SUFFRAGETTE CITY RETURNS
Saturday 7 March sees the return of Suffragette City – the women-led all-day music event, raising money for Greater Manchester women’s charities.
At a time when refuges are suffering deep cuts and many women’s groups have to rely on self-organisation to fund raise, coming together to make a difference is more important than ever. With the success of last year’s event and raising over £3k, we hope to smash that record and come together in the same atmosphere of love, defiance and celebration.
Curated by Rina Ladybeige (The Social Service), Chris Massey (Electriks/Sprechen), Abigail Ward (Manchester Digital Music Archive) and Kath McDermott (BBC 6 Music), the day and night event will feature the usual array of female DJ talent playing cross-genre party music for discerning dancers from 2pm through to the small hours.
The Basement club night will be a ticketed all night long party, with all proceeds going to Women Asylum Seekers Together in Greater Manchester (WAST), Emmeline’s Pantry, Keeping our Girls Safe (KOGS) and Contact Hostel.
REFUGE BASEMENT: 10pm to 3am
Tickets are £5 and can be bought here
Disco Mums
Lil’ Fee and Veba
Kim Lana
Philippa Jarman (Homo Electric)
Ladybeige (The Social Service)
PUBLIC BAR: 2pm to 1am
Free – no ticket required!
Andrea Trout
Paulette
Mix-Stress (Rebecca Never Becky)
BB (Supernature)
Zoe & Leila (LIINES)
Reeshy Vs Kirby
Soo Wilkinson
Alison Bell
Justine Alderman (Across The Tracks)
Abigail Ward (Manchester Digital Music Archive)
DISCO MUMS
Disco Mums are an all-female Manchester based DJ collective of seasoned clubbers (now proud parents) who, courtesy of the babysitting skills of a team of generously paid helpers, are still out. Having taken over the decks at clubs around Manchester they pass the headphones generously (no male egos here) spinning a collective set of sly gems, treasured classics and out and out bombs from the disco, soul, funk and house genres. They’ve danced to them like their lives depended on it and—using their extensive knowledge of what works and what doesn’t—they’re now playing them. And on real plastic too.
LIL’ FEE AND VEBA
Lil’ Fee is probably one of the most important figures to have emerged on the grotty Manchester music scene this century. She commands a respect worthy of an empress, standing there taunting you like some sort of 12-year-old, adrenaline-fuelled Rodney Dangerfield…. She is the heckler that the comedian in you hopes doesn’t show up at your gig and the friend you always wished for. Fee provided the mecha-chug that is so vital for the soft-focus torture-pop of The Whip, and like most good R ‘n’ R drummers, you’ll find her exploding on stage or dying in a freak lawnmower accident. When she takes time out to DJ she be pouring house music in your ears. F*ck yes!
Veba has a rich heritage in the music scene of Manchester, having provided her incredible vocal talents for artists including Groove Armarda, and Rae and Christian. She now combines her vocals with an unbeatable DJing style which is sure to make you move.
ANDREA TROUT
Andrea Ahimie-Carthy may tell you she spins for fun – but don’t let that fool you. A lack of the usual ego associated with those serious chaps who stand behind turntables making equally serious faces while tweaking their beards, makes her prone to underestimate a passionate, educated, heartfelt and un-hackneyed approach to music.
PAULETTE
For nearly three decades and over three countries, Paulette has held residencies at some of the most prestigious clubs and best parties in the world, including the Hacienda (Manchester), The Zap Club (Brighton), The Ministry of Sound, Queen Club and Mix Club (Paris), Cocoon (Frankfurt), Ibiza Rocks at Pacha and at Pikes Hotel (Ibiza).
She has a unique range, a keen musical ear and has supported the cream of the DJ establishment – from Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay, Black Coffee, 2Many DJs, Soulwax, Derrick Carter, David Guetta, Laidback Luke, SHM, Afrojack, Bob Sinclar, Didier Sinclair, Fafa Monteco to Duke Dumont, Jaymo AND Andy George, Junior Sanchez, Artwork, Moodymanc and Mr Scruff.
From radio to bar to club to festivals, from back room to main room, from warm up to headline, she is a champion of great music – digging deep in the crates for sets of uplifting party hip hop, raw funk and rare grooves, soulful vocals and diamante strewn disco, jacking / deep house and tearing techno.
As capable of entertaining a club with an eight-hour odyssey or a 10-minute mini mix, Paulette knows instinctively how to read then flip a room. She pays and plays it forward, inspiring a new generation by channelling her energies into youth work, activism, mentoring and radio/DJ workshops at conferences, universities and colleges around the country.
MIX-STRESS (REBECCA NEVER BECKY)
Mix-Stress is founder, curator and resident DJ of the vibrant and exciting events collective, RebeccaNeverBecky. Debuting onto the Manchester scene in 2018, herself and her team have showcased and executed various super cool and game changing events across Manchester that champion diversity and inclusion within the Manchester LGBT+ scene and beyond.
Mix-Stress’s DJing takes its main influences from 90s R ‘n’ B, Hip Hop, UK Garage and House, as well as cross genres. She plays at many venues in and out, and across the city and her quickly becoming renowned for her hypnotic and soulful inspired sets.
BB SUPERNATURE
BB (Ms BB Queenie la Discoboss to be precise!) is one quarter of Supernature Disco and is known for her dance floor focused sets. BB, along with her husband Richie V, started Supernature in 2015, running their Sunday daytime, free entry house and disco parties for an up for it crowd.
Over four years, Supernature has grown from strength to strength and you can find BB DJing across Manchester and beyond, including festivals in Croatia and Scotland, at Homobloc after party and End of Year Riot, and also on their monthly Reform Radio show, where she keeps the rest of the Supernature boys in line!
ZOE & LEILA (LIINES)
Manchester post-punks LIINES have built a reputation as one of the most exciting acts to emerge from the city in recent years. Since releasing debut album Stop-Start, they’ve played sold out gigs, toured with the likes of Sleaford Mods, Ash and bis and played a string of festival dates, including Glastonbury, Bluedot and Kendal Calling.
They begin 2020 shortlisted in the Manchester Evening News’ City Life Awards for Best Breakthrough Act as well as working on their second album, due later this year. Their sound is an infectious, urgent and at times furious blend of Riot Grrrl, post-punk and alt-rock sounds which take in elements of their collective influences.
REESHY VS KIRBY
Reeshy has been slowly building up a reputation as a must-see DJ over the past couple of years and is now rightly getting the gigs and recognition she deserves. She runs her own events and has worked alongside PBR Streetgang, Artwork and more.
Manchester based DJ Kirby, has been playing regularly in and around the city since 2013. She’s a DJ that loves to showcase different sides of the house spectrum, ranging from Deep House, Electronica, African Funk to good old fashioned Funky Disco. Drawing on this influence, Kirby is currently working on her own productions and hopes to get some new releases under her belt in 2020.
SOO WILKINSON
Better known for designing venues than DJing in them, Soo cut her teeth designing clubs and DJ bars for the likes of Back to Basics, Bugged Out and Cream back in the Nineties and Noughties – all projects that transpired due to her love for music and clubbing.
Dancing is Soo’s preferred state of being, so she’s happiest when someone else with a wicked record collection is on the decks as a rule. However, she’s been collecting music of every genre for the last five decades and loves an excuse to dust off her own vinyl collection and taking it out to play now and then. She’ll most probably (almost always) play some Grace Jones.