100 98 96
TABARIN BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC CAPACITY: 500
TABARIN.CZ
NEW ENTRY
IF live music is at the heart of the Czech Republic’s Tabarin, then big room 4/4s are its beating pulse, playing host to a whole lotta house (progressive, electro, techno and straight-up) on the regular. Once a live music cafe before the Velvet Revolution, Tabarin set a precedent for Czech bars and clubs countrywide. The instigator? DJ Mekki Martin — who first played at the club at the age of 14 and to whom the club owes its livelihood — opened its floodgates to mainstream game-changers of the electronic scene in 1991. Still spinning on its contemporary OHM system, Mekki presents the likes of Nicky Romero, Nervo, EDX and Tommy Trash to wealthy clubbers, slick young professionals and Czech supermodels.
MINT CLUB LEEDS, UK CAPACITY: 550
MINTLEEDS.COM
23
OPENING its doors in 1998, Mint Club has served as a taste-making torch bearer for a club scene considered by many as the UK’s No.2 for house and techno. Pretty much level peggings with Manchester — behind only London — Leeds’ nightlife has continued to snowball, spawning clubs left, right and centre as the city’s infectious enthusiasm for clubbing has spread, passing down to multiple generational waves of students succumbing to the addictive allure of the 4/4. Mint Club has been at the very core of it, the nucleus of the whole operation, its tight network of industrious promotions — Louche, System, Teknicolor — and its Watergate-inspired LED-ceiling serving to provide some of the iconic images in modern UK clubbing history in recent years. With the launch of its larger brother (Mint Warehouse) and a full-blown festival last September, Mint Club’s reign of fury is set to continue.
PLAN B LONDON, ENGLAND CAPACITY: 800
PLANB-LONDON.COM
THE only surprise surrounding The Rainbow’s entry into this poll is that it hasn’t happened sooner. Opening in 2008, the charm of Lee McDonald’s Birmingham venue — aside from an unrivaled booking policy in the city — is its flexibility. The club’s Chinese box-like contents — a range that includes a pub, basement, warehouse, marquee and courtyard — provide Brummieland’s dedicated dance heads an Aladdin’s Cave of party treats on a regular basis, functioning as the centrepoint of the city’s scene. Whether it’s regular house/techno party Face, Adam Shelton’s Below (see page 96) or Circoloco In The Arena, which took advantage of every room this complex has to offer last Easter, The Rainbow offers the full spectrum of clubbing colours, and long may it prosper!
99 97 04
BRINGING the bass bacon to Brixton since 2002, Plan B has remained a sturdy beacon of hope for London’s clubbers as they’ve watched a succession of venues struggle under the heel of licensing bureaucracy in recent times. Prized for its delivery of top-end dancefloor talent within a slick acoustically treated, no-frills setting, stacked, upstairs and downstairs, with Funktion One rigs, it’s helped keep the London scene alight over the past five years, mixing old and new blood from all over, the likes of Omar S, Kyle Hall, Kerri Chandler, Move D and Soul Clap playing the past 12 months alone. Hosting the Big Smoke’s most anticipated launch parties for underground UK talent and live show premieres — Jessie Ware showcased her album and Disclosure and AlunaGeorge delivered a live show recently — London’s switched-on heads are always guaranteed something special at Brixton’s Plan B.
THE first thing that strikes you about Space’s first American outpost is its sheer size. The main room is closer to an aircraft hangar than a club, albeit a very attractive one. Open to the elements, the surrounding, lushly pristine, emerald jungle is visible as the sun comes up over its vast main floor, a jaw-dropping sight. With a huge stage, replete with state-of-the-art lights and LEDs, plush VIP areas surrounding the central space, its style is a unique blend, acknowledging the tropical location while carefully supplanting the Balearic chic of Space Ibiza into a new setting. Even the central entrance hall is vast, while the other, smaller rooms are equally impressive. And with bookings that range from the uber (Avicii, Carl Cox) to the tech ‘n’ house cognoscenti (Edu Imbernon, Tiefschwarz), despite only launching on New Year’s Eve, Space B. Camboriu is ready to rule the roost.
030
djmag.com 95 NEW ENTRY
IT’S no secret that Amsterdam is crawling with bohemians; creatures of the night and culture vultures seeking gratification within one of Europe’s most sought-out cities. Melkweg — meaning “open house” — was launched as a refuge for dancers, musicians and visual artists by a Dutch theatre group in a derelict dairy factory in 1970. Today, house is at its heart; buzzing away amid Amsterdam’s bustling Leidseplein district, anything from pounding techno to raw d&b can be heard on its Martin Audio system most nights a week. Its two main rooms — The Max (1,500 capacity) and Oude Zaal (700 capacity) are no strangers to names such as Soul Clap, Skrillex, Jeff Mills, Paul van Dyk, LTJ Bukem, the list goes on...
SPACE B. CAMBORIU BALNEARIO CAMBORIU, BRAZIL
CAPACITY: 8000
MELKWEG AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND CAPACITY: 2200
MELKWEG.NL
RE-ENTRY
THE RAINBOW BIRMINGHAM, UK CAPACITY: 1500
RAINBOWVENUES.CO.UK
NEW ENTRY
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