Laurent Garnier @ Circus Liverpool

Whisper it quietly, but this year there’s a solution to the Christmas conundrum that faces each and every promoter. Boxing Day is always guaranteed to be busy, but the excesses of the seasonal alcohol and the proliferation of a less musically savvy clientele always bring about grumblings Ebenezer Scrooge would be proud of. But with Boxing Day rocking up over the weekend, more precisely on a Saturday, it frees up the following Monday for another Bank Holiday off work. And, more importantly, the preceeding Sunday for another night of partying. Circus has responded to this small but very important blessing, with a line-up that includes a long awaited debut, further tomfoolery with a long lost friend and some French bloke called Laurent. Christmas is now two days late...

What is there left to be said about the mercurial genius that is Monsieur Garnier? Bitten by the acid house bug in the mid nineties, Laurent hot-footed on a plane and got a job as a chef in the hallowed Hacienda, his desire that strong to be close to the music that was setting the fire in his heart alight. What followed was a path through to super-stardom, combining Gallic flair to the emotional outpourings of Chicago and Detroit and a very British respect for music, and becoming arguably the greatest DJ ever in modern dance music history. Few can rock a club dextrously and eclectically for three hours, let alone five, yet Garnier sets the benchmark for what extended sets should be part of.  

December 27th 2009, Liverpool’s re-fixed Masque Theatre, that benchmark gets another lift.

Upstairs sees the debut; Italian sensation Marco Corola finally getting to the Circus decks. He’s nearly been here a few times, but the man who has circumvented techno’s stylistic changes effortlessly over the last decade (being an intrinsic part of the recycled loop movement, the stripped back minimal surge and now the ever increasing warmth) finally swings by Liverpool. Yousef makes a rare showing in The Loft to showcase his ever increasingly honed musical palette, this last Circus of 2009 capping what has been his biggest and most important year in music. Keep eyes and ears peeled for his early 2010 release on Cocoon Records, a track already getting hammered by Vath and co. Paul Ritch’s live show makes a welcome return after his stellar performance at the Nation Circus Recordings party back in May. Be prepared for action on a huge scale.

Then in Ink, Carlisle funkateers Uber rock up. One of the first clubs Yousef played at outside of Liverpool, the mutual respect between the Circus and Uber family has never relented, both being a huge part of each other’s constant evolution. Dirtybird lynchpin Justin Martin, a star turning at both parties in the past, heads up a room that also sees the duelling of respective residents Lewis Boardman, Ki Creighton and Jonny Patrickson.
 

The Full Line-Up

Circus

Sunday December 27th

@ Barfly, 90 Seel Street, Liverpool, L1 4BH

Theatre -

Laurent Garnier (5 hr set)

Loft

Marco Corolla

Yousef

Paul Ritch Live

Ink

Uber present…

Justin Martin (Dirtybird / San Fran)

Lewis Boardman

& Uber residents Ki Creighton and John Patrickson

10pm – 3am

Tickets are no longer available for this event