Top tips the keep the last of the summer vibe flowing

clubbing

By Sam Bates

I don’t know where the time goes, how is it the end of August already? Well it’s here and every year around this time Bristol promoters are frantically putting the final touches to their line-ups, confirming the latest big name DJ, MC, band or singer and readying their posters in eager anticipation of the upcoming party season.

Starting in September and going through until Christmas, barely a day goes by without something that could keep you shaking a leg into the early hours, with every conceivable type of music pushed to the influx of new students and party-hardened locals. The August bank holiday weekend offers a taste of what is to come, with a packed-out schedule for the club connoisseurs trying to grasp the last of the feel-good summer vibes or get over the indiscriminate summer rain.

Bristol’s August bank holiday club line up as always ends the summer on a high. For those not going to the last of the festivals or Notting Hill Carnival there is a wealth of options to keep the summer alive all weekend. Here is my selection of places to go for the biggest and best parties in town this weekend.

This Friday all roads lead to RUN at Motion, this is the coming together of one of Bristol’s best clubs and a nationally acclaimed DnB & Dubstep weekly. Motion has recently been voted in the top 100 clubs in the UK, the uniqueness of turning a skate park into a speaker-filled rave warehouse has proved very popular with Bristol’s club land.

Run is a long-standing weekly rave which used to take place every Tuesday at Native, renowned for packing thousands of pounds of line-up into a tiny club, they have now made the move to monthly nights with even bigger line ups across multiple rooms. This Friday sees the first of these new monthly Run’s and it looks to be a run that Usain Bolt would be proud of.

In the main room festival-sized DnB from the likes of Snoop Dogg collaborators Chase & Status, alongside Subfocus, TC, Hazard and many other stars of the scene.

The H.E.N.C.H crews Dubstep room has headline sets from Plastician and N-Type with the full H.E.N.C.H family in support. The Blast team provide crack house, UK garage and much more in the cave, with headliners Zinc and Redlight. Not forgetting the chilled liquid DnB vibes of NU:TONE on the terrace easing in the hangovers and the early morning sunrise.

As a regular Run raver having seen the ridiculous queues and week-in-week-out carnage at Native, I am looking forward to seeing if the 100 metre Native sprint can be turned into a Motion marathon.

Saturday night and the long weekend is still only just beginning. Timbuk 2 is the place to catch the biggest wildest party of the night, with a fancy dress theme and a selection of Bristol’s best up and coming selectors, the Hijack party is a guaranteed all-out smash.

If you are unaware of Hijack, it is a Bristol music forum www.hijackbristol.com and tonight is one of its annual bank holiday parties, much like the actual forum itself, every conceivable dance genre is covered and there is something for everyone, whether you are a fan of anything from DnB to RnB you will not be disappointed.

The same night wonky dubstep night Pollen celebrates its second birthday at the Croft, Architeq whose new album “Gold & Green” will be dropping in September will be heading up the proceedings with a live drummer and support comes from the likes of Bristolian bass pusher man Perverelist.

So if you are still standing by Sunday and not rocking back and forth in a darkened room, shell-shocked from the previous two days, there are several options. The main events are sure to attract thousands of ravers.

Motion is again the scene for the first, Claude Von Stroke the house and techno pioneer is headlining the JUST JACK event, following hits such as ‘The Whistler’ and ‘Who’s Afraid of Detroit.’ (as used in many a TV ad.)

Claude Von Strokes’ deep sub-bass filled techno rhythms have attracted wide ranging acclaim, blurring genre lines, he has fans from various different scenes with techno nerds, electro trendies and dubstep soldiers jumping all over his music. DJs such as Benga, Joker, Stanton Warriors and Richie Hawton have been known to support his tracks and feedback from last year suggests this could again be one of the parties of the year.

As well as house and techno Donuts host the second room with a selection of DJs pushing up to the time urban music, expect UK funky, Dubstep, bassline, grime and UK garage.

At the O2 Academy they have the DnB and Dubstep megarave Bedlam providing the second highlight of this bank holiday Sunday, another huge party, this time the Bedlam crew bring their ‘Wall of Sound’. They claim this is the most Funktion One speaker stacks to ever be in a club in Bristol, so this means ear plugs are a standard requirement, especially if you want to be able to hear by the time you are back at work on Tuesday!

Headline sets are from all stars of the modern dance music scene, DJs such as the Scratch Perverts, Brazilian DnB heavyweight DJ Marky and cockney thug Rusko.

I recommend finishing off the night with UK Garage and House vibes at the intermit underground Tube club just off Park St, with the Roasted team of Ben Daley and house legend Deli G keeping you bubbling into the very early hours of Monday morning.

If you are looking for somewhere to chill out on Monday after raving all weekend, I suggest the Old Duke Jazz festival on the Welsh Back if the weather is good and also the Open Mic night at the Golden Lion pub on Gloucester Road. These two should provide the necessary soundtrack to a chill out Monday, before the inevitably depressing return to the nine to five grind on Tuesday.