These are the top UK club events in March 2019
Re-Textured, Bangface Weekender, Tuff Life...
It's a month of change to say the least, with British summertime arriving and EU leaving drinks still possible. Some things always stay the same though— namely that insatiable appetite for decent parties, as the top March club events go to show.
London's Re-Textured is a new multi-venue festival packing powerhouse names into amazing concrete spaces. And one of those, E1, is also being used by Helena Hauff's Return To Disorder imprint for a heavyweight line-up a couple of weeks later, with DJ Stingray and Berlin one-to-already-love Alienata both involved.
Beautifully psychedelic, left-of-the-main label Multi Culti is also in the capital, with bosses Dreems and Thomas von Party on duty (the latter also running Turbo with Tiga). Keeping it different, Nick The Record and John Gomez bring their appropriately-named Tangent session to Pickle Factory, so expect global grooves. And elsewhere Oxford staple Simple has DJ Mag favourite Anastasia Kristensen (whose debut solo EP is about to drop) and fellow techno super-talent Object Blue.
It's time to get messy and all kinds of sweaty up North for this year's Bangface, where serious beats meet beautiful silliness. International Women's Day is here, too, and Dance For Refuge has two parties to celebrate. Londoners should check FOLD (see this month's print magazine), but our pick is The White Hotel in Salford for Solid Blake, featured in our Ones To Watch In 2019, and British duo Kiara Scuro, who guarantee rhythmic punch and chug. Check their mix from Rye Wax in January for evidence.
He.She.They. heads to Newcastle, a party promoting inclusivity, self-expression and proper house music. Hence Honey Dijon leading the charge. Bristol, meanwhile, should look into the first Tuff Life party— the region's top spot. Not to mention that massive one for 10 Years of Jungle Syndicate; Luke Vibert on an amen tip, The Panacea playing his final UK set and faces from legendary rave Helter Skelter, among others.
Dixon makes a rare appearance at new-ish space The Mill in Birmingham— so something of a coup there. And we're also delighted to see Nottingham getting its disco on with two of the sound's finest, Dan Shake and Folamour, while alt-house icon Octo Octa stops by Bath's reassuringly consistent and pleasingly intimate Moles.
For more complete listings grab the current edition of DJ Mag— March 2019 / Issue 591.
LONDON / SOUTH
1. RE-TEXTURED
THURSDAY 28TH - SUNDAY 31ST MARCH
VARIOUS VENUES, LONDON
This could well be Brexit weekend, unless common sense prevails, so say fuck it and spend four days in some of London’s most iconic brutalist buildings listening to next level stuff.
Several events are scheduled, but highlights include Cabaret Voltaire (28th); Batu, Deena Abdelwahed, Giant Swan, Machinewoman, Simo Cell (29th); Aurora Halal, DJ Nobu, Karen Gwyer, Objekt, Kassem Mosse, Dr Rubinstein, Lena Willikens (29th); Anastasia Kristensen, Elena Colombi, Object Blue, Veronica Vasicka (30th); Carla Dal Forno, Gesloten Cirkel, Phase Fatale, Sync 24 (30th); JASSS, Andy Stott, Moritz Von Oswald (30th); and Shackleton live (31st). A multi-venue ‘festival’ worthy of both the spaces being used and this fine capital city.
TIMES VARY / PRICES VARY
2. HELENA HAUFF PRESENTS: RETURN TO DISORDER
SATURDAY 9TH MARCH
E1, LONDON
Helena Hauff, DJ Stingray, Aux 88, Galaxian, Alienata.
10PM - 6AM / £18.50 - £27.50
3. SIMPLE
SATURDAY 2ND MARCH
THE BULLINGDON, OXFORD
Anastasia Kristensen, Object Blue, Em Williams.
11PM - 4AM / £16
4. EARTHLY MEASURES #14
FRIDAY 15TH MARCH
FIVE MILES, LONDON
Dreems, Thomas Von Party.
10PM - 4AM / £7 - £11
5. THE PICKLE FACTORY X TANGENT
FRIDAY 8TH MARCH
THE PICKLE FACTORY, LONDON
John Gomez, Nick The Record.
11PM - 6AM / £10
NORTH / SCOTLAND / NORTHERN IRELAND
1. BANGFACE WEEKENDER 2019
THURSDAY 14TH - MONDAY 18TH MARCH
PONTINS, SOUTHPORT
Every year we think there might be a way out, and every year we wind up back in a northern holiday park getting our faces quite literally banged in thanks to a sonic menu that mainly ranges from fast to even faster noise. We wouldn’t change a thing.
Marking 10 years in the game with arguably the festival’s strongest line-up to date, Amon Tobin live and Max Cooper’s A/V show might offer some respite from the mayhem caused by Rebekah, Luke Vibert, 2 Bad Mice, Clouds, Remarc, Ceephax Acid Crew, Manni Dee, Sully, Mollie Collins, Mark Archer, Shitmat, The Teknoist, Billy Nasty, Stormtrooper, The Horrorist, Iglooghost and The DJ Producer, to name but a few. The closest legal gets to a rave, don’t forget to top up your chalet’s electricity otherwise things really will get weird.
3PM - 12PM / £179 (inc. accommodation)
2. NO BOUNDS x HOPE WORKS
FRIDAY 15TH MARCH
HOPE WORKS, SHEFFIELD
Rian Treanor, Objekt, Skee Mask, Josey Rebelle, rRoxymore, Tasha, 96 Back, Lo Shea.
12AM - 6.30AM / £17.50
3. DANCE FOR REFUGE: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY TAKEOVER
FRIDAY 8TH MARCH
THE WHITE HOTEL, SALFORD
Solid Blake, Kiara Scuro, B.L.O.O.M. DJS.
10PM - 7AM / £15 - £15
4. KITCHEN SYNC: VOLUME VI
FRIDAY 1ST MARCH
THE BONGO CLUB, EDINBURGH
Batu, Thom Parris.
11PM - 6AM / £5 - £7
5. SHINDIG X HE.SHE.THEY
SATURDAY 2ND MARCH
DIGITAL, NEWCASTLE
Maya Jane Coles, Honey Dijon, Emanuel Satie, People Get Real, Under No Illusion.
10PM - 4AM / £20 - £22
MIDLANDS / WEST & WALES
1. TUFF LIFE 001
FRIDAY 1ST MARCH
THE ISLAND, BRISTOL
There’s nothing like a new party that promises plenty for the future, and with Tuff Life’s first descent into the depths of The Island, a particularly worthy institution, it’s ticking enough boxes to turn a number of differently-minded heads.
Future garage and heavy, low-slung broken purveyor Sully sidles up next to Forest Drive West, who can move between techno and jungle with enviable ease, reading crowds well enough to deliver the goods whether he’s hitting Berlin, Barcelona or tonight’s host city, Bristol. Not much more to say, really, other than you also get Brittune, Medic MC and residents Brink, Kersa and Incus thrown into the mix. A decent deal all round, then.
10PM - 3AM / £10 - £12.50
2. 10 YEARS OF JUNGLE SYNDICATE
SATURDAY 2ND MARCH
BLACK SWAN, BRISTOL
Luke Vibert, The Panacea, Digital, Dr..um b2b Basshoven, Resinate, Warlock, Alex Hazzard, more.
10PM - 6AM / £5 - £20
3. RENAISSANCE
SATURDAY 2ND MARCH
THE MILL, BIRMINGHAM
Dixon, Trikk, Eagles & Butterflies, PENDA, more.
10PM - 6AM / £30 - £22.50
4. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR
SATURDAY 2ND MARCH
THE BRICKWORKS, NOTTINGHAM
Dan Shake, Folamour.
10PM - 5AM / £TBC
5. ORIGINS
FRIDAY 22ND MARCH
MOLES, BATH
Octo Octa, Armând.
10PM - 4AM / £8
Martin Guttridge-Hewitt is DJ Mag's Clubs Listings Editor and it's his birthday in March— tell him to finally grow up via Twitter @martinghewitt
Copyright Thrust Publishing Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.djmag.com as the source.