Manchester’s revered former soap factory played host to a
double header of unique acts in the of their
Continue nights; the result was yet another evening of driving electronica down in Ancoats.
Manchester’s upper
room Spektrum housed the talents of Nottingham’s enigmatic producer and DJ Lone
and he proceeded to deliver the distinct nuanced sound which we danced to
throughout 2011’s warmer months. The mixes weren’t always seamless but the
track selection was varied and interesting and kept the crowd moving through
his musical journey of glitches and melodies. Lone’s sound is well,
unmistakably Lone and the sounds of his brilliant
Emerald Fantasy LP rained
down alongside vocal edged classics and the occasional encroachment into the more
techno side of proceedings - just to shake things up under the bright lights of
Spektrum. Entry into just Sankeys second floor was free all night and
for putting on one of the UK’s most talented producers,
Continue should
be congratulated. I’ve always liked Spektrum as a space and have thought that
it has had a tendency to have it Watergate inspired self underused in the past
so it was good to see an act of such calibre entertaining those who ventured
upwards.
A heaving main room saw
Kerri Chandler throw down a
typically old skool house set littered with the sort of soulful vocals and 4/4
beats that could have easily permeated the air of the
Paradise Garage in
decades long past. Kerri Chandler is part of a very select group of maverick
American DJ’s from times gone by and as such delivers a show beyond a lot of
his younger house playing counterparts. Not afraid to get on the mic, Kerri
proceeded to play a live keyboard and provide vocals in the most enthusiastic
of manners. An energetic crowd struggled to keep pace with Mr. Chandler who
kept pumping out Chicago house and singing along - often adlibbing - until the early
hours of Sunday morning, all after playing a marathon 7 hour set! I’ve seen Kerri Chandler once before and this
was the second time he’d impressed me both with his modern twists on classic
house sounds and with his boundless energy, one can only imagine the sort of
fun it’d be to go and see him play outdoors at a summer festival as people
party away on a beach somewhere.
Support in chief came from the seasoned Josef K who was more
than competent in keeping the crowd bubbling away in the absence of his bigger
named fellow acts and as always looks at ease in front of the Manchester crowd.
Equally assured was the performance of Dasha Rush as both acts looked to
impress by sharing their musical tastes with the Sankeys faithful.
As a combined force both acts lived up to a grand reputation
and kept a full Sankey’s jumping until the very end. The combination of Kerri’s classic house sound
in stark contrast to the very contemporary sounding . Lone offered up a
smorgasbord of electronic music for the crowd to savour and together made for a
strong line up. 2012 looks to be a big
year for Lone as we eagerly await his next album -the futuristically entitled
Galaxy Gardens over the coming months and we can rest assured Kerri Chandler
will be doing what he does best- get parties started for the foreseeable
future.