La Discotheque at Canal Mills review

Image: La Discotheque (Credit: JK Photography)

La Discotheque have been making waves with their eccentric parties in Manchester. They’ve become a mainstay in the city, having several times taken over the mighty Albert Hall with carefully crafted lineups.

Many have by now heard about La Pisscotheque (a rave in a toilet, as the name suggests) at some of the more recent events, a rather hedonistic approach to waiting for the loo; a usually arduous task. Lots of boxes are being ticked here, so it was nice to see La Discotheque get the show on the road, setting up shop at Canal Mills in Leeds. 

The early start meant that by the time we arrived we had missed one of the biggest names on the bill Greg Wilson, but it was a pleasure to walk in to the sight of Danielle rocking it on stage with the rest of the band, Crazy P. It’s no surprise this electronic outfit are a favourite of a night with such a name as La Discoteque.

The band’s unique blend of deep disco, house and electro make for a funky and energetic sound that compliments the fun-loving disco genre. Stick some dreamy vocals over the top and you’ve got yourself an array of classic gems, such as ‘Heartbreaker’ and ‘Open For Service’. We were grateful to hear these live, alongside some new Crazy P material. 

Norman Jay (MBE) soon took over after the interim. He set about expertly amalgamating old school hits at pace to the delight of the crowd, working through a collection that spans a lifetime. His in depth knowledge of music, in particular from the era of disco itself, was apparent from his selection with a clear fondness towards Chic and Nile Rodgers. ‘Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)’ and ‘Everybody Dance’ of course made for an excitable crowd. If he was trying to tell us something in his music choices, the crowd were most certainly following orders. 

PBR Streetgang took a slightly more aggressive approach as they flicked through funky, hands in the air disco house into more pumping, driving basslines, keeping the smaller second room busy throughout. They went on to take the helm of the much bigger main room, clearly comfortable in both environments, rounding off the night with a little less frivolity and more of the heavier stuff.

La Discoteque had been all that you might expect from a disco night and more. Eccentric outfits full of sequins and colour, confetti, funky umbrellas, scantly clad dancers, big pink flamingos and of course a groovin’, funkin’ soundtrack throughout.

Our only regret was that we missed La Pisscoteque (rave in a toilet) which was seemingly only for the ladies. We did however manage to pick up a flashing disco baton from a stranger and left holding our flares up high. 

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