News

Chibuku is Ten

• 17th Feb 2010

Wow. Chibuku Shake Shake has made it to ten years old.

In March 2000 four students pooled together forty quid, printed some flyers off on tracing paper and put on a party in a room above a pub.

What’s followed since is the stuff of legend; Chibuku Shake Shake has been to Ibiza, Fabric and Creamfields with regular alacrity, sold clubs out in Liverpool in 3000 capacity venues and returned even to Malawi to the famous place where the name itself came from (Chibuku Shake Shake being a ferociously potent porridge-like beer).

There have been moments of blissful abandon hoisted in and around the club during that period. Snatched moments of distilled madness, prolonged bouts of euphoria and a hazy concoction of beats and rhythms; there has been no decade quite like it. The party continues in that rich rambunctious vein, a glorious tribute to Chibuku’s triple threat formula of acid house madness, forward thinking electronica suffused with the stars of tomorrow on show.

Starring in the Courtyard is Adam Beyer, the Swedish techno fiend who has been at the helm for some of the most arcane of debauchery in the courtyard over the years. He’s followed by that very much Dirty Bird dude, Claude Von Stroke, bringing his chugging, delectably twisted deepness to Liverpool. There’s a live set from Dutch wunderkind Joris Voorn, the man who has seamlessly stitched disco, progressive house, minimal techno and synth heavy electro to dance music is also in full effect, adding a gleaming sheen of electronic aristocracy to the party. Chibuku’s erstwhile Ministry player Dom Chung kicks things off. A secret special guest may also be revealed on the night…

And then the Main Room. Chibuku, the regulars and originators will tell you, was built up on a fervent diet of French house. Recycled disco loops, filtered breakdowns and that indomitable Gallic flair was the musical DNA that built the club during its formative years. Ten years is such a milestone that it only seemed right that these figure heads should be grouped together, and keeping with the grandiose theme Chibuku does exactly that, asking Club 75 to run the joint for a full 6 hours.

The DJing supergroup boasts Justice’s Xavier, DJ Mehdi, Busy P and Cassius in the melting pot, all of them boasting many pages etched into the Chibuku annals. French rave hallmarks from each of the last few decades are sure to be puncturing the air with glittering electro, shuffling acid grooves and jerky techno floating through the speakers. And who better to round off the main room than the two men that started it all? Wandy and Luke Carr were Chibuku Shake Shake in the first year, their back to back sets at the Lemon Lounge the platform for the club becoming what it is today.

The final tour de force comes in the Annexe, where Chibuku’s firm dedication to the scattershot breakbeat makes its way in the form of a brutal collage of hip-hop, funk, drum n bass and dubstep. Mixmaster Mike makes his Chibuku Liverpool debut after a breathtaking maiden voyage for the club at Fabric. DJ of the Beastie Boys, the awe inspiring band that transcended genre like no other, Mike has pedigree in spades. As well as his ground-breaking work with the band he continued his pioneering status with the advent of turntablism in the nineties, his ‘Anti-Theft Device’ LP one of the first to push the art form in album format.

He’s joined by a further trio of guests including Chibuku faves Chase and Status DJing with dubstep doyens Skream and Caspa supported by Sergeant Pokes and Rod Azlan respectively. Seasoned veterans of the Chibuku vibe, they will be bringing gruff rhythms and epic drum snares to ensure that the rowdiness never relents. No Fakin and Futurebound, perennial Liverpool legends, round off the room brilliantly.

This promises to be THE distillation of everything club has come from and what it represents today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIBUKU!