I solemnly swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth while reviewing, and the truth is after a few tumultuous trips to Sankeys, I was a little nervous about attending The Redlight last night. But hopefully it was to be my fourth time lucky at the club - after the first time ended in visit to A&E after I banged my head; the second time, when the guest list didn't work, and the third time, when the Ibiza flu got the better of me. So I was anxious before entering, and I hadn't helped myself by leaving my brain at Benirrás beach the night before. Not sounding great so far, right?
Luckily, I was instantly put at ease on the bus there, impressed by the uniqueness of the crowd on the way to Sankeys, with girls wearing Doc Martens and sporting short pink hair, dreadlocks and piercings - I shamed myself for expecting the average crowd. Burping my Desperado's bubbles away, I jumped off the bus and made my way in, with none of the drama I'd come to expect from a trip to Sankeys.
And it's safe to say I was there until the end - dancing away with a bunch of Geordie friends I'd just met, my eyes met a dancer owning a t-shirt that read “OG spiritual goddess, we love everybody”. I felt a flood of a pure sentimental feeling as I entered The Basement to Sam Holt, who was stupidly impressive and surrounded by Tetris walls that rebounded his remix of Aretha Franklin's, 'A Deeper Love'. I felt like I had entered a video game thanks to illuminated red panels beating to the time of the music, as Holt span perfect Green Velvet-esque laser beats, and fought off a queue of girls in the booth.
My legs decided to give in so I ventured for somewhere to relax, and what better place than a homemade cinema hidden behind the smoking area, airing alien films as friends are made on the steps. Todd Terry has begun back in The Basement, again ascending his throne to the sounds of 'O Fortuna', he perfectly infused his trademark track into his own legendary song 'Jumpin''. Terry had no need to warm the crowd up, they were warmed up from the minute they entered the graffitied walls.
DJ Zinc is, like Terry, showing off his own tracks in The Lab as he span the original Wile Out, just before Toy Boy & Robin took over with Armand Ven Helden's remix of Lee Walker's popular, 'Freak Like Me'. I'm down to my last few sips of energy drink as I ended my night with Todd Terry, playing Blue Boys', 'Remember Me'.
I left knowing that I'd given me a taste of what clubbing is like back in England, which left me feeling less homesick than I did before. Sankeys gifted me lifelong friends and a life lesson, and you can't ask for more than that from a dance floor.
WORDS | Ruby Munslow PHOTOGRAPHY | David Holderbach
