SO house music in Manchester died along with the Hacienda? What a load of rubbish. Running every Saturday at the newly refurbished Phoenix nightclub on Oxford Road, Tangled is a night for those who like their house homely rather than feng shui.
HAVING spent the last four years moving between the Boardwalk, the UMIST students' union and the Thirsty Scholar, DJs Phil Morse, Terry Pointon, Herbie Saccani and Steve Thorpe have finally unpacked their flightcases at a club they can call home.
"It feels like we've been in more venues than we've had nights!" exclaims Phil. "It's nice to settle down at a club where everything's just right. Tangled is still completely different from everything else in Manchester and the reason we're still here is because we've made it work for ourselves."
When the Hacienda was getting all the hype, clubs that we used to go to, like the Hippodrome, were playing a northern, hearty, up for it, dress down kind of music that's still being largely ignored today. Being told to wear shoes in a club was probably the starting point for Tangled all those years ago."
"At the end of the day the dress code is a personal choice," continues Herbie. "If someone wants to make an effort, that's fine, but only if they're doing it for themselves, not because they're being forced to by a promoter."
Tomorrow night's Tangled plays host to the Quadrastate party with breakdancing, three-deck gymnastics and a freestyle electro workout upstairs.Beat Foundation are set to make a welcome return on May 30 and Dublin's Kitchen DJs are taking on Phil and the residents next month.
I ask Phil whether he's ever been tempted to let go of the reins and employ the likes of Jeremy Healy or Judge Jules to do his dirty work.
"No way, absolutely not, " he replies. "Too many promoters employ DJs who don't know each other, don't like each other's music and aren't related to each other in any way. You're not part of anything going to a night like, that, you're just part of the crowd.
"We found in the past that guest DJs were costing us more and pleasing the crowd less. The best nights have invariably been when we've invited someone special along because the crowd have asked for them, rather than because we've felt obliged to hire them for publicity."
"The good thing about Tangled is when the DJ becomes the punter," smiles Herbie. "When Steve's on the decks and I'm on the dancefloor rockin' my head off. Most of the crowd have become our friends over the years and almost every face is familiar."
Four years old and still going strong, Tangled is the kind of night that epitomises the positivity of club culture. It's like the best house party you've ever been to but with better décor, louder music and no danger of the police arriving half way through your favourite tune.Having progressed from DJing at Marple Cricket Club to running one of the best nights in town, I ask Phil to let me in on the secret of Tangled's success.
"You've got to realise that a box of records, however good, isn't enough and that running club nights means living the life and working bloody hard.," he replies. "It's about playing music that makes people dance and not scratch their chins."
"Dirty, uplifting, electro, happy, funky stuff," adds Terry. "It's the dog's..!"
And he didn't say biscuits.
PAUL MAHONEY