, those who know him will tell you just how passionate he is about music and Djing and he has a lot of time for people who appreciate his sounds. From the start of his set on the night, Paul came out and destroyed the main room, giving the crowd what they wanted and showed why he could easily be headlining the big room events.

Yet again, Bitch at Venus was another huge success and people are already talking about the next one, which see’s the hugely insane and popular Kryder headline the night. As always we’ll see you there!

Photography

We’d just like to say a big thanks to Eddy Gosht of Oh My Gosht Photography for the images in this review. A top club night/festival/music event photographer, check out his website and the full album for the night here.

Saturday 26th January brought the return of Bitch at Venus, the first one of 2013 and bringing with it the hype of Norman Doray and with such a big name headlining it, the night was sure to be massive. We turned up at Venus at 11pm when it opened to find a queue already around the corner for Bitch despite the cold icy weather; it looked like half of Manchester had turned up to experience this soon-to-be epic night.

Lempo and Pete Mobey kicked off the night with a back-to-back set filling up the dance floor within minutes, getting the place set up for a filthy set by Mark Kovich, who had the crowd going off even more! After hitting Bitch every month and being a huge fan of Venus, the music they play and the atmosphere, we had never experienced it to be as packed-out like this since Nicky Romero when he tore up the dancefloor in March 2012. Although Venus is always busy, this night was an absolute sell-out.

While having a brief chat with Norman Doray before his headlining set, he expressed how excited he was to play in front of this crazy crowd. As soon as he got on the decks Norman showed us why he was Venus’ headlining act for the first Bitch of 2013, he got the crowd going mental! In return, we all showed our love for him by doing heart shape signs and getting on each other’s shoulders during his set. It’s safe to say Doray has become a Bitch favourite if the crowd’s reaction was anything to go by!

With Venus’ reputation of house/electro music, B3’s set also brought some alternative mash-ups and classics, like House of Pain – ‘Jump Around’, which went down great with the crowd.

2013 is looking set to be a massive year for Venus after an already epic 2012. We’re looking to see what they have in store for us next, so bring it on and get bitchin’!

Find out more

Like Bitch / Venus on Facebook
Follow Bitch / Venus on Twitter
Photos by: Leigh Roughton aka @LilR0ckit

On Saturday 29th September, Manchester’s biggest monthly house night celebrates it’s 6th Birthday with one hell of a party in store for those attending. We’re big fans of Bitch and Venus the Club at Dance Music Manchester and since we popped our Bitch cherry we’ve only missed one event so far. This is purely down to the fact we love the crowd, the club and the music so we massively recommend heading down to Venus on the 29th for what promises to be an incredible night.

Have we forgotten something? Oh yes… Not only have the Bitch Events team booked the legend that is Michael Woods to headline the event alongside the awesome squad of resident DJs for the club but they are also hosting a full arena at the brand new Mint Festival in Leeds, a one day event with some of the cream of the crop from the DJ World in attendance.

In June, the at the time unknown entity B3 was finally revealed, with Bitch residents Lempo, Russo and Pedro combining into a super-group that well and truly shocked the club with a stormer of a set. One of the best set’s we’ve witnessed at DMM, judging by the crowd reaction, atmosphere, variety and technicalities involved, the trio used their knowledge of the Bitch crowd and performed a memorable set to the Venus faithful. As their second ever gig together is at a festival, the lads will go far and have our every faith that they will make the festival-crowd go wild. If you missed their debut, make sure you head over to Leeds so you can witness B3 before they’re huge and in the future you can say, “Yes, I was there!”

The same night as the birth of B3, Bitch launched their new music label, announcing their first release as Felix Leiter‘s, “Your Future is Digital“. A track that made the crowd go wild and Felix’s set raised the bar for what was a truly memorable Saturday night. You can catch Felix at Mint Festival, to see what the fuss was all about.

After smashing it out at Creamfields, with SpamllaB, Kurt Lee, Party Animal and myself throwing some mad shapes at the front of the crowd, Manchester based DJ, Kryder, will be bringing the bass with what will be an unmistakably eclectic set, mixed with his new releases, remixes of classics and on-trend floor fillers, as he always does, whatever the venue. Hopefully, the Mint staff will have checked the smoke cannons are working or the fire extinguishers will be coming out once more!

Leading the charge the Bitch Arena, is the legend known as Mr. Eddie Halliwell after kicking the living daylights out of dance floors across the globe this year, from India to Croatia and at the end of September we will be graced with his presence in Lotherton Hall, Leeds. I don’t think we need to explain how good an Eddie Halliwell party is, do we?

A “special guest announcement” will be made shortly with another World class headline act that will impress even the most dedicated of ravers. We’re privileged enough to know who this is and my God this act is HUUUGGEEEE! Trust your DMM friends on this one! Radio 1 DJ, and Bitch favourite, Danny Howard will join forces with the incredible Third Party, Bitch regular D.O.D., Riley & Durrant, Dale Castell and Mikey Nelson completing the Bitch Arena.

Over the next few days, we’ll be doing a preview on each of the arenas, so watch this space as there are some awesome acts involved including Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler and Reboot (and that’s just the System and Flux Arena!)

Tickets for Mint are still on sale, if you’re heading over from Manchester, the lovely folks at Bitch are providing a coach from Venus, to Leeds and back again, just in time for Bitch @ Venus! As another gift, they’re packaging up a ticket to the festival, the return travel and a ticket to the club for just £60. Who fancies a party from midday to 6am? We know we do!

Follow Bitch on Facebook / Twitter
Follow Mint Festival on Facebook / Twitter
Book tickets for Mint Festival

After all that had happened over the weekend so far, you wouldn’t think that our Sunday would be a busy one but by 11am, Lempo, Jonathan Lee (Jono) and myself headed down to the Applique studio in Wolverhampton, for an afternoon / evening producing, remixing and general record label business with Miss Nina Japwow.

Naturally, the traffic was horrendous on the M6 but that left room for more banter, referring to Jono’s incredible amount of raving at Bitch the night before, winning himself the coveted, DMM Raver of the Week Award and the usual post-night analysis. Arriving at the studio with Krispy Kreme’s in hand we got down to record label business.

Sitting in the studio, the walls covered in plaques and vinyl’s from their past and the three producers bouncing off each other on their latest remixes and releases was quite humbling. The amount of work that goes behind every release is amazing and slightly humbling. DMM work hard to get our name out but this talented collective have been working impossibly hard for a very long time to get where they are and it was an absolute pleasure to be invited down, so I would like to say a huge thank you at this point to Lempo, Japwow and Jono for the privilege.

During the session, I witnessed the trio working on an awesome remix of Timone & Pumba’s, “I Must Dance”, working their technical wizardry on an already brilliant track to truly make it their own. What do you think?

After watching the technical minds working together on a few tracks,  the conversation switched to the producers on the label, especially those playing at the brilliant outdoor gig. Just to show how much talent is on the label, especially considering it is in it’s first year, let me tell you a little bit about a few of the people involved.

Nina Japwow
As DJ and record label partner with Lempo, Nina’s influence runs throughout both Applique and Lempo’s playing style when joined by the incredibly talented Japwow. Before, during and after spending time with Japwow, a good handful of DJs and producers have commented on her excellent technical ability to turn a track from a good track to a fully mastered club banger. Combine this with Lempo’s mad ideas (operatic vocals on a deep, tech house remix of Skee-lo being just one) and we have a solid structure for success on both fronts. Their ability as a duo has also been recognised in the charts, reaching number 1 on Trackitdown with Lempo and Japwow vs Will Gold – “Boston Boogie”.

The aptly named Batshit Mix shows off the duo’s ability to improvise and experiment with new music, playing a style of house music that although new and relatively unknown, goes down a treat with crowds all over. With a bit of luck, this new sub-genre could go a long way, see what you think:

After spending so much time with Lempo and Japwow, naturally a lot of their tracks are played, in the car, at home and of course in the studio. A few tracks that stood out for me over the weekend were the incredible Jack in Boots by Lempo and Japwow featuring Nancy Sinatra and Lempo & Japwow – Hi De Ho, alongside their remix of U.M. Project – Funky Beat and their class bootleg, G6 Step. You can watch / listen to all three of these below!

Jonathan Lee / Jono Carr

On top of hosting the Lempo and Carr show every Tuesday night on Manchester Global Radio, Jono is also the A&R partner on the Applique Music label. Working with artists from all over to pull together their new Summer Session compilation, tipped to be a big release with roughly 30 tracks, highlighting all that is good within the label including all 3 of their number 1 sellers.

Working along side Mike now for many years, its a great inspiration to see someone who enjoys it as much as Mike does, and put so much effort and time into something he has a great passion for. Mike is great at whatever he does in music weather it be DJing, producing, presenting the radio show, running events or running our record label together. An all-round musical talent and a top guy to work with.

Adrian Jones (Reworked Robot)

Fellow Bitch resident and Brighton based house music DJ and producer Adrian Jones aka Reworked Robot has  played alongside some of the greats in the World of dance music, from Judge Jules, Tim Mason, Third Party and Nicky Romero. His remix of I Must Dance will be released on Applique in August, with more coming in the near future. The self confessed tech-geek and studio junkie saw his debut release, “Loaded” reaching the top 5 in the Trackitdown chart within days of release.

Check out Reworked Robot on Facebook and Soundcloud now!

Ben Clarke

Renowned for his unpredictability of selection ranging throughout the entire House/Tech spectrum, causing an overwhelming response from both the veteran souls and the new found minions alike, DJ / producer Ben Clarke will go far. Talented in his field, great fun as a performer and a genuinely all around top guy. Check out his Soundcloud profile for some cool new releases in the near future. Old School Drop Out is Ben’s number 1 seller, listen below:

Brodanse

I caught up with 1/2 of Brodanse, Scott Smart at The Yacht Club  during a quality live set during the Applique Showcase where there were plenty of their tracks causing the crowd to throw a few hands in the air. Since winning the Kollektiv Turmstrasse – Schwindelig Remix competition, Brodanse have been going in one direction, upwards.

Adam Martin (Twenty12)

Adam martin is one half of twenty12 producing a variation of the deep tech-house sounds and is also due to be launching a new night in november called Exhibit! Another star of the Applique Showcase, check out their podcast now!

Pete Mobey (Pedro)

As fans and friends of Pete, Dance Music Manchester expect huge things from his work with both Applique and B3. His opening set on Saturday showed his more chilled out, deep-house bar vibe but then as 1/3 of the incredible B3 he had one of the best moments behind the decks at Venus later that night. Great technical skill, a brilliant reader of a crowd and a great lad to work and party with. Check out his Soundcloud page or listen to his deep house mix below:

There is so much talent down at Applique, we couldn’t possibly squeeze them all in here. Rob Bunting‘s latest release, “Open Arms” is out now on Beatport and will also feature on the Summer Sessions compilation at a later date.

I can’t describe how impressed I was with Applique, everything from the team involved, their back stories, experiences and plans for the future. At Dance Music Manchester, we are really excited to see what the future holds for Applique, expect to see more from them on DMM very soon.

The 25th July will be the official 1st birthday for the label and already they are hitting the charts with awesome bar and club releases. The showcase on Saturday was such a success, they’ve been asked to return on the 28th July so make sure you head down to the Yacht Club on the night to hear more.

Tomorrow, we will be publishing the final chapter in the #48HrsWith @IamLempo story, a chance to sit down and talk with the man himself about the weekend, the future and the responses to this story he has received over the past week. We will also be launching the Applique Music + Dance Music Manchester remix competition, with a chance to release your remix on this fantastic label. Just to get your creative juices flowing, in time for the competition tomorrow, you can hear the track to be remixed by clicking play below!

Read the final chapter – The Interview with Lempo and the Applique Music Rexmix Competition Announcement

Read the story from the very beginning here.

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