Injecting new life into club nights which have become Leeds institutions is perhaps one of the hardest tasks for promoters in this city. Students decide en masse which nights are their favourites and flock to them, but eventually interest wanes and new nights take their place. Flux, however, are overcoming this difficulty next week with their much-anticipated 4th birthday party.
The night will be held in the infamous Temple Works, an Egyptian-styled former Victorian flax mill which houses ‘the largest room in the world’. Now a mixed mode cultural venue, this Grade 1 building is opened to club nights for a very limited time each year as part of the Temple Time series, making use of the other rooms adjacent to the 2 acre main space.
Yet perhaps even more excitingly, Flux is inviting live bands to perform alongside the DJs for this occasion. In the past, the Leeds collective have featured live electronic acts Session Victim and Skinnerbox, however this is the first time live bands will take the stage. The Flux boys have always intended live music to be represented alongside the House, Disco and Techno artists that punters have come to love, and their choice of bands will certainly not disappoint. If Noya Rao’s electric set at Hifi last year is anything to go by, the band’s smooth electronic sound will fit perfectly alongside Flux residents and headliners. The same can be said for Leeds based Kalyan; if you were one of the lucky few to have caught the Jazzy collective at the ‘Artonomy Fundraiser’ event last year then you will be excited to catch their more instrumental, upbeat set.
Nevertheless, electronic music is certainly not being overlooked at this event. Flux have pulled out all the stops with their DJs by inviting Volcov, an artist renowned within the Italian clubbing scene, who will be playing alongside Murat Tepelli, resident at the Cologne based ‘Pulstar’ night. It is great to see such an international representation of music juxtaposed with the Leeds Flux residents and new live bands.
[Maddie Davison]