IF YOU think Circle, Sugar Lounge and
The Living Room are difficult to get into because they are just so
darn hip and fashionable, you haven't heard of ROMP, have you? Romp
is Electric Circus’ flagship night, and without a doubt the most
fashionable club night in Manchester; it is also the hardest to get
into. Why? Well, a boob tube and heels won't cut it if you're a
girl. And, unless it's outrageous or so grungy it looks as if you
slept in it, jeans and a T-shirt won't cut it if you're a boy.
What will work is creative, flamboyant dress -
and we're not talking Prada, sweetie pie, we're talking Rock Star
with a mild nod to Leigh Bowery. Designer labels won't get you past
the doorman, but if you're a boy some make up, a skinny suit or
perhaps a customised bin liner will. If you're a girl try a prom
dress or a skinny black suit and flat cap, or ripped neon pink
fishnets worn with shorts and a silver Lurex top. That's what the
Romp kids do. And about time, too. Clubbing was getting boring. The
Romp kids are making it cool to dress up again.
During the past year Romp has become an
institution, an addiction, the reason for many a Friday morning
hangover and a champion of the most exciting new music and best old
music around. You won't hear house, speed garage, ambient or techno.
But you will hear are the ROMP party-rockers DJ Xander & Alix
Walker their own unique blend of what can only be described as uber-pop
– (Run DMC, followed by New Order, followed by Bowie, Peaches,
Pulp, The Art of Noise, Franz Ferdinand, and whole soirée of
boot-legs). But the best thing about the night is those in
attendance - possibly the coolest 20 something's in Manchester.
Gorgeousness galore!
Humour and trendiness always seemed a galaxy
apart; the notion of Manchester’s oft fickle fashion-crowd
sniggering or exchanging sardonic, informed banter – or anything
above the prospect of innocuous snide-y rasps – has been a tough
vision to behold. But Romp takes the fashionista music scene's
obsession with '80s irony to the edge, give it a push then pull it
back again with a doe-eyed pout and a coy "like a nice
boy like me would do a thing like that?"
It was all three lad’s idea to have a dress
code. "But it's not about dress as such," Nick
asserts. "It's about looking the part. I don't want
people to look as if they have just got off the sofa. I want them to
make an effort. This club is not about fit birds getting eyed up by
leery lads, a big sound system and people getting off their heads.
You can go anywhere for that."
Romp was started 18 months ago by Nick King,
Arthur Randall and Paul McEntee, and has grown into an underground
cult. Fashion, art and graphic design students, young dudes in
bands, fashion designers, and anyone with a streak of eccentricity
and flamboyance is attracted to the night. But while the night
itself has been somewhat of a slow burn, or as we’d prefer to put
it – a well kept secret – it has now exploded. So to hold on to
the Romp faithful Electric Circus was born.
Arthur Randal:- “I like these times so
much - having practically all looks, styles and dress codes in the
history of pop culture walk around you, erasing linear time,
suspending you in this hyperstate of timeless euphoria. Like a very
well done pop theme park in heaven.”
Nk:- “Electric Circus is more than
just a promotions company, it’s a virtual club. We invite
like-minded people to come and join and contribute via the web site,
in return we give them invites to all of our parties. I suppose it’s
a form of social exclusion, but there’s always away around it for the
genetically blessed and too well dressed.”
Following the massive success of Manchester’s
most notorious mid-week knees-up, The Electric Circus the boys have put
their heads together once again.
Nick:- “Every Saturday Manchester City
centre gets over-run by your typical piss-head townies, even the
nicer bars are not very accommodating to the more style-conscious
students and young professionals. As for the club scene, if dated
house and fake tan isn’t your thing then the only place to go is
Sankeys. But what we’re trying to offer is more of a bar-cum-club
vibe – a place where the music is important, but the atmosphere
and the crowd really make the night.”
SleazeCity will take place every Saturday at
the newly re-opened Holy City Zoo. With three floors to play with it’s
gonna be a real kitchen-sink of a night.
Down in the Basement - the seedy underbelly of
SleazeCity, and the place where club-heads can go and get sweaty -
Fellatio Jo & Tom Craven will be presenting some of the hottest
body-rocking, electro-sleaze acts Manchester has ever seen including
Ladytron’s Mira & Helen (Launch), Technique DJs (Leeds), FC
Kauna, Damian Lazarus (Cross Town Rebels), Jacque Lu Cont, and MANDY
(Get Physical Music - Berlin)
While on the middle floor Electric Circus will
rely upon the ROMP residents Alix Walker, DJ Xander, Teenwolf and Co
to stir up an orgy of champagne, coke and pheromone with their
unique blend of uber-pop, bootleg concoctions, and genuine classics
that keeps Manchester’s cool kids and hot chix gagging for more
every week.
The glass fronted mezzanine floor that is the
Uber-Ego Lounge will be reserved for Electric Circus Members. This
will be the place to shmooze and sip cocktails to a seedy soundtrack
of experimental electro-funk sounds.
What is more it’s value for money. The door
price won’t be much more than a midweek club night (£5 EC
members, £6 NUS, and £7 all others), and this will get you three
floors on which to play (two if you're not a member) and some of the
best electro/house artists to grace Manchester.
For more information and updates on monthly
hosted rooms from the likes of Cross Town Rebels (previously City
Rockers) and Get Physical Music (MANDY), as well as the DC 10 party
(feat Loco Dice & Tania Vulcano) in May.
Don’t forget, It's worth making an effort
with your appearance, in a fun, glammy kind of way; Electric Circus’
glitter-strewn crowd always do, making nights seem filled with
self-styled superstars, and evoking an excitement that ensures their
nights never take themselves too seriously. (The dress code on the
flyer say... “Debbie Harry blow-dries and Toyah crimps, sex
doll blusher and porn star lip gloss”)
