SOUTHPORT DISCO FESTIVAL is back with its winter edition with an added House Classics room for good measure, bringing a bit of Manhattans Old Skool back to Southport next month at the Bliss Hotel with K-KLASS, LEE GROVES, NICK REES, MARK PICKUP and many many more.
Their last event in Victoria Park in the summer went down a storm with people from all over the North West travelling over for it. This bi-annual event is organised by local DJ and musician Mark Pickup, who is no stranger to putting on events "with the lack of nightclubs / events in the town and people having to travel to Manchester or Liverpool to listen to decent House & Disco i thought id create something and im absolutely overwhelmed by the response so far, so much so that this time round i've added a 'House Classics Room' so we can cover the 2 genres therefore opening the event up to more people."
So what can we expect musically, well fresh from orchestrating Cream Classical at the Pier Head, K-Klass are headlining the House Classics Room and will be playing their huge 90s rave anthems including 'Rhythm Is A Mystery' and 'Show Me Love' supported by some huge local names from the 90s & 00's Mark Pickup, Lee Groves and Nick Rees.
Mark Pickup who used to be resident at Club Code, Bar Non and Zebra Square back in the day will be playing alongside Lee Groves who many will remember from Manhattans and The Glasshouse back in the 90s, Lee will be doing a House Classics vinyl only set and hasn't played out for many years so this will be something special.
Alongside Mark and Lee will be another 90s local legend in Nick Rees, the original Bar Flava resident will be spinning an eclectic House set and if any of you remember his sets from Flava back in the day you can expect nothing short of spectacular.
Supporting in this room will be B-Funk who played at Defected Croatia 2019 by winning their mix competition and the live stream king Al Cunningham, oh and there will be a VOID sound system going into the venue especially for this event.
The Disco Room is headlined by 2 'in the now' Disco edit record labels, the one and only Midnight Riot represented by their A&R Jagerossa, they have released tracks by artists such as Dr Packer, Joey Negro, Michael Grey, Qwestife, Yam Who to name a very small few and are renowned for releasing funk fuelled Disco edits.
Hot Gorilla Records will be represented by label bosses Andy Buchan and Conan The Selector and whilst only in their 2nd year have already released music from artists such as Fingermann, Monsieur Von Pratt, Chewy Rubbs, Cuz Electric and dozens more, they have notched up several No.1's on various music platforms and have an album in the making. They are currently on tour with The Brand New Heavies as their official support act but are taking a break from the tour to come and perform at the Southport Disco Festival. Their co-label boss Conan The Selector is the Disco alias of Mark Pickup, "it was great in the summer to bring the sounds of Hot Gorilla Records to my home town to show people what our label is all about and both Andy and i are looking forward to doing it all again in November".
Support on the Disco Terrace is coming from Camille Cee, Adam Rynhart, Paul Hollinshead and Alex Hibbard.
You can check out the after movie from their last event in Victoria Park here...
A percentage of the profits will be going to the Southport Soup Kitchen to support their Xmas appeal to help those less fortunate locally, we spoke to Mark Pickup to find out more about this... "Xmas 2019 we collected winter coats for the homeless and did over 40 journeys throughout November & December collecting peoples spare fleeces and coats, we wanted to do that again this year as it was very well received but due to Covid we didnt think it would have as much impact as people dont really want strangers turning up at their front door in the current climate, so the timing of this event being end of November means we can still support the vulnerable for Xmas. I raised just over £1,000 doing a charity live stream for the Southport Soup Kitchen during lock down last summer and its a local charity that i like to support and im made up that the Bliss Hotel have offered to match my donation also.
Tickets are flying out for the event with all the 'early birds' now sold out, 1st general release tickets are available now for £20 via the ticket site Skiddle but best to be quick as they go up to £30 in November. There are also several VIP tables available, the tables of 10 are all sold out but there are tables for groups of 6 & 8 remaining. To buy tickets head to Skiddle via this link http://skiddle.com/e/35907592 or if you have any questions please head to the 'Southport Disco Festival' Facebook page or call / Whatsapp the team via 07484739175.
