Still going strong in its third year and moving to a fortnightly Saturday slot at the Thirsty Scholar is Tangled, the happy house party formerly held at The Underground.
Tangled is very much a grass roots, home grown affair, actually being promoted by resident DJ's Phil Morse and Terry Pointon, but for once 'home grown' does not mean 'second rate' - this being partly due to the resiliently underground, upfront sound selection (no chart shit and no pointless technotic mindwarp drivel, just pure, pumpin' house music) and partly to the excellent reputation this night has earned for itself by world of mouth, particularly since their rather magnificent birthday bash.
It's nice as well to be able to go out and dance to house music without having to have a hundred quid's worth of clothes on and carry a wallet that gives you a hernia, something that's been a personal bugbear with the corporate club scene for a while. Many of the big names on the local scene have guested regularly, and as the night's reputation grows, so does the quality of guest DJ's they're managing to attract.
What's more the boys aren't stuck in snob mode and have opened up the downstairs room to a whole range of guests - from the Filthy Funkadelic Sound System playing pure George Clinton grooves, to the Two Johns playing punk and metal, for when and if the four to the floor temporarily ceases to hit the spot.
The vibe's always friendly and up for it, they kit the place out looverley, it's only four quid to get in, and, erm, what more can one say, except that if house music isn't going to disappear up its own corporate-sponsored arse, if we aren't going to lose the next generation to pseudo-intellectual iechno-metal shite, then we need more nights like this. Tangled? That'll do nicely. Check 'em out, and just be glad they gave up the idea of calling it 'Bag of Trout'.
RUSSELL DEEKS