{"id":1094,"date":"2025-12-06T13:26:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T13:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=1094"},"modified":"2025-12-06T13:26:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T13:26:04","slug":"hedonism-is-back-manchester-clubbing-mecca-sankeys-to-reopen-clubbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=1094","title":{"rendered":"Hedonism is back: Manchester clubbing mecca Sankeys to reopen | Clubbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Queues ran down the street outside, condensation dripped off the walls inside, memories were made \u2013 and lost \u2013 and it all unfolded without a smartphone in sight. For those who remember the Manchester<\/a> nightclub Sankeys in its heyday 30 years ago, the venue was a clubbing mecca.<\/p>\n

\u201cSweat was dripping off the walls,\u201d said Lee Spence, a promoter and resident DJ at the club from 2002 to 2012, who remembers once double booking Chase & Status and Carl Cox on the same night. \u201cIt was an atmosphere like nothing else I\u2019d really seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

It closed in 2017 but now, against a tide of closing venues<\/a>, Sankeys is back. And like when it first opened more than three decades ago, there will be no phones on the dancefloor.<\/p>\n

David Vincent, one of the nightclub\u2019s founders, who is behind its resurrection, said venues needed to return to a more \u201cintimate\u201d experience in the club rather than the selfie frenzies that saturate social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe phones are the problem,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are more bothered about having a phone and filming the DJ rather than dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aim in particular is to tackle incessant filming on the dancefloor. \u201cWe\u2019re probably going to put a sticker on their camera so they can\u2019t film. People need to stop taking pictures and start dancing to the beat,\u201d Vincent said.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Sankeys first opened in 1994, in the basement of the Beehive Mill, a former soap factory that was sold to property developers in 2017. <\/span> Photograph: fotofacade.com\/Alamy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sankeys will reopen in late January in a 500-capacity venue in Manchester city centre. By reputation alone, it should enjoy a busy start despite clubbers perhaps still nursing their festive hangovers.<\/p>\n

But the challenge for the venue is stark: nearly 800<\/a> late-night venues in the UK have closed during the past five years, according to the most recent data from the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA). It reported a 26.4% drop in late-night venues since March 2020.<\/p>\n

Michael Kill, the NTIA chief executive, said the reopening of Sankeys was \u201cmore than just a venue returning\u201d. \u201cIt signals [Manchester\u2019s] commitment to nurturing spaces that are central to the cultural heartbeat of nightlife,\u201d he said, adding that it showed there was still \u201cstrong demand for shared, immersive experiences that only physical spaces can provide\u201d.<\/p>\n

The no-phones policy follows similar moves by other venues across Britain including Amber\u2019s in Manchester and FOLD in east London. Kill said he had seen more and more clubs banning cameras from the dancefloor in an effort to \u201creflect the essence of the live experience\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cBy encouraging guests to be present and fully engage with music and community, these policies aim to recapture some of the spontaneity and social connection that can be diluted in a digital-first world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spence said it would be impossible to replicate \u201cthe exact version that we had before\u201d but he embraced the opportunity of a new place for hedonists of tomorrow. \u201cThe world\u2019s changed. It\u2019s a different venue but I do think that something new could be created.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Sankeys debuted artists such as Daft Punk and the club\u2019s founder hopes the reopening will create new future stars.<\/span> Photograph: Murdo MacLeod\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sankeys first opened in 1994 as Sankeys Soap in the basement of the Beehive Mill, a former soap factory in the industrial area of Ancoats. It is widely considered to have been the successor to the Ha\u00e7ienda club. In 2010, DJ Mag rated it the best club in the world, and it debuted artists such as Daft Punk, the Chemical Brothers and David Guetta. The venue was sold to property developers.<\/p>\n

With the reopening, Vincent hopes that spotlighting new DJs will draw in a new, younger crowd. One of the consequences of the UK\u2019s declining nightclub industry is the absence of platforms for undiscovered and up-and-coming artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we will be doing is booking a lot of young fresh talent,\u201d he said. \u201cBack in the day, when the Chemical Brothers or Daft Punk played, they became stars. Hopefully we\u2019ll be doing that again with some new future stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davina Vernizeau, a regular raver at Sankeys when she was a university student in the early 00s, said: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just about the music for me. It felt like finding a set of like-minded people where we all belonged, we were all united and met there in the same place every week.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Hedonism #Manchester #clubbing #mecca #Sankeys #reopen #Clubbing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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