Do Not Sleep is a prime example of what happens when house meets techno in a dark room with fantastic DJs and pumping records.
That's how I remember the event when I visited it at Space last year. The fantastic atmospheres of these nights comes from the great commitment of head resident, Darius Syrossian, who once said; "I'm into the scene because I love the music, not like a lot of people who are into the music because they love the scene. It's only about the music for me, and that's all that matters.”
When it was announced that Do Not Sleep would be returning to Ibiza this year at Sankeys, I was thrilled to hit the dance floor once again. Sankeys, a club with a UK heritage, is the perfect place to host the no nonsense house and techno party with its underground basement feel and decor.
Previous weeks have seen many great artists take the Sankeys DJ booth under the banner of the Do Not Sleep event. House aficionados Skream, Nathan Barato, Nick Curly, Catz n Dogz, Deetron, Rodriguez Jr., Mathias Kaden, Solardo and many others have all played some fantastic sets this season keeping island dwellers coming back week after week.
This past Tuesday I went to see how Do Not Sleep gets Sankeys stomping week after week. Here are a few reasons you've got to check it for yourselves.
The DJs
The line-ups for Do Not Sleep are brilliantly organised to provide the best clubbing experience for the guests who visit Sankeys. The Basement main room for this evening featured Darius Syrossian, Detlef, Calleb Calloway, Jamie Roy take to the stage with pumping tech house beats. Detlef mixed a blend of tribal rhythms and classic house vocal samples such as Renegade Master.
Upstairs in the Boutique room, Andrea Perini and Cristiano Da Silva mixed a more popular set with Ibiza hits like Chunky by Format B. Venturing to the Spektrum room hosted by Dublin DJ collective Strictly Deep, I found them living up to their name with a nice collection of deep tech records, a nice change from the other rooms.
The Playa d'en Bossa nightclub had it going on in every room. Back in the Basement, Darius commanded the dance floor from 3:30 with hard hitting bangers, like his new release Moon Buggy on Snatch! Records.
Music selections
The musical selections of the evening were absolutely thrilling with banging kicks from each thumping tech house track. Each room had its individual moments that made you dance a little bit harder. For example, when Darius played Drips by Anotr, a funky change up to the usual thundering beats, the crowd got down low on the dance floor.
The Boutique had its fair share of bangers as well, with Cristiano Da Silva playing some raw G-House grooves such as Marilyn Monroe by Tim Baresko. But one of my personal favourite selections of the party came from the Strictly Deep gang in the Spektrum room with Solomon's remix of Age of Love. This deep tech groover was a perfect way to move in the smoke filled side room with its uplifting synths and choir vocals.
Venue
The architecture and style of the Ibiza building are a tribute to the original Sankeys club that existed in Manchester until it was closed earlier this year. The space on the White Isle island holds on to the very essence of UK underground culture.
First off you have the Basement room, aptly named with its low ceilings and signature strip lighting. At the end of the room, the DJ box is only slightly raised, so you really feel close to DJs, giving it a more personal experience.The two other spaces, Boutique and Spektrum are more intimate but add to the overall feel of the venue, providing dark corners to get lost in the music.
Do Not Sleep has minimal decoration with glowing cubes scattered around the club and the back screen visuals flicking cubist patterns. The outdoor roof terrace, also the smoking area, is one of my favourite areas. Covered in graffiti and dimly lit, it's a relaxing escape from the dance floor but still carries an underground motif.
The entire venue has a warehouse feel to it and along with Pioneer Pro Audio sound system tracks like this banger from Bodyjack boom around the venue.
Atmosphere
Anybody who goes to Do Not Sleep will tell you that clubbers are there for one thing. To dance and feel the music. This was certainly true of my experience when I visited. Everyone was cutting shapes, twisting and grooving to the beats. With minimal VIP areas in the club, this makes the dance floor the centre of the action, creating a sense of community amongst attendees. The great atmosphere in the basement was lifted even more by a special b2b2b set from Darius Syrossian, Detlef and Calleb Calloway.
From a personal perspective, it was fantastic seeing the three work as one musical unit dropping in fantastic tracks one after the other, each enjoying the vibe they were collectively creating. The crowd loved it as well, with the dance floor being comfortably full until the end of the night.
As last tracks go, this was a perfect one that rounded off my night at Do Not Sleep. The raw and thumping sounds of Pool Party Music by Mall Grab combined with the warehouse-like setting of Sankeys was a clubbing experience only Do Not Sleep could deliver.
With four dates of Do Not Sleep at Sankeys left this season, there's still plenty of time to catch Darius & co. every Tuesday through September. Next week you have House music connoisseurs Huxley, Josh Butler and Christian Burkhardt join the Do Not Sleep party, also with a cool lineup in the Boutique room in the form of Paul Darey, Joe Reed and DøC. Another one I would definitely recommend? The 19th of September when Techno don, Alan Fitzpatrick takes over LAB with his label We Are The Brave, but he will also be playing 5 and 26 September.
For more details and tickets, check out the party calendar below.
PHOTOGRAPHY | Pablo Borboroglu
