Review: Yousef presents Circus Boxing Day

Images: Gary Brown

As a first-timer to Liverpool's infamous Circus night, we entered the East Village Arts Club from the cold December chill with some big expectations. Headlined by Desolat king Loco Dice, he was joined by Robert Dietz, Apollonia, Shadow Child and the Circus mastermind Yousef, it had all the blockbuster names and makings of a true Boxing Day smasher.

The venue itself definitely contributes some magic to the Circus experience: winding through mazes of classic, Victorian styled rooms and stairways, different sounds of techno and house flowed through every corner of the cavernous environ. Upon our arrival, Dietz had just taken control of the main room and definitely eased everyone into shaking off their Christmas hangovers.

His set provided a thumping, in-your-face array of uplifting techno flavored joints, sometimes veering off unexpectedly to more darker, minimalistic tracks. The eclectic mix of sounds were lapped up as they echoed around the slowly filling amphitheatre-style room as the last stream of people entered.

Championed and supported by the likes of Sven Vath, Dice and Luciano, Dietz proved why his unique sounds go beyond the restrictions of any particular label and why the Frankfurt-based artist deserved every accolade he received for being one of the most up and coming techno DJs of the White Isle this summer.

Meanwhile up in the second room, the Holy Trinity of house music, Dyed Soundorom, Dan Ghanacia and Shonky, aka Apollonia were in full swing. The two and a half hour long set kicked off with a more chilled display of slower, percussion-based tracks before the tempo was cranked up a notch by the French troubadours to high-octane beats, cycling from Balearic-style vocal house to more futuristic, metallic techno.

The layout of the venue complimented the sounds as with most people streaming between the stairways and preparing for the arrival of Yousef downstairs, the Apollonia faithful remained in this smaller, living room style floor and it was refreshingly enjoyable to actually be able to dance and take in the music and atmosphere without the crush.

No first-time Circus night is properly complete without experiencing the heart and soul of the operation, Yousef. One of the most hard working musical artists and promoters in the game, his set reflected exactly why Circus attracts home-grown ravers and music lovers from across the country alike.

At 2am, the crowd were in full charge energy and there was definitely not a glimpse of floor free across the whole of the auditorium as Yousef treated his regulars and newbies to a high quality attack of Acid and Jackin House. One look around the room revealed sweat dripping from the ceiling and the crowd moving in unision to the addictive drops, making it clear why Liverpool and Circus' has achieved reverential levels. 

Needing a bit of a cool off from all the mayhem of the main room, we headed back upstairs to catch the arrival of Eats Everything and Claude Vonstroke favourite, Shadow Child. A definite added bonus of this room is the vintage looking sofa with a prime view of the dancefloor antics and as soon as a spot came free, we lunged at the chance.

There we rested our aching legs and sat back to hear the mastermind behind some of the summer's hottest tracks. Shadow Child provided a refreshing, more commercial sounding few hours, dropping crowd favourites like 'Jack' by Breach (above), alon gsideas his internationally renowned EP 'String Thing' for some great sing-a-long moments.

After a quick break, we made our way back to the main room to brave the floods of people to try and get a glimpse of the main attraction of the night, Loco Dice. His arrival was greeted by a roar from the eagerly-awaiting crowd as he prepared to take over the decks from Yousef who clearly was handing an electric atmosphere.

The German born techno King delivered all the goods for his third consecutive Christmas in the UK, looking as relaxed and cool as ever as he smashed out a fusion of dark, slow-building vocals, layered over hip-hop inspired house. As an avid Loco Dice fan for years, it's always interesting to watch his sets and see how he has advanced from the lesser known minimal DJ of his Cocoon days.

Quite simply, he never lets you down, and in this instance left the crowd with an unquenchable thirst for more as he pummeled them into the early hours, stretching the Circus' sound system for every decibel it could handle. As first dates go, this is marriage material.

The next Yousef presents Circus at East Village Arts Club is on Saturday 1st February. (details here). The main ticketlink on this article is for that show.

Tickets are no longer available for this event