Wakefield's Monday Night Scene Has Got Its Swagger Back (January Article)

Wakefield’s Monday night scene had become stale and generic. Traditionally it’s its student night, so whilst it was generally busy, its venues for house music were pretty much non-existent, barring the resurgence of Passion Bar playing the now familiar and infectious Wakefield soundtrack of jackin’ house with pumping, dirty bass drops. Its biggest venue, Havana, has enjoyed the limelight and seen consistent numbers pouring through its doors. However, although it does give the club credibility, all of that’s taken back when you go through the doors into the main room and hear the awful chart-based pop music they’re playing.

Swagger came onto the Monday night scene and immediately saw success, with huge crowds drawing to the city especially for this event. It was the event that single-handedly spearheaded the revitalisation of Wakefield’s dwindling nightlife, and spawned a new generation of house-only clubs for the city; most notably Sub Zero and Rocco. Taking full advantage of Facebook to promote their revolutionary night, Danny Jones and Benji Kershaw rode the wave of success as crowds flocked to Swagger’s original venue, Hub.

If you’re not familiar with Hub, you could easily miss it as it passes under most people’s radar. It’s located down a side street off Wakefield’s main strip, and because it’s underground, it doesn’t stand out. Inside, it’s a small and intimate setting; low ceilings, two small rooms, and only two bar areas.

What it loses in size it sure as hell makes up for with atmosphere. Atmosphere is what Havana on a Monday is severely lacking, and to me it’s the most important ingredient in a club’s feel, so to be in Hub while Swagger was on was a great thing to witness. The brand brought Hub much deserved recognition, and the two just went hand-in-hand together and fitted like a glove.

In its first room the familiar classics from 1995-2000 played by Jonny ‘Bee’ Brown and Danny Bond gave Swagger a touch of class. It was Hub’s back room which saw those memorable, stand-out moments though with the likes of Julie McKnight belting out the anthemic ‘Finally’ over the extraordinary beats of EDX’s mix of Dubfire’s ‘Roadkill’ track. It really was one of those hair-raising moments; each and every one of the people crammed into that small place singing along, word for word. The room shook Hub’s foundations to the core, and although the infamous air conditioning of that room was dubious, it just added to Swagger’s appeal as everyone just put up with it and got on with having a great time. Every venue has its quirks, and without question the sauna-like temperature of Hub is its.

Time and time again the club and club night linked up several times a year, and never failed to pull in the crowds. Although Swagger’s got its doubters, even its most fervent critic cannot deny its impact of the city when it’s on - it becomes the talk of Wakefield. I recommend it because it’s a transparent club night so you know what you’re getting; great music, people who are like-minded and who are simply there to have a good time. Yes, vests and typical drop-crotch jeans are aplenty, but at least they’re best equipped to cope with the soaring temperatures inside…

Although it’s branched out onto the Leeds circuit too, Monday the 19^th of December saw Swagger leave its spiritual home of Hub and move to Wakefield’s biggest venue, Black Flag Warehouse, for a pre-Christmas special. You sort of get the sense that the popularity of the event sadly outgrew Hub’s small proportions, so seeing it at another Wakefield venue was strange but good; strange because Hub and the early Swagger days were a match made in heaven, but good because the bigger space afforded by Black Flag meant that more people could witness the night and maybe, just maybe, the airy warehouse would be a little less humid than Hub’s back room.

What did I think? Well, the big venue was still crammed full of people, so any doubters who questioned whether Swagger could fill a large venue dissipated straight away. You just knew it was going to be a success; the layout was arena-like, so DJs were elevated above the crowd in front of you. It did lack Hub’s key trait of intimacy because of this, but you’ve got to remember that this phenomenon of a night has grown and grown into Wakefield’s undisputed king, so something had to change.

So here’s to Swagger, the sole night that kick started and breathed new life into Wakefield’s ailing Monday night scene. It’s got its critics, but that’s a sign of success as people become envious of people’s good fortune. You can never really predict the future due to the fickle nature of club nights, but there’s one thing that is for sure: Swagger will continue to be a huge success.

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THR Leeds

The extraordinary rise of The House Rooms in the heart of Leeds was built single-handedly by one house music obsessed businessman. In October 2002, Steve Carter purchased a dilapidated city centre building, and set about creating the space into a unique, high-end club that would be the number one destination for any discerning clubber.

Self-made Steve built his wealth on the property ladder, re-developing the skyline of Leeds city centre and riding the rise of property values. Make no mistake, he’s a major player in how you see the city today, and if the Bentley he’s driving and gold Rolex on his wrist is anything to go by, he’s been a huge success.

Its LS1 address gave the perfect location on which to attract the hordes of clubbers that transcend on the city centre on every single weekend of the year. Fast forward nine months to June 2003 and the club opened its doors for the very first time. Specialising in out-and-out house music, the clientele proved very much to be a knowledgeable crowd, keen on rekindling the golden era of the genre.

Where new club nights were springing up and growing, and in many cases ceasing every bit as quick as their initial growth, Steve’s project was consistently drawing in capacity crowds. The uniqueness of the space was a huge draw; the name’s derived from the genre of music of course, but the building’s many large rooms were its USP. After the first refurbishment, the two floors had three rooms on each level, all capable of holding 100 people in each, equating to a capacity of around 600 people.

Keeping the golden era of house alive was a single-handed feat. Other clubs were drawn to the newly-rising electro sub-genre and so forgot about the period from the mid-nineties which saw the likes of Pete Tong, Danny Rampling, Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson, and many more house DJs bringing the US-derived scene to the UK.

When the electro revolution started, old-fashioned Steve Carter was having none of it. ‘I actually attended many new nights at clubs around the Yorkshire area, just to see what was happening music wise and see if it’d be worth bringing the sound into my club. I wasn’t impressed with it. I cut my clubbing teeth on brands such as Back to Basics, Hard Times, and at The Hacienda – iconic nights such as those. I think there’s snobbery to quality, true house music in a way and after witnessing the electro rise I didn’t think it had a patch on a good house track from say the Masters at Work. I think that’s why we had success back then; people of a certain age just didn’t get the way the scene was turning, and so we tapped into that knowledgeable crowd and attracted big house DJs.’

And attract big names it did. Frankie Knuckles, Roger Sanchez, Junior Vasquez… These are just a few of the international heavyweights that The House Rooms attracted. Drawn to this old-school ethos, Danny Rampling championed Steve’s mentality towards the scene and it brought yet more big names to the decks. CJ Mackintosh, Tuff Jam, and Terry Farley were mainstays in the early days of THR.

In 2006, the biggest changes to the décor and overall design came to fruition. A £1m re-development commenced, and saw a more open-plan club take shape. Quality was high on the agenda, and state-of-the-art equipment was installed. It was a new era for THR, and Steve welcomed newer club nights through his strict doors.

‘In the early days, I was very keen to preserve the venue as a house-only club. The scene changes yearly though, so specialised nights were incorporated. Classic house was still the main aspect, but that was moved to centre stage on a Saturday night so it was still at the epicentre of the experience. The other nights we’re open were given a tailor-made feel, and that saw trance, electro, jackin’, and all sorts of new sub-genres of house enter the club. Regrettable? I’m not so sure. For sure it was more lucrative financially, but I can’t help but feel that some of the club’s original values were lost in the transition.’

Another dramatic change was made in 2009, when the open-to-everyone aspect was ditched and THR turned into a members-only venue. The main reasons were down to trouble-makers out to ruin the nights of others. ‘I’d grown sick of the amounts of kids breaching security with their fake IDs and attitudes to the place I’d built. It’s hard to explain, but nobody wants to have their night wrecked by some young teenager that can’t handle their drink. Seeing the likes of CJ Mackintosh DJ here a few years ago and watching the youths destroy the club’s reputation was hard to take. Changes had to be made, so it’s now members and invite only. Profits are up, trouble’s virtually non-existent, and so the risky policy change has been great.’

The clientele’s changed, as one would expect. Gone are the days of fake IDs and drop-crotch jeans, and in its replacement are nice watches and immaculately dressed city high-flyers. It’s a favourite haunt for footballers and soapstars too, and because of the protected-feel of the place, it’s free from prying eyes and so there’s an air of coolness to it. People are relaxed, happy to soak up the house beats and revel in the opulence of the décor.

Inside, it’s very different to how it used to be. The three rooms per floor have been knocked through; there’s a vast room on the first floor, and a carbon-copy on the second. There are VIP rooms, but the feel is of a high-end, but quite normal club. People pay £1000 per annum to reside here, and they’re there to get full use of their money. Picture-perfect models, blinged-up footballers, millionaire businessmen. It’s where the rich and famous come to let their hair down, away from the paparazzi.

One thing’s still here though, and that’s the ever-present house music. Tonight’s a Friday so there’s a more club-orientated soundtrack coming from upstairs. In the main room here though, the DJ’s playing the likes of Soul Clap, Julio Bashmore, Jamie Jones, and Groove Armada – really sophisticated tracks that are unique to the place. There’s still nothing quite like it in Leeds.

Asked on his thoughts of his club in 2011, Steve Carter still loves the place just as much as when he first renovated it in late 2002. ‘It’s gone through loads of changes, but it’s still here continuing its success. As long as the music continues to play, people will renew and keep flooding through those doors. If anything, I love it just as much now as I did when the premier American DJs played here. The only thing that’s changed is we’ve swapped blue WKDs and Budweiser for bottles of Grey Goose and champagne. Pretentious? Snooty? Maybe so. Other clubs chase the student money by flogging cheap alcopops and play out tunes you hear day in day out on the radio; that scene’s just not for me. Many people still don’t know about us, which many would see as a bad thing. I on the other hand think it’s great; we’ve gone on for so long being a niche establishment, and that’s exactly what classic house was and is – niche.’

And so much cooler for it.