Party ft Jimpster,Irfan Rainy, Levi Live and Selektaa

By Brown Sugar , 14 May 2009

Community Party featuring Jimpster supported by Irfan Rainy, Levi Live and Dj Selekta (DanceAfrica).
First things first, apologies for not being able to review the Slick ‘All Black’ party with Mr Mama at Club 23, Birmingham two weekends ago – Brown Sugar unfortunately had the worst flu ever and was house-bound For what its worth though I heard through the grapevine that the Slick boys put together a rocking party, in a fantastic venue and Mr Mama delivered and then some! They say a picture tells a thousand words, so check the album out on facebook and judge for yourself!

“one of the pull-factors about this gig was that Levi … played alongside Dj Selekta for the first time in over a year as part of…”

Moving swiftly along…Jimpster!! Irfan Rainy, the man behind Manchester’s monthly ‘Community Party’ for underground house revellers hosts a big act as part of his line-up and the May party featured London’s own Jimpster. In addition to that. one of the pull-factors about this gig was that Levi (now rebranded as Levi Live) played alongside Dj Selekta for the first time in over a year as part of a trio including Irfan called DanceAfrica. (For those who don’t know, Levi broke away from the Slick Management stable about 2 years ago for reasons unknown). Anyway, keen to see what DanceAfrica was all about, I headed to Spektrum expecting, if nothing else, an interesting night out…and I was not disappointed!

Spektrum is an offshoot of Sankeys (ex Sankeys Soap- arguably the biggest quality club in the North West) and is in the quirky area of town called The Northern Quarter. Set above Sankeys, Spektrum is a good size for medium-sized gigs, has state-of the art lighting effects and most importantly - has TWO bars. Speaking of which, the cocktail menu is impressive but the lack of variety in beer brands was a let-down. What the place lacks in alcoholic choice, it more than made up for by its advanced club-standard Function One sound system, which truth be told is a rarity even on the Queen’s Island!!!

Dj Selekta and Levi Live warmed up the decks by relaying at 30 minute intervas from 11pm until 1am giving them just enough time to each tantalise their respective crowds but leave them wanting more. There was a fair turnout, not massive but fair and most people arrived after midnight which is nothing new. Irfan told me that he was happy with the turnout considering that 90% of his regular crowd were out of town at the Southport Weekender, a sort of mini House-Mecca cum last Summer weekend in Ibiza with a bit of a festival feel, you get my drift. Given Slick Management’s sizeable following, I expected to see many more of Dj Selekta’s peeps but they didn’t come out in their droves. Well, all I can say is they MISSED out!!!

“I wanted to get him in a corner and pick his ear about the…”

Dj Selekta’s mixing was flawless and on POINT which is always appreciated and he held his own on the night. My heart failed to flutter with several of his track SELECtions - s’cuse the pun but overall it was great to see him rise to the occasion and build up the night nicely. I wanted to get him in a corner and pick his ear about the industry as a whole but he remained hidden, well when he wasn’t on the decks at least. Dj Selekta, come out and speak to the fans, how I would’ve liked to burn the carpet wit ya!! Nice one though…

I don’t know whether it’s because Levi Live’s been a Community guest dj before or whether he was in the zone but the man gave us one his tightest sets EVER on this night. Having not heard him play in donkey’s years, I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was pleasantly blown away. His level of maturity and focus is astounding and he definitely brought that across. One thing that’s not changed is his impeccable ear for deep tracks which manage to stay true to the soulful genre at the same time. If you’ve loved him since the days of Bar B Lo as I have, do yourself a favour and go to one of his upcoming gigs, you won’t regret it!

“…the kind where you want to go to the john/bar but you keep putting it off because the beat has you…”

Jimpster’s set started on a lovely note picking up nicely from where Irfan left off after the Dj Selekta/Levi Live relay, he maintained the rhythm and then took it up several notches. Boy he made us sweat on the dance floor for well over an hour before starting to go a bit minimal, you know deep-house’s long lost cousin; just a matter of tweaking the bpm! Lucky for us, Irfan stepped up and dropped some deep tunes for about 20 minutes and the hypnotic mood returned. Irfan and Jimpster relayed for about an hour and a half, on a track basis- a real one-on-one which got menwana phezulu and made me forget about all the sorrows of the world. You know the kind of set I’m talking about, the kind where you want to go to the john/bar but you keep putting it off because the beat has you firmly in its grip, feet locked, eyes closed, hips moving, hands up in the air sort of arrangement! Two Community Party loyalists, Paul Knight and Nuradin Abdi will show you how its done..those boys really feel music….Before you know it, an hour’s gone by and your bladder/throat are still not satiated. It was incredible to experience that after so many nights gone wrong!!

As it got closer to 4am, Irfan wound down the party nicely and those of us still remaining left the Northern Quarter deeply satisfied. Overall, big up to rainy City music; an ‘oh what a night’ type of night! The scores -