Review: Colour presents Sandwell District @ Sankeys, Manchester

When: 10th September 2010

Reviewed by: Oli Byrne

With not a single dud night yet, the Colour boys are on an absolute roll. Last time, DJ Rush and Ben Simms blew us all away with high tempo beats. This time round it’s a slightly slower affair, kicking off with the partnership of Function and Regis AKA Sandwell District.

After hearing that Sandwell District would be on early, we made sure we were there with plenty of time to spare - as we certainly didn’t want to miss these two.

When we got there the main room was about a third full, and one of the residents was treating us to some nice grooving techno - perfect for getting everyone in the mood and warming the legs up. Not too long after, and Sandwell District entered the booth. The duo started off with some uplifting synths teasing the still fairly empty main room, before dropping straight into some slow yet heavy tunes.

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After a while the room filled up. And it was easy to see why, with these two relentlessly mixing the likes of Terrance Fixmer, Robert Hood and Marcel Fengler. Deep heavy clean sounds that we’ve come to know Function for were pouring out of the speakers, much to everyone's enjoyment. The set was overwhelming, with little to no breaks, and the bass just kept coming. I think it is fair to say that this is the best booking the Colour boys have made yet. There wasn’t a single moment of their set that didn't hit the mark. Brilliant.

Next up was Colour’s Ed Mackie, who picked up the pace with a warming set, playing a good mixture of songs new and old - but all with a happy, feel-good feeling. Tracks by Ben Klock, Fergie and Plastik Man helped get the now full basement in the mood for tonight’s main man, Joey Beltram.

Beltram is another in the long line of Legends that Colour have brought to Sankeys over the last year. Celebrating 20 years since the release of Energy Flash, Joey treated us to an incredibly dance floor friendly set. The mood here was quite evident, straight up fun, with Beltram dropping tracks by the likes of Phirter and Len Faki, that never fail to get a crowd going mad.

Finally taking to the stage was German DJ Felix Krocher, who injected even more pace in to the night. Felix kept the energy levels high, playing plenty of modern abrasive techno.

Overall, this is probably the best of the Colour nights I’ve been to, even beating the amazing Robert Hood. As far as I’m concerned there is no other night that has repeatedly been as fantastic as Colour manages to be. If you haven’t been, then next up is Dave Clarke - so now is the time to break your Colour virginity!

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