Started in 1994, Tangled, once known as Manchester's best kept secret is now an amazing (by most current clubs) 9 years old. Still run by original residents Phil Morse and Terry Pointon (now joined by Herbie Saccani and Steve Thorpe), it's Manchester's longest running house night and has been voted club of the year by both the Manchester Evening News and City Life magazine. The music policy has stayed the same over the years; basically that they really will play anything and book anyone that they think is good enough.
According to Ministry they feature the city's best resident team (and for once they aren't talking out of their arse) but they also attract a fair smattering of other DJ's, recently people such as Johan Gielen, Don Diablo, M.I.K.E., Airwave, Signum and Marco V. Guy Ornadel is also regular visitor and apparently loves playing there as much as the crowd love hearing him. As club nights do, it has changed homes a number of times over the years but seems to have found its spiritual home in the shape of The Phoenix, also home to Sin:ergy on Friday nights.
Split over two floors and two rooms, the main room is home to Phil and Terry, the sound usually verges towards the harder end of trance but with some housier stuff thrown in. The upstairs room is where you'll find Herbie and Steve lay down their breaks and beats but also where most people go to quite literally chill out after their exertions downstairs.
So, enough of the PR style bollox, what's it really like? Well, firstly it's a friendly place, everyone from the security to the bar staff makes you feel welcome. Tangled has become famous for it's atmosphere and fanatical following, most of whom attend the place religiously every week to worship the residents. People often use the words "family atmosphere" when referring to a club but Tangled genuinely has it, everyone seems anxious to make sure newcomers have a good time.
The club is not the place to go if you want comfy seats, sparkly spinning lions or somewhere to parade your latest try hard gear. Both rooms are fairly small and dark although not to the point where you feel claustrophobic. The DJ's are very close to the punters which makes for great interaction and the bar prices are pretty good. The crowd themselves are mostly regular clubbers and despite the bar doing a brisk trade, there seems to be a distinct lack of the beer boy element. The few cybers congregate towards the back of the main dance floor under the UV and the odd try hard casually props up a pillar whilst sipping their Smirnoff Ice. I spoke to people who'd made the trip from Holland and Mozambique (honestly) so Tangled's fame is certainly spreading.
The sound system in the main room would put a lot of bigger clubs to shame and a visit to the gents toilets can be quite a moving experience when the bass is in full flow. The lighting, whilst good, seems to lack a little something, perhaps the addition of a small laser or some other similar effects would help.
When we first arrive Terry is warming the crowd up with some of his trademark sounds. In his first set of the night he slips in some good tunes, mixing good classic style trance like Monkey Forest, Into the Night and Carrera 2 with harder stuff like Café Del Marco and Jetlag. He also manages a few little surprises like Oribital's Frenetic and Layo & Bushwacka's Love Story. High point has to be when Fused - Terror comes on and the crowd goes wild. People are literally bouncing off the ceiling and hugging each other. If I had to be picky I'd say perhaps some of the tunes didn't go as well together as they might, but who am I to argue with a crowd well and truly whipped to a frenzy?
At 2:30am it's onto the main attraction, Yves Deruyter. His brand of Belgian trance seems to be going down well with the crowd and we are all soon lapping up every tune he throws at us. Being honest I can't really remember many of them as by this point I am enjoying myself so much that I'm past caring. I ask people what some of the tunes are called and just seem to get random words back, I'm sure that Simulated got a play though. Yves himself is well into it and after a couple of hours, ends brilliantly on a new mix of Ferry Corstens Punk followed by Strange World. It was an excellent set, well constructed with good tunes that flowed and a big finish, just what everyone wanted.
It's coming up to 5am and Terry is back on the decks for last hour but he's not alone. Monthly resident and local boy Rascal joins him and they soon get down to some back to back action. Rascal is better than I remember him previously, so much so that I barely notice his annoying scratching. The crowd has thinned out and the atmosphere seems to flag slightly along with people's energy. The tunes also seem to die away and whilst the odd one slips in (Rank 1's Awakening), by the time 6am comes round, everyone is stood virtually still on the dance floor. As the last song dies away (an absolute classic I can't for the life of me remember) a lone voice shouts for one more.
"Fuck off" replies Terry, and we all go home.
A lot of the bigger clubs could take a leaf out of Tangled's book. It's well worth making an effort to visit because it's one of these mythical nights we've all been taking about recently - small, friendly, has a great music policy and most of all, it's not going monthly.
BEGIZE