TheThe Masque in Liverpool is saved and becomes MAMA Group venue

The Masque in Liverpool is saved and becomes MAMA Group venue

Following a long 12 months since the demise of the previous operating company, promoters Chibuku and Circus have announced that a major deal has been completed regards the Masque venue sealing its long term future in the city. On December 9th the promoters of both clubs will hand over the premises to a new partnership with the MAMA Group, for immediate commencement of an amazing renovation programme.

MAMA Group are owners of major live venues including London Forum, Jazz Café and Ritz Manchester and leading UK festivals including Global Gathering, Lovebox, Wilderness festivals and many more.

Richard McGinnis explains that, “We have worked tirelessly every day since The Masque closed to bring the right deal to the table and make the venue everything it should have been. We are hitting our 13th year in The Masque next year, and finally we will be able to bring together all the great promoters in the city in a venue which Liverpool will be proud of. We have worked with MAMA in various forms over the last ten years and their success in transforming the iconic Manchester Ritz really was the trigger for us. Liverpool for too long has been second best for touring live acts and right now needs a venue of merit for local bands to aspire to play in. We are going to create that venue. We have had a few close calls and a few false starts in getting this deal across the line, so I'm over the moon finally we can announce it to everyone. We need to take time to thank Tony Mutch and Tony Rothwell, the freeholders for their incredible patience, vision and support over the last year. Without them the city would have lost this incredible space."

As part of this amazing news for Liverpool, two of its most revered clubs, Circus and Chibuku, have announced their final parties taking place across the remainder of December. Both clubs are crowning momentous years, with Yousef’s Circus reaching its X anniversary in September, and Chibuku continuing its vibrantly eclectic template. The action moves across town, from The Masque to The Camp and Furnace, utilising two of the city’s most iconic venues. More information on these events will be announced soon.

Slamboree to close Liverpool Sound City

Interactive Circus Rave Band Phenomenon Slamboree to close Liverpool Sound City

www.facebook.com/slamboree www.soundcloud.com/slamboree www.twitter.com/slamboreemusic

✪ Groundbreaking live dance music band with integrated circus show.

✪ Charted number 6 on Soundcloud Global Hotlist after less than a year together.

✪ 10-piece live band PLUS international circus performers: aerial, fire, juggling, contortion, theatre, burlesque and dance!

✪ Headline shows confirmed for Bestival, Secret Garden Party, Kendal Calling, Boomtown Fair, Liverpool Sound City, London’s Pleasure Gardens, Brighton Fringe, Solfest & many more.

✪ Large scale main stage performances at Sunrise Celebration, Beatherder, Eden & Landed.

SLAMBOREE are a cutting-edge live music and contemporary circus extravaganza comprised of multi-talented performers from around the world. An internet sensation, now recognised on Soundcloud’s list of hottest global tracks alongside major artists such as Lady Gaga and Skrillex. Infamous for being a word-of-mouth phenomenon, the band are now set to whip up a storm performing headline slots at some of the UK’s most heavyweight alternative music festivals.

After just one year together they will be spending the summer taking their unique show to award-winning independent festivals such as Radio One DJ Rob Da Bank’s Bestival on the Isle of Wight, the sublime Secret Garden Party, the Lake District’s Kendal Calling, Beatherder and Solfest to name a few.

Furthermore, Liverpool Sound City – fast becoming known as the UK’s answer to music industry showcase South By South West (SXSW) have snapped up the show to provide the closing ceremony at Liverpool Arts Academy. Brighton Fringe have asked the band to play a double bill at this year’s event, and London’s innovative, forward-thinking new festival project Pleasure Gardens have asked them to bring the spectacle to the centre of the UK’s capital.

Featuring a 10-piece live band with circus performers, Slamboree create an immersive audio-visual experience, incorporating electronic music with live instruments, acrobatics, pyrotechnics, fire and much more.

The live band mix up genres spanning from Dub to Balkan, Classical to Drum & Bass and Breakbeat to Electro Swing. An ensemble of orchestral and brass performers push the energy of the live show one step further, and the performance is brought together by synths and driving  electronic beats created by Freear, a featured artist/producer on Beatport.com.

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Recent festival descriptions have tagged Slamboree’s music as ‘Neo-Balkan Rave Circus’, and ‘Gypstep’.

The Slamboree Circus, at the forefront of the performance, is equally diverse. Featuring contemporary cabaret and burlesque performances, the show incorporates dynamic aerial acrobatics, object manipulation, puppetry and dance. The engaging visual spectacle is magnified by professional body art and costume design to create an original and inspiring theatrical performance.

On their first Summer in 2011 they went from playing to a roomful of their friends to taking groundbreaking shows to festivals such as Glastonbury, Boomtown Fair and Shambala. Slamboree went on to become the resident band for Arcadia’s ‘Afterburner’ fire stage at Electric Picnic Festival in Ireland.

✪ SUMMER TOUR DATES 2012 ✪

5th May - Landed Festival (Wales)

11th May – Secret Show (Scotland)

12th May – The Time Traveller’s Ball (Northumbria Student’s Union)

18th May – Boomtown Fair presents ‘Boomfactor’ (Motion, Bristol)

19th May – Liverpool Sound City (Liverpool Arts Academy)

25-26th May – Brighton Fringe

15th June – Eden Festival (Scotland)

23rd June – Sunrise Celebration (Summerset)

1st July – Beatherder (Ribble Valley)

20th -22nd July – Secret Garden Party (Cambridgeshire)

27th July – Kendal Calling (Lake District)

10th August – Boomtown Fair (Winchester)

24th August – Solfest (Aspatria)

6th September – Pleasure Gardens (London)

7-9th September – Bestival (Isle of Wight)

15th September – Secret Show (Devon)

Check www.facebook.com/slamboree for more details and ticket links.

Article posted by Musicmafia

Circus – Halloween Party @ The Masque Theatre Liverpool

It’s probably the biggest Circus of the year. The birthday naturally gets a lot of love, but ask the regulars what party they look forward to the most and this one often gets the nod. It’s an annual party whose bar has been set even higher with a simply brilliant line-up, with the annual fancy dress extravagance and flamboyance returning as the party people of Liverpool (and beyond) go all out to showcase their wild imaginations. Also Circus have just launched their new website: check www.circusclub.co.uk
for the latest news from the club.

The Theatre is headlined by two of the heroes of summer 2011, Jamie Jones and Damian Lazarus. Jones’ continues to be a renaissance man of modern dance music, taking the blueprint of contemporary house one step further by infusing it with everything from disco to pop music. Catchy hooks lifted from daytime radio records sit atop underground grooves during Jones’ sets, with a sense of fun dominant without ever sacrificing any credibility. Then there’s the Hot Creations label he runs with Lee Foss, brilliantly on point with each and every single release.

Lazarus commands just as much respect. His brilliantly irrepressible imprint Crosstown Rebels remains at the vanguard of modern music, building on the profile of previous label City Rockers. Recently he’s released a brilliantly expansive artist album on Get Physical, mixed the Fabric54 compilation and continues to offer weird and wonderful music from off the dancefloor on his celebrated Lazpod podcasts. Velvet-smooth tech grooves wrapped in melody will be this man’s forte on an evening of mischief within the Masque.

Of course the Theatre always has the same star; Circus’ founder and resident DJ, Yousef. 2011 has been great to Yousef; he’s all set to drop his 2nd artist album which shows his aesthetic evolution. He’s just finished a season in Ibiza for Carl Cox’s island-defining Revolution parties whilst criss-crossing all over the globe, particularly impressing in South America. But for Yousef Liverpool is where his momentous Circus party continues to shine, and the party goes from strength to strength. Joining him will be Lewis Boardman, Circus’ other stalwart groove smith.

The Loft is on equally good form. Circus has a long history of getting exciting parties and labels into the building, with showcases from the likes of Cocoon, Meganite, the aforementioned Crosstown Rebels and Bedrock over the years. But this one, in the obscenely intimate Loft no less, could just be the pinnacle. The label that has owned 2011 with their glorious take on electronica is coming to Circus to play; the seminal Visionquest.

Named after the initiation period Native Americans undergo to find their inner soul, Visionquest’s surge for glorious dance music is similarly metaphoric. The label is run by dance music’s enfant terrible Seth Troxler alongside Shaun Reeves, Ryan Crosson and Lee Curtiss, the imprint delivering huge monster smashes to the key dancefloors of 2011 from Maceo Plex, Laura Jones and Benoit & Sergio. Seth will be joined by Ryan and Lee for an all-night excursion at Circus, an event that has all the characteristics to join the other great moments in the annals of the club’s history.

Over in Ink the resident spirit runs deep with Alex Wolfenden and Scott Lewis manning the decks. Alex remains Yousef’s musical partner in crime, their visits to Ibiza in the mid nineties instilling their deep seated passion for house music that saw both of them grab the scene by the scruff of the neck. Presently Alex has just been signed to Circus Recordings under his alter ago Acid Mondays and remains Café Mambo’s resident. Scott keeps rising to every challenge Circus set him, moving from being the afterparty resident to commanding the fort in both during previous dalliances with Nation and in every room of the Masque. And both will be going all out on the costume front. Expect a flurry of tricks and treats, where ghouls combine with grooves, monsters with melodies and leftfield beats with costumes beyond the parameters of moral decency. The Circus Halloween Party is what dressing up is all about.

Circus – Halloween Party
Saturday 29th October
@ The Masque, 90 Seel Street, Liverpool, L1 4BH
Theatre
Jamie Jones
Damian Lazarus
Yousef
Lewis Boardman
Loft - Visionquest
Seth Troxler
Ryan Crosson
Lee Curtis
Ink
Alex Wolfenden
Scott Lewis
10pm – 3am
Price £17
Info –0151 706 8045 www.circusclub.co.uk

Tickets: www.chibuku.com/shop
www.skiddle.com
www.datatransmission.co.uk/circus

TicketWeb: 08444 771 000
Ticketline: 0161 832 1111
3B records: 0151 353 7027

Circus's Easter Party with Carl Cox Review

Circus brought a veritable DJ fest to the Masque on Easter Sunday, with different genres of dance music coming from every available room, if dance music is your thing then this was the place to be. In the main auditorium warming up for Carl Cox was Liverpool's very own Yousef, who brought an initially laid back set rising towards a crescendo of beats and bass with a smattering of the sounds of Ibiza thrown in for good measure, which the crowd were loving and gave them a chance to get their dancing muscles warmed up in preparation for the legendary return of the daddy of dance music, Carl Cox.

It's been six years since Carl Cox has played Circus and from the first track to hit the deck, you could see he meant business. With the relentless rhythmic beat exuding from the speakers and his legendary "oh yes, oh yes,oh yes" shout out, he had the crowd bouncing for all their worth, carrying the transition from one track to another with a seamless fluidity throughout the set. Just when you thought he had taken the crowd to the peak, he upped the anti again and was joining in and quite possibly exuded more energy than the crowd. I have never seen a DJ who looks so happy to be doing this, every inch of this man seems to live for Djing and loves to see the crowd having just as much fun as he is.

You can see why he has become a legend in his own right and afterR over 20 years in the business he still has an amazing zest for it. Although I personally will never be converted fully to the dance side, there is no denying the fact that Carl Cox is an amazing DJ and definitely knows how to work that crowd and keep them wanting more and more.

Review by Alison Goggin

http://www.flickr.com/photos/musicmafiauk/sets/72157626449425211/

http://www.carlcox.com/