Review: Face's Fourth Birthday Saturday 19th October @ Rainbow Venues

This is an event review for the Face Fourth Birthday on Saturday 19th October. The ticketlink below is for this event.

Image: Tom Horton

Birmingham is affectionately called many things; Brum, Middle England, The Second City… Clubbing Capital? Perhaps not the latter, which given its size begs the question as to “why not?” Other areas such as Manchester or Leeds usually overshadow the UK’s second most populous city when it comes to nightlife. Yet beneath the surface there is a thriving club scene in Birmingham, particularly around the industrial area of Digbeth, that is definitely worth a look. 

The Rainbow Venues is at the forefront of this movement; a myriad of rooms, courtyards and warehouses that is quickly becoming a site of character, depth and talent. FACE is their flagship weekly Saturday night party, which champions the best in local talent as well showcasing the hottest international acts from the worlds of house and techno. Saturday 19th October was a landmark occasion for the night, which celebrated its fourth Birthday with a selection of exciting underground acts; quite a feat for a weekly party. 

French trio Apollonia (Dan Ghenacia, Dyed Soundorom, Shonky) led the charge in The Warehouse playing their distinct groove-led house. Taking it in turns to drop a track, the general theme was likeable basslines, touches of synth and some vocals scattered for good measure. Overall the set was consistent with highs dropped in such as their own production ‘Trinidad’ (watch below), and the extended five-hour set was an added caveat to enjoy the evening.

In The Garden Krystal Klear rocked the 1’s and 2’s with an energetic performance from start to finish. No genre is off-limits for this Northern Irish DJ and it is the only time we’ve seen a set transition from Booka Shade to Aretha Franklin in a heartbeat - Brilliant! Other gems included Stardust's evergreen 'Music Sounds Better With You’, which was the perfect offset to the house and techno is the main room and reminded us all that electronic music doesn’t always have to be so serious.

Detroit Swindle followed with their soulful, deep Detroit-house and their sound was a nice middle ground between Apollonia and Krystal Klear. Jazzy chords and soulful melodies accompanied catchy beats – perfect dancing material and a great booking. Finally Citizen rounded off the morning with an uplifting performance referencing 90’s house music and dropping good remixes of pop classics. With Krystal Klear by his side he sailed through tracks such as his own remix of Ellie Goulding’s 'Burn’ and his own utterly anthemic 'So Submissive’ (watch below).

The FACE 4th Birthday didn’t disappoint, proving to be a truly compelling way to celebrate the clubnight's birthday and the most fun we'd experienced in ages. The music was on-point with a great balance between big-room techno in The Warehouse and funkier soul in The Garden. The dance floor was nicely busy and although the men definitely outweighed the women, it was an amiable crowd who were just up for a good time.

We would be the first to admit that there would rarely be parties that would tempt me to Birmingham, but in face we feel we may have just found one. With so many club nights infiltrated by the EDM generation, it is nice to find one that keeps things personal and welcoming, with the focus on good music in a great venue.  Birmingham… see you again soon!

Like this? Check out Promoter Focus: Face.

The next event in the Rainbow Complex is Rainbow Halloween - check the details out here.

Tickets are no longer available for this event