- Although it's only one part of the city's night life landscape, Liverpool still has a strong association with '90s super clubs and all the big room revelry that goes with them. Mumu is one night that's almost singlehandedly broken that mould. Favouring European tinged deep house, the night is something of a local-sensation with regular jaunts to Ibiza and an enviable roster of past guests, Tobi Neumann, Rhadoo and Dyed Soundorom among them.
With German techno mainstays Reboot and Markus Fix headlining, Mumu's Boxing Day party looked like it was going to be one to remember. Nevertheless the Arctic British weather did its best to scupper best laid plans. Room 2's schedule, which included slow-mo house maven Cottam, had to be cancelled after temperatures of -17 caused the soundsystem to short circuit. Added to that DC-10 resident Clive Henry's performance was also quite literally derailed after a train strike left the DJ stranded in London.
None of this seemed to matter when the night got started though. Boxing Day is traditionally one of the biggest party nights on the Merseyside calendar—a bigger deal than New Year's Eve say many of the locals—and as such the crowd were ready from the word go. The dance floor changed from empty to pleasantly jostling in the space of time it took to nip to the bar.
Photo credit: James Chapman
With Mumu jock Lee Rands stepping in for the waylaid Clive Henry things were set off on in an unhurried but relentlessly groovy fashion. Rugged, bottom heavy house sat nicely alongside curve balls such as Pantha Du Prince's "Fountain Drive": a track that sounded especially good on Silo's hulking Funktion 1 set up. This was followed by a predictably solid set from 2020 Vision stalwart Simon Baker who kept a constant undercurrent of bubbling synth melody and hinted vocals in amongst groovy 4/4 beats.
The north/south divide is something that not only runs through Britian's geography; but it's also apparent in almost every aspect of English language, class and culture. It's probably a little ambitious to try and address this in too much detail within an RA club review; but the vibe and crowd at Mumu felt markedly different from that of a London house night. More eager to dance earlier on and, dare I say it, perhaps a little friendlier, Mumu's Liverpool following are an excitable, fun loving and integral to what makes the night special. They're certainly the key to the success of the Boxing Day party.
Reboot's entrance started with a slew of raw percussive tech house that kept the energy of Simon Baker's set nicely intact. A few overly long breakdowns threatened to undo the good work that had gone before him, but the Mumu faithful refused to slow and retaliated by making a huge amount of racket in the absence of kick drums. The appearance of "Caminando" halfway proved an undeniable moment when an Ibizan style club-wide sit-down was induced. This teed things up perfectly for Markus Fix to climax the night with a surprisingly tough and techno-led final hour. With the club still relatively full until the last track, it was clear that despite the technical wobbles and no-shows, Mumu had delivered on its reputation as one of the North's most reliable underground parties.