Review: Rainbow Venues Chapter 11

Photo: Rainbow Venues Chapter 11

As we made our way to the festival site, it was blatantly obvious to see how much of a big deal this was for the Birmingham club scene. The sold out festival was thrown especially to celebrate eleven years of the city's premier rave hotspot The Rainbow Venues, and what better way to mark the occasion than by inviting some of the biggest names in techno and house play across five glorious stages.

Playing in The Garden room to kick off the proceedings was local boy Bastian who was turning out recent bangers such as Mark Henning's 'Trojan', Doc Daneeka's 'Walk On In', DVS1's 'Black Russian' and the piano house tinged Paul Woolford remix of George Fitzgerald's 'By The Way You Move'. The atmosphere was fizzing from the off.

It was then onto check out another resident Tom Shorterz play in The Arch, which for us had the best atmosphere of the stages, being set on a balcony in the blazing sunshine with the Birmingham skyline in the background, setting the mood perfectly for the beats.

The Rinse FM regular churned out a menu of current club favourites, notably local hero Hannah Wants' pumping track 'Rhymes', Tessela's old skool influenced 'Hackney Parrot' and David Zowie's 'House Every Weekend'.

Afterwards we hit up The Warehouse section to witness fast rising star Patrick Topping's blistering set that did not disappoint. The Georgie beatsmith played Robert Armani's classic techno anthem 'Ambulance', Herbert's glitchy 'Moving Like a Train' and B.D.I's epic track 'City and Industry' (above), which all sounded perfect in a room full of sweaty loved up clubbers.

Over at The Basement we soaked up the sounds of established DJ Paul Woolford, who played a mixture of Ibiza house tunes, like Eats Everything’s carnival-esque remix of Basement Jaxx's 'Flylife' and classic filthy techno track 'French Kiss' by the legendary Lil Louis.

Next on the decks to carry the techno baton was man of the moment Daniel Avery, who dropped his own brand of glitchy beats in the form of his own tunes 'Need Electric' and 'Taste', which sounded perfectly at home in the grimy, dimly lit setting.

It was then time to head back to The Arch to check out bass legend DJ Zinc's set, which proved to be a highlight amongst the ravers by dropping a raft of classics. Double 99's garage anthem 'Rip Groove', house favourite Julio Bashmore's 'Battle For Middle You', and Zinc's very own Ms Dynamite collab 'Wile Out' where some of the highlights, with current club smash Fono's 'Real Joy' (above) getting the biggest reaction of the entire set.

Continuing our trip around the site, we made sure to check in on Seth Troxler's tech house set in The Arena, followed by a gander at Bicep's balearic house influenced set before watching VIVa Warriors main man Steve Lawler close off the night's proceedings back in The Warehouse, were he dropped his own 'Burn the Floor' track and the infectious, appropriately named 'House Record' (above) to a rapturous reception.

When leaving the festival, exhausted but thoroughly satisfied, it was clear to see that Birmingham has firmly regained its status as being one of the UK's most hedonistic cities, and The Rainbow Venues itself knows how to throw one hell of a rave.

Head here for more on The Rainbow Venues

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