Fresh out of Radio One’s studio and straight into Manchester’s Gorilla, Danny Howard arrived to show the best of British house music with a stellar line-up of up and coming DJs.
Howard’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ club night, featured DJs fresh from Ibiza soil to open Manchester’s eyes to the exciting talent in the British house music scene.
The club night enjoyed a successful opening in London last month, with the likes of Jacob Plant and Eddie Halliwell joining Howard to deliver spectacular sets.
And keen to follow on London’s success, Bontan, who has earned a reputation as one of Britain’s most in-demand house DJs, delivered his euphoric ebb and flow tracks before handing the decks over to Josh Butler
Yet another rising DJ, Butler, who has graced the decks of Back 2 Future, LDMS and Subsoul, kept the crowd on their toes with his bass-addled grooves.
The Leeds-based producer has enjoyed a fantastic year, with his track Got A Feeling reaching number one on Beatport and enjoying plenty of air time on the dance floors of Ibiza over the summer.
Toolroom Records chief Mark Knight emerged onto the decks and immediately set to work with instantly recognisable tunes such as Storm Queen’s chart-topper Look Right Through as well as Finder by Ninetoes mixed with Ben Pearce’s What I Might Do.
The set closed with Knight’s own remix of Florence and the Machine’s You Got The Love, which appeared on Swedish House Mafia’s Until Now compilation.
Howard, a veteran of funky house, teased the crowd with an intense build up before choosing the opportune moment to drop the echoing electro beats as lyrics ‘Turn me on, turn me out, make me scream, make me shout’ were drowned out by deafening screams.
The classic hit from Kathy Brown and Praxis got a huge reaction from those inside Gorilla as Howard brought the set to a stunning finale with a huge smoke cannon blast.
Howard had license to play music that he perhaps wouldn’t on his regular Saturday evening slot on Radio One, but there was still a touch of the familiar with the likes of Duke Dumont’s Need U 100%.
As usual, Howard rose to the occasion delivering nothing short of electro perfection and if the rumours are true that Howard is already working on Nothing Else Matters for next year, a return to Manchester must surely be on the cards.
Image courtesy of Radio 1 via YouTube, with thanks.
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