Freshers week is kicking off: thrusting first year undergraduates into new, alien cities the country wide. Cue a stream of pub crawls, quizzes, club nights for which a cheap printed t-shirt works as a ticket, and of course let’s not forget the endless drinking games.
For the most part, Universities pre-planned freshers programmes tend to err on the blander side of things. With this in mind, and a fair number of tortuous freshers experiences of our own tucked firmly under our belts, we at TNG have decided to put together an alternative city-by-city guide to freshers week: introducing you to some of the best club nights and events on offer during this time of hazy revelry.
Manchester
Manchester freshers has finally arrived! In a city famous for its dance music history, with legacies such as Factory Records, The Hacienda and Ibiza favourite Sankeys, you can’t really go wrong on events this week!
That being said, when I first moved to Manchester for University I was quite overwhelmed with the amount of flyers I found myself pelted with whilst wandering up and down the Oxford Road stretch. As an eighteen year old bass music fan, early saviours came in the form of the long-running and forward-thinking club nights Hit&Run, Warehouse Project and Murkage. Admittedly, it’s been a while since I’ve graduated now and the event landscape has changed a little – however, the greats are still about and for good reason too!
Freshers week opens tonight with a range of cracking events to choose from. The aforementioned Hit&Run has been consistently proving itself ahead of the curb in matters of UK bass for over twelve years and is responsible for bringing Loefah, James Blake, Mala, Jamie XX and SBTRKT to Manchester for their first shows in the city. Certified tastemakers with a thrice-yearly resident at London’s Fabric, tonight they take over the magnificently dilapidated venue that is Antwerp Mansion with sets from the 140 king Kahn as well as Med School artist Keeno and Manny’s man of the moment Chimpo!
Over at South Cochera bring DJ Q down for a two hour set, whilst over at The Ritz student favourites Juicy and Murkage go head to head in this huge and historic venue with their residents providing an ever-fresh mix of hip hop, garage, bashment, house, R&B to the 1,000 strong crowd.
On Wednesday 17th fans of house, disco and world music unite at underground NQ venue the Mint Lounge for a session with selectors from HIKU, Groove Kitchen and Heavy Rain. At just two pounds on the cheap list, it’s a bargain and you get to check some of the city’s finest resident DJ’s in action!
For fans of big sound, on Thursday 18th Antwerp Mansion come through with another belter of an evening as they host Manchester sound outfit Red Eye Hi-Fi’s EP launch party. Having built their name on the city’s free party circuit, Red Eye are known for their custom built sound system and original dub-reggae productions. With sets from fellow soundboys The Dub Smugglers and Brotherhood Sound System, the evening will also feature the unveiling of a new live band alongside performances from some of the best vocal talent Manchester has to offer! Alternatively, the Murkage Cartel DJ’s are running one of their patented grimy nights at South if you’re still looking for a hard 140 fix!
Come Friday and once again there’s so much choice. Whilst hip hop heads should definitely make their way to The Fallow Cafe to check the notorious cyphers at Golden Egg, over at IXIV on Grosvenor Street garage godfather Zed Bias will be rocking a four hour start-of-term set with hosting duties provided by the fast-climbing and highly talented Levelz emcees. Having already dropped a range of successful releases as well as making several appearance on Sir Spyro’s Rinse FM grime show, if you like dirty beats and fast-paced flows then will be well worth a look-in!
Over in the basement of trendy NQ venue and eatery Soup Kitchen Night Slugs are stepping in for a Club Rez takeover, whilst at canal-side venue Joshua Brooks Meat Free make their return from a five-month break with two headline sets from Wax:on resident Youandewan and jacking house and techno DJ October.
Whilst you make your decisions, get affiliated with one of Manchester’s finest by giving this Fabric promo mix Chimpo did with FKOF a listen! Strong hip hop vibes on this one!
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