Content Manchester (Review)

In the mighty forest of the underground dance scene it’s often difficult to know where to go, carving through the undergrowth of mind numbingly cheesy club nights can be tedious and exhausting. But fear not, 4Q is here to help. We will be your trusty guide through this seemingly unfathomable jungle and find for you both the flourishing saplings and the mighty oak trees which are shaping Manchester’s underground dance network for the better. This month 4Q follows the crisp new freshly-pressed house and techno night Content.

Now this may be a new night gracing the doors of the Roadhouse but this team of six are already well established in their own right. The meeting place where the group first brainstormed the Content night was at North underneath Afflecks Palace where resident Rashid Khan’s ever popular night Casa Musica held a monthly spot, Chris Poole, Dan McGlynn, Josh Hewitt and Lee Daley were regular clients, Eddie Leader would also be brought in from the east coast.
“We met Eddie through the house music scene in general. Eddie was then based in Huddersfield. Rashid played a gig in Leeds and Eddie introduced himself, gave him a CD of his new tracks and then ponced all his cigs! We’ve all been mates ever since!”

“We’ve talked about putting on a night for a while as we all have broadly similar tastes in music. We all have our own personal preferences though and the residents each have their own distinctive style and sound, but we all overlap and meet somewhere in the middle, I guess. Essentially it gives us a lot of scope to be diverse with our bookings within the house and techno genres, there’s too many micro-genres these days.”

These guys don’t just confine themselves to boundaries of Manchester though; in between their monthly slots at the Roadhouse they can be found travelling the globe with their own side projects and tours.

“Eddie runs his own label called Hudd Traxx and has a release out at the moment on that, Lee and Dan play in Belgium quite a bit and produce records under the name FraidSo, they’ve released tracks and remixes on various labels such as Robsoul , Greenhouse and Lost My Dog. Lee’s just got back from a gig in Dubai, Eddie plays in Eastern Europe pretty often and has recently been out in Romania where they have a good scene developing, he’s also been to the states a few times and is doing a US tour at the end of the year to promote the label. When you DJ as a guest it’s a bit different than warming up as a resident at your own night, you can twat it out a bit more!”

Their style is a beautiful blend of soulful beats and deep basslines not usually associated with the public image of a techno night, and this was demonstrated on the decks early on by Dan McGlynn whose delightful house rhythms warmed up the clientele after their arctic trek to the underground refuge of the Roadhouse.
“We looked at a number of venues and the Roadhouse seemed to fit with what we want to do. It’s no-nonsense, they’re very open to good, underground forward thinking nights like ourselves, Cutloose, Contort Yourself etc and it’s got that intimate vibe to it. As the saying goes, all you need is a basement, a red light and a feeling.”

“The ethos is very simple. We are all about showcasing the best DJs in their field in the nice intimate surroundings of the Roadhouse. Without meaning to blow our own trumpets too much, all the residents are very accomplished DJs so we have fairly high quality control standards! Everyone who plays for us must be at the very top of their game!”

One elite resident then made way for the next, Eddie Leader, who brought with him a delicious blend of rolling but still soulful beats combined with and older shuffled style of tech house. Eddie set the tempo perfectly for the nights headline act Sascha Dive, getting the clubbers ready to board the new techno express.
“We’re big fans of Sascha’s productions and his Deep Vibes label which puts out some brilliant records so Eddie contacted him about remixing his and Hector Moralez’s track “No Shame” which has just come out on Eddie’s label – Hudd Traxx, from there getting him to play for us at Content seemed the next logical step as we know exactly how good a DJ he is as well.”

At around half past 1 an atmosphere descended upon the club of which I have not felt for a long time, one of an old 90’s underground venue, maybe Manchester, maybe Berlin, it’s hard to say, yet the music was from the current decade. It is this blend of new beats with old-school values which gives Content its character, its uniqueness.

Mr Dive continued to provide a deep and dark vibe while moving into the core of his two hour set when all of a sudden he dropped the massively popular track “Hold Home” by Santos, and kicked the night into top gear. The now heaving crowd roared and cheered as the master from Frankfurt altered the tempo.
The night ended with some slightly tribal beats and funky rhythms at 3am after one encore and a request for a second. A fantastic night which I for one am proud to see in Manchester, it’s at times like these when you are reassured that there is still fantastic music being made and played in this city, and you feel honored to be a small part of it. Also it was announced to us that night that the special guest for December’s gig would be the Chicago house music legend Joshua.

“Joshua or Iz as he’s sometimes known is part of the production duo Iz and Diz and has been putting out absolutely belting deep house music since the mid nineties on some of the most respected labels in the world, such as Classic, MFF, Prescription, Balance, Guidance and of course his own label Vizual to name a few. Although well known for his production work, we’re fully aware that he’s also an incredible DJ, more than capable of rocking our party.”

“We’ve just had Rolando on at our previous party and he was absolutely awesome. Totally tore the roof off and was such a really nice, down to earth person too. He ended up coming back to an afterparty and played there just for the craic too.”
In fact DJ Rolando (producer of the famous track ‘Knights of the Jaguar’) was so impressed with the guys that off the strength of the club night he’s even agreed to remix Eddie Leader’s new track. What an accolade to receive on your first night!
The next night featuring the house legend Joshua will be on the 4th December, we highly recommend you get down there, it’s going to be a fantastic night for Manchester music.

Content present Joshua (Iz) @ The Roadhouse
Friday 4th December 11pm – 3am
£6 advance tickets, £8 on the door, £7 with NUS
For more info log on to: www.contentmcr.blogspot.com
or facebook.com/ContentMcr

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