CityLife

Club night review: Flow

HOMEGROWN talent is always something to be applauded and Manchester clubbing community Flow - the monthly Saturday night taking place at Joshua Brooks - deserve a cheer.

A celebration of vocal house from across the board, it's now filling out the venue with a great mix of local talent.

"Keeping things monthly means that the whole thing still feels like a hobby to us," explains resident DJ and promoter Paul Spencer. "Plus some of us also play in Manchester on the other weekends of the month so we're all pretty busy."

With regular guest spots at Ampersand, Paparazzi, The Music Box and Zumeba, Paul has been picking himself up quite a reputation of late. Starting DJing in 1999 he's very much the product of Manchester's vibrant club scene.

Since then a period of travelling around South East Asia and Australasia has meant the DJ has tapped into many different aspects of the global dance scene giving him a rare insight that he's introduced back to Flow.

The reason for Flow's success is because, rather than competing with other similar nights in the city, Paul and James have helped build something of a supportive network.

As a result DJs play at each others' nights and you're likely to see the influence of Plush and 2Risque at Flow and vice versa. This can only be a healthy thing in what often can be a very competitive climate.

The other reason for the club's vibrancy is the music policy, which takes in all forms of vocal house building up to a full on classics finale.

"Musically the night's really popular with girls," says Paul, "who really like that vocal house sound. As a result there's never any trouble at the night, a really cool dancefloor and a great mix of people."

Flow's takes place at Joshua Brooks (Princess St) monthly on Saturdays.