Dixon and Âme All Night Long at Albert Hall review

Image credit: Jack Kirwin

The Innervisions founders playing within unusual, heritage venues is a combination that the electronic music world goes mad for. You only have to cast your mind back to the Lost In A Moment Sonar party at a monastery to be reminded of the magic that's created when Dixon and Âme take over a space with rich history and striking architecture. 

Albert Hall is one of the only Grade listed venues in Manchester that is utilised for music events, and the former Wesleyan chapel makes a breath-taking shell as a clubbing space. But it was the first and possibly the last time the hall would witness an extended set of this nature; six hours of Dixon and Âme back to back.

With a ground level floor and a tiered balcony that borders the circular shape of the main room, two different types of night are on offer - be right in the midst of it, or absorb the view from above. We opted for the latter, giving us an awe-inspiring vision of columns of light that beamed up from the ridge of the stage, surrounding Kristian Beyer from Âme like some sort of other-worldly wall.

Beyer, who looks after the DJ commitments for the duo, was indulging the crowd with hypnotising percussion in the form of Dennis Ferrer's remix of Sabb's 'One Of Us'. Each piece of music he selected was melodic but assertive and above all, artistically brilliant. 

On the very top of the upper tier, a cluster of people were dancing in front of the illuminated stain glass windows, their silhouettes contorting as the lights flickered across the multitude of muted colours. It's these visual, almost cinematic moments that compliment the tracks in the collections so perfectly.

Kristian and Dixon took turns in 15 minute bursts, but it didn't necessarily flow as well as expected. Dixon would take it up a notch with higher tempo treats, whilst Kristian would take it down a more relaxed avenue, at times you didn't know whether you were coming or going. 

Dixon incorporated the vocals Seven Davis Jr.'s 'Sunday Morning' into one of his selections, with the muffled chants of 'I bet you've never had a love like this before' echoing around the room, driven by underlying, rhythmic tribal beats.

Both artists are conscientious in their approach and meticulous in their execution, there's no doubting that they are in the upper echelons as DJs and producers, and you can't deny that Albert Hall is one of the most impressive venues in the North West. This seemed like the ultimate event alliance, but something just fell a tad short. 

Read more: Âme's Frank Wiedermann to release first solo EP.

Check out more Albert Hall Manchester events.