Club Review: Chibuku with Skream, Crookers and Japanese Popstars

Joe Hindle checks heads down to The Masque for a night at the hands of Chibuku with Skream, Crookers, Jackmaster, The Japanese Popstars and more.

Kat Warburton

Date published: 19th Oct 2011

Date: 8th October

Words: Joe Hindle

Chibuku has a great track record for hosting ground breaking events, and has consistently booked massive names from around the world.

Chibuku has always attracted a great crowd, and tonight was no different for Crookers and Skream. The Masque is the perfect venue for a night like this - and is not to be confused with the gay bar "Masquerade", where the taxi driver initially thought we would be more suited. Luckily, he was the only cabbie in Liverpool that trained emergency service drivers, so he had no problem power-sliding his way through the city centre to get us to the correct venue in time.

The atmosphere was evident straight away, even when queuing outside. The ampitheatre-like room on the ground floor was crammed in an instant. Jackmaster played a top notch set and blasted out some cracking old skool garage tunes towards the end, getting the place jumping in no time. A versatile DJ, Jackmaster released a FABRICLIVE album in April this year, and has proved many a time that he can tear any dance floor to pieces. From the super-clubs of London to the more intimate venues like Masque, you can be almost guaranteed that his performance will be a success. Here he played a good range of music from electro to garage and some brilliant remixes I would love to get my hands on.

It's hard to have a bad night at The Masque. That's the beauty of this venue. There were no suited and booted pretentious foot tappers or girls complaining that you've spilt half a can of red stripe on their posh dress. There were no fights or anybody kicking off.

When Skream took to the decks The Masque's sound system was really pushed to the limit. You could feel the bass rushing through your body, almost knocking you over. The live MC had a great interaction with the crowd and helped keep the vibe going. I overheard a girl in the smoking area saying she could feel the bass in her nose and it was making her feel sick. This is just what you should expect from a high profile dubstep night.

Upstairs, Japanese Popstars did an excellent job of warming the crowd up for Crookers. It was a bit more relaxed than the ground floor. There are a few sofas at the back of the room near the bar which is brilliant if you need to take a break from the mad atmosphere that can be a bit overwhelming at times.

Crookers exploded onto the decks and the crowd went wild. They started with some new tunes from their new album "Dr. Gonzo", released earlier this month. Because this is quite different from their previous material, it was hard to judge how the crowd would react. Everyone loved it. There was great interaction between the DJs and the crowd. The dance floor became even more crammed further into the set when the Italian duo dropped heavier beats like their classic "knobbers", and by kicking out time at 3 am no one wanted to leave.

There is high competition for nights like this at this time of year, especially with WHP and hundreds of freshers and student events going on.

Here, Chibuku have proved that they have the venue, the DJs, the following and the reputation to leave any other club shaking in their boots.