Venus Manchester | 22-08-26

Venus returns to the Joshua Brooks basement for a night of underground house, held down by the residents across club and bar.

Venus returns to Joshua Brooks. The format has not changed and does not need to: residents-led, music first, no flown-in name doing the heavy lifting on the flyer.

The night belongs to the residents. Andy Clarke, Chris J Frater, John Steward and Mike Lee lead the club, with Matt Lightfoot on the bar, the collective building it together across the night rather than handing off to a string of guests.

What you get is house in its proper form. Piano house, vocal house, rolling sounds that are given space to breathe over a long night, with room for disco, vocals and the records that only really land once the floor is full.

The basement is built for it. Low brick arches, a Void Acoustics rig that rewards records made to be felt as much as heard, and a floor that keeps everyone close to the booth.

Residents, the room, the records. Venus has run on that for the best part of thirty years, and it holds up still.