- It was a different night for all involved at the mighty Tribal Sessions when Laurent Garnier came to town recently, and for several different reasons. First, despite it not being a Bank Holiday weekend, the night went ahead on a Sunday—a risk for many a club promoter—which is likely why Sankeys announced an 8:30 PM start to the evening and a 3:00 AM finish. Ideally, anyone unfortunate enough not to have the day off on Monday could scramble home and into bed at a semi-decent time.
Second, there was an enormous mixing desk sat directly in front of the main DJ booth where the standard Friday and Saturday night shapes are usually thrown. Upon arrival Sankeys' resident, promoter and general top-lady Mistress de Funk was opening things up with an upbeat selection of house and techno as a different-than-usual crowd found its way into the Basement. There were clearly a lot of clubbing veterans in attendance.
A little later than planned the focus of the room shifted toward the other end of the floor, where an energetic and excited Garnier waited. His extensive live set-up included several live instruments and a microphone, which was used quite a bit during the set—mainly for a bit of crowd-poking banter but also for Sankeys boss Dave Vincent to announce his joy at Garnier's return to Manchester.
The Parisian was in fine form throughout, dropping surprisingly aggressive dubstep, drum & bass and plenty of experimental house and techno on a stand-in sound system which rivalled that of Sankeys' own. A rendition of "The Man with the Red Face" signalled the end of the live action and the group of old-timers at the back suddenly found themselves at the front of the dance floor where Tribal Sessions chief Greg Vickers did well to build on the carnival atmosphere beginning to sweep the building.
At no point was the club near bursting point, but that didn't take anything away from the spirit of things. And soon enough Garnier stepped in for a three-hour DJ set which saw resident DJ's dancing on the podiums, more microphone action from Garnier and, at one point, Dave Vincent swinging around a stair-post.
It was clear that this party meant a lot to Sankeys and the people who had made their way down—and to Garnier for that matter—so it was no surprise when the microphone reared its head again for him to announce "we are staying open 'til 5." After another epic set consisting of more dubstep, acid house classics and a second serving of "The Man With The Red Face," the party continued well into Monday morning, no doubt resulting in a sick day for many who made it.