Back to Basics 22nd Birthday Review

The longest running club night in the world celebrated its 22nd birthday last weekend. Dave Beer assembled his long-standing residents alongside carefully selected guests at converted warehouse club Beaverworks (sadly previous home The Garage was forced to close just weeks before) for a punk-fuelled night of no nonsense house and techno. The Back to Basics birthday is always a highlight for many and as usual we went down to join in the celebrations.

Judging by the set times we knew most of our night would be spent in the main room. Tartan at the ready we found our spot and set about soaking in the grooves courtesy of Basics' own Ralph Lawson, who was heading up a party not only on the dance floor but behind the booth at the front. The tunes reflected the mood, as hands flew up high in the air to classics such as LNR's ‘Work It to the Bone’ and Snap! hit 'I Got The Power'. The atmosphere was electric from the off; typical of Basics and amplified even more by the desire from every person in there to honour the birthday of the party in proper fashion. 

Huge rotating fans at either side of the DJ booth did little to alleviate the intense heat of the room which meant for a sweaty affair, even more so when Yousef arrived with his high energy party techno house and his multi-coloured mohawk. For many he was the main attraction and he most certainly delivered, mixing up a storm on his three deck set up. The crowd was ecstatic, jumping around to the pumping party tunes that Yousef is so much loved for. It was a cracking set topped off with a most euphoric ending, Yousef's own 'Float Away' featuring The Angel (below).

We took a break in the bar where Dave Beer was playing some classic house tracks including Dennis Ferrer's remix of 'The Cure & The Cause'. It made for a good time to catch the man behind it all in action, celebrating the huge success of his night and having a great time in the process. Over in the main room, Doc Martin was smashing through some straight up jacking house music.

Laura Jones rounded off our night in the main room with a cool mix full of techy vibes, pleasuring us with the sounds of her slick remix alongside Gavin Herlihy of Todd Terry's classic 'Bounce To The Beat' keeping the atmosphere on a high late on in the night. Back in the bar. James Barnsley was smashing out some bouncy tech house; with such talent across both rooms, we were kept well entertained for the duration. 

Yet again, the Basics birthday proved to be a huge highlight of the year; it always does. For a clubhnight to still be going after such a long period of time is noteworthy, but for them to still be at the peak of their powers even more so. Basics – we salute you.

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