DJ Magazine Top 100 places Manchester club at the peak

The annual poll of the readers of DJ Magazine to find the best clubs in the world has catapulted Manchester’s very own Sankeys into the lead position for 2010.

The Ancoats club came 16th in the previous year’s poll, but has beaten off competition from the likes of Pacha, Ministry of Sound, Fabric, Space and Matter take the top spot. The Warehouse Project was the only other Manchester club to feature in the 100, placing at number nine and as a new entry this year.

Sankeys celebrated its 15th birthday during summer of 2009 and introduced a range of new features including an LED matrix across the wall in the basement DJ booth, an improved sound system and multi-coloured lasers. As we mentioned in our Sankeys celebrates 15 years article, the club was making changes and improvements to maintain a world-class reputation. All the investment and work involved has clearly paid off, with one visit we paid the club back in mid-January showing that even when the students were on a mid-semester break and the nights were freezing cold, the place could pack ‘em in.

So why has the club made such an ascent? Taking a look around the city's clubs and parties, it's not difficult to see why. There are a few events that regularly bring in quality guests DJs or venues that host promoters' parties that are high quality. We're thinking about parties such as Content, Out of the Gloom, Community, Development, Hit 'n' Run, Warehouse Project and Soul:ution. Many of those events are seasonal, monthly or they move from venue to venue.

But just one Manchester club brings in world-class guests on at least two nights every week, without fail. Sankeys. At one time, Area 51 also did this, but times have changed for the Whitworth Street club (which we're now refusing to call A51 despite what their promo material says. The building signage still says Area 51).

Having a magazine's readership vote for the world's best clubs is actually a tricky prospect. After all, how can we be certain that those clubbers are all well-travelled? Has 'Mike from Southend' definitely been to Zouk, Green Valley, Digital and Beta, and then made some informed comparisons before voting for Fabrik in Madrid?

It might even be fair to say that Sankeys has won not just fairly and squarely because of the improvements it has made to its environment and the line-ups of A-list and emerging talent, but because the Mancunian, Northern, tourist and student contingent that has passed through its doors has voted for it en masse. Not just that people think it's the number one, but the sheer quantity of people that love the place is overwhelming.

There are still refuseniks out there that like Sankeys the way it was before various refurbishment changes occurred, when the basement was all one room with no separate basement and bar sections, but there's no halting progress. No sense in being a King Canute, trying to stop the tide. Club director David Vincent doesn't believe in resting on his laurels. Jilly's Rockworld/Music Box did just that, and now it is no more. Sankeys is all about moving forward, achieving excellence, and this award is proof that the dream can be made reality.

Words: Justin Richards

Comments:

Be the first to comment on this feature

Got something to say? Tell us here:

Please complete the form below. Mandatory fields marked *

1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Rating out of 5 * 1 2 3 4 5
4. Review *

Thank you