Circus Christmas Special at Camp and Furnace review

We caught sets from Hot Since 82, Yousef and Lauren Lo Sung at Circus' festive rave up.

Date published: 29th Dec 2016

Giving you just enough time to recover from that Christmas Day booze-up, raves on the 27th December are becoming more and more popular, with some major line ups sure to lure in one more dance before NYE. In Liverpool, everyone was back on track for a daytime party of epic proportions courtesy of long-standing clubnight Circus.

At the Crimbo Limbo point in the year when you're not even sure what day it is or what you should be doing, to be thrown in the deep end at a party of this scale late-afternoon means more than ever you're likely lose all grasp of dates, whilst your tea time is replaced with sets by some techno and house titans.

The pretty colossal Camp and Furnace space has become Circus' second home, comfortably able to hold the demand for the calibre of artists which are booked. The Christmas special was another sell out, and it showed; the Camp room which was housing Andrea Oliva as we arrived was almost full to the brim, the air was thick as heat struggled to escape.

The Camp itself looked impressive, and boasted the hanging projector which we'd seen at Abandon Silence previously, it's a special piece of design that completely transforms the room. The projection sheet hangs above the crowd's head, with different mesmerising shapes and patterns twirling and dancing across it. The oversized floral shapes (normally used for Bongo's Bingo panto editions) hung from the ceiling, and added another visual aspect to one of the city's best clubbing venues.

We headed into the Furnace to catch Circus founder Yousef in action, powering through dramatic build ups and breakdowns, he worked his magic with intense drops, all the while controlling the room in the way only he can. The giant balloons that have become a bit of a signature Circus touch began to bounce over the crowd, each one harvesting a bunch of confetti which emptied over the crowd whenever one popped.

Yousef offered up atmospheric tech house that wouldn't have sounded out of place in an Ibiza club main room, before treating the crowd to an edit of Donna Summer's classic 'I Feel Love', then causing havoc with big tunes like Oxia's 'Give A Feeling' (Olivier Giacomotto Remix).

Hot Since 82 was up next, the cheeky Yorkshire lad digged into some oldies but goodies including Traumer's epic and distinctive 'Hoodlum' as everyone from the front row right through to the back hooted in approval. 'Music Is The Answer' lyrics reverberated through the warehouse, marking a suitably massive set from one of the most in-demand artists of 2016.

Lauren Lo Sung was chosen to close the Blade Factory, the smallest of the three rooms at Camp and Furnace. It's a space with proper raw, warehouse character, perfectly suited to her back to basics techno trajectory. She unleashed one of her new tracks 'Tresor', proving that her production talents are consistently growing along with her confidence.

The Christmas special was another night filled with local talent and international names, no one brings such a hearty amount of both quite like Circus does. 

Like this? Check out Green Velvet, Jackmaster, Davide Squillace announced for Circus in Liverpool