MAXXI SOUNDSYSTEM Life Sundays
Wow, they’ve made a great job of Life, haven’t they? It works better as a beach bar, better as a club and now seems like the venue with the most potential in the city. Already firing on all cylinders, the Maxxi Soundsystem is definitely helping put the old Arc on the map. All the best disco-tipped DJs join forces for an outdoor party – what’s not to like? Sam Watts and Neal Lewis (aka Schtumm!), Johnny Rocks, Ali Broadcast, Affy and Senor Mick are joined by neo-Italo hero Pete ‘Reverso 68’ Herbert on Sunday 23rd and Soft Rocks on Sunday 16th. (JK)
SOMEWHERE IN THE UNIVERSE Concorde 2 Tues 1st
This Peaches after party – starring the fruity one herself on the decks alongside Drums Of Death live – is the start of a interesting hook-up between Henron’s leftfield dance music night and the Concorde. A true partnership, they popped into the SOURCE Secret Bunker loaded with ideas and crazy plans, all under lock and key at the moment. Keep an eye open in future issues for more on this promising life. (JK)
SQUARE ROOTS Audio Fri 4th
There’s no shortage of dubstep nights in our fair city but, it has to be said, some are more exciting than others. One of the few promotion teams who consistently gets it right is Square Roots. Of course, dubstep is not their only forte, but the Friday night gut-wobbling bass sessions seem to be the ones that attract the largest crowds, and this month’s instalment looks like being no exception. Heavyweight guests include Rinse FM’s Plastician and the beautifully coiffured Tempa T. (DA)
BLATANT Honeyclub Sat 5th
For just his second Blatant party Kieran Brindley has really pushed the boat out. Beatbort-No.1-hogging Spektre have been drafted in to play live, alongside Pure Pacha residents Filth & Splendour and the man himself, fresh from a pair of releases on Cr2. If you’re a fan of techno then there’s nowhere else you’d want to be. (JK)
FLOORPLAY Coalition Sat 12th
We haven’t got anything new to say about Prok & Fitch’s night but it needs mentioning here as if you like the housier side of electro house there’s probably no more exciting night in Brighton right now. Get down there. (JK)
POSITIVE SOUND SYSTEM 17TH BIRTHDAY Concorde Sat 12th
Seventeen years old – that means that when Darren and his crew started putting on killer underground free parties it was 1992. Respect for that, but even more respect that it has never been about the money for Positive. So much effort put in so that at the end of the week the man on the street has got a good party to go to. Joining all the old favourites will be a legend in his own right – and an incredibly funny man – Mr C. The ex-Shamen fella has been at the forefront of tech house (a sound that is coming back hard) for as long as Positive have been putting on parties, currently with his Superfreq nights. (JK)
FROCKABILLY Latest Music Bar Fri 18th
Genuis – a gay rockabilly night called Frockabilly! Yes, we know that cross-dressing and homosexuality aren’t the same thing, but so what. (JK)
BLAH BLAH BLAH Digital Sat 19th
Jesse Rose is the unsung hero of fidget house. More than being one of the pioneering producers, he was the person who got a lot of the records out on his Front Room, Loungin’ and Made To Play labels. His sound has always been more restrained than Switch’s, especially since he split for Berlin. He’s now as likely to be found on the super-serious Rekids and Get Physical imprints, and he’s also a regular at Panoramabar, officially the hippest club in the world right now. (JK)
SOURCEfest Audio Sat 19th
Our amazing festival inside a club. See page 36 for the full line up and then come down and party for free. (JK)
TORTURE GARDEN Ocean Rooms Sat 19th
Ah, a proper fetish night. Sometimes these things can be a bit half arsed – so to speak – but we remember a few years ago TG getting banned from the city for being a bit much even for our liberal ways. Maybe the guy whose rubber trousers burst after they had too much of other people’s piss in them might have had something to do with it. (JK)
UK AIR GUITAR CHAMPIONSHIPS Concorde 2 Tues 29th
Air guitar championships come and go, but this one has been going for 15 years now, co-incidentally the age that most people get too embarrassed to air guitar. But embarrassment doesn’t play a part here – and why should it – as people get dressed up and mime to rock. So simple, so brilliant. It’s the most fun you can have on a Tuesday this month. (JK)
CARNIVALESQUE Coalition Fri 25th
If you’re looking for a night that’s just a huge amount of fun with a complete lack of pretention then you’ve come to the right place. Great music if you want to dance, loads to see if you don’t. The crowd is always wild and you might get anything from a stage full of drummers, to dancing clowns, to a gypsy swing band. Just don’t go and try and pose. (JK)
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO Concorde 2 Weds 30th
SMD were rather lucky that they hit the scene just at the time the new wave of electro dance was taking off. It meant that, despite their penchant for horrible 90s trance-style synth sounds, they were often spoken about in the same breath as sexier dance acts like Justice and their ilk. Aesthetics aside, we suppose these guys are reasonably adept at ‘rockin’ the party’ [erm, and then some: they bring chaos – Ed]. And they are going to have to be because we haven’t seen too many parties kick off at 8pm on a Wednesday night. Who the hell schedules these gigs? (DA)
INSIDE OUT 1ST BIRTHDAY Funky Buddha date?
It’s customary to get a big guest in for your birthday and for the cosiness of the venue, Rui Da Silva is a very big guest. His lower profile since Touch Me became a distant memory is doesn’t mean he’s a nostalgia artist though. Quite the contrary – that vocal smash (No.1, remember) was a blip on an otherwise constant brooding journey through the underground that has continued from tribal and prog house through to techno and minimal. Joining him will be the free party legend Magnus Asberg and the Contraband DJs on four decks and FX. (JK)
WORDS BY Dom Ashton, James Kendall