Tangled is Manchester’s longest running club night and an institution for legions of up-for-it punters. If you have stepped into the Phoenix on a Saturday night over the last eight years you will have been part of Tangled’s unique history and joined the sweaty revelers who revel without a pause and revel with a cause.
One part of the quartet of DJs behind the night is Phil Morse and I met up with him in his own back yard – The Phoenix to delve deeper into the Tangled phenomenon. So Phil after eight long years can you describe the secret to your success? "Putting on a good night and looking after our members." And what is the music policy? "A cross between a 1991 rave and a wedding disco! The main room has house and there is breakbeat upstairs," he says peering through his blue-tinted lenses.
Phil oozes belief in what they do at Tangled. I know myself the hazardous life of promoting a regular night in Manchester and finding a level of consistency is paramount. "We worked out what was needed to deliver a good night," he says. "And we have stayed true to that. We don’t follow fashions; we do what we know is right and that has kept us busy through thick and thin." Keeping busy every week can only be achieved by building a faithful member’s list as he points out "we have a massive members list; we tend to get them early and keep them until they are fed up of clubbing full-stop." Loyal legions and they come from all over the place. "A third of our members live up to a couple of hundred miles away, we draw heavily from South Manchester and (equally) the North Manchester mill towns like Burnley."
What you see is what you get with this night and alongside Phil there are three other dedicated DJs who fuel the night. "The DJs are another reason for our success." DJs Terry and Phil run it in main room with Herbie and Steve upstairs. "That hasn’t changed in years," he says. "We rely on residents and if we open only with residents it’s just as busy - the numbers don’t drop. Some clubs have to half the admission because they don’t have a big guest – we are at the opposite end to guest-driven venues."
All the DJs originate from Stockport with the exception of Terry. Herbie has a pivotal record shop there called Quadrastate Records, which is the purveyor of the four to the floor beat and has been important in the promotion of Tangled. They do get other DJs in to guest and as Phil states, "the ones who go down well are the ones who aren’t afraid of playing big records which doesn’t mean playing a Judge Jules type set it means playing tunes intelligently. He continues, "the likes of Guy Ornadel, Hybrid, Rascal and Jane Funk Boutique; DJs who know the crowd and know the place. A lot of big DJs have bombed in Tangled because a lot of it’s a load of bollocks, and it becomes blatantly clear in a little club."
Obviously a believer in talent over reputation and music above image, Phil doesn’t have time for the commercial end of club promotion where ‘superstar’ DJs go off on massive club tours all the time selling their souls to the corporate loop. And they have no plans to move from the Phoenix either: "There is no better venue for what we do," he says knowingly. There are a few reasons," he continues. "It has two good rooms - no other club in Manchester can say that. You have to come and find the place (no walking by trade). Its not known as a venue in its own right so you have to be the kind of person who wants to find a good night which is vital to Tangled because we don’t want to attract sheep or Mixmag readers. It has brilliant Management who understand what we do entirely and they support us 100% and finally brilliant staff and doormen for the same reasons."
A common occurrence at The Phoenix in the early hours of Sunday morning is all the clubbers crying out for more on the floor and the bouncers dashing around trying to usher them outside – but its all done in a very friendly and professional way. That is rare to find in a club and I for one think it should be applauded.
As we wind things up for the day, I just have time to ask about plans for the future. "Stay at the cutting-edge of what we do, affirms Phil. "More innovative promotions, a better website, more networking and more facilities on the message boards." And do you see 10 years of Tangled a distinct possibility? A roguish grin spreads across his face before he replies, "10 years yeah, as for 20 you will have to come back to me on that one!"
MARK O'DONNELL