Reviewed: La Discotèque

The 18th of April 2019 saw award-winning Manchester based disco brand, La Discothèque, bring the Easter goodies. If the Easter Bunny was disguised as a flamingo then he definitely blessed Leeds with the gift of eccentric, fabulous and uppermost funkalious disco.

Founded in 2017, La Discothèque have gone from selling out Albert Hall in Manchester, filling Printworks with 5000 funky dancers to heading back to Leeds for their highly-anticipated Canal Mills return.

Onto the massive line up of the heaviest weighted disco world champions.

If the line up was a menu the cuisine would be European classics with a British tropical twist. The mouthwatering line up included French Disco God; Dimitri From Paris, Germany’s beloved superstar; Purple Disco Machine, London’s rare groove legend; Norman Jay MBE and Nottingham’s notorious disco diva Danielle Moore from Crazy P. As well as support from Leed’s very own brand Back to Basics.

Arriving at the venue the current DJ playing was Danielle Moore (Crazy P) providing the golden numbers. Danielle had fairly chilled, groovy tracks. Very Hot Toddy like. She was warming up the room for what is set to be a huge night. Track highlight from her set was ‘Like A Fool’ – a personal favourite of mine – a track that got me into disco. It was a magical moment.

Gracing the decks next was the legend himself Dimitri From Paris. I am always astonished in the presence of Dimitri as he blows my socks clean off – sends them fly all the way to France! Of course, playing his classic Le Chic remixes which were lapped up by the crowd. He also added to his set Phil Fuldners new track ‘Take Me’ which samples and reworks Mary Clarks 1980 track ‘Take Me, I’m yours’. Truly amazing!

Hard as it is to follow such an iconic legend, Purple Disco Machine smashed it. The change-over really was a significant memorable moment. The two DJs have such a special connection and you can feel a genuine friendship between them. The vibes from the boys really radiated from the booth onto the dance floor, the crowd really sensed this beautiful harmony.

Tino Pointek (Purple Disco Machine) is super hot stuff at the moment and he definitely brought the fire to the table. It was evident he was going to raise the roof this evening. PDM has so many tunes right now; from chart topping tracks like ‘Dished’ (Male Stripper), rereleased ‘Body Funk’ to remixes for Calvin Harris, Fatboy Slim, Jax Jones and Weiss. Purple Disco Machine also played many tracks from his new Glitterbox compilation Discotheque which was to be released the following day – Good Friday 19 April. There were a few cheeky unreleased remixes from Tino like a groovy base line track with ‘Funky Town’ sampled over the top. He also selected some throwback songs from his classic album soulmatic, tracks like Devil In Me. Purple Disco Machine has a huge year in front of him. I personally can’t wait to see what tricks this Disco Wizard has up his sleeves.

Following Purple Disco Machine local lads Back to Basic’s turn to hop onto the decks to dance the night away into the final early hour countdown. Taking the disco vibe up a notch the boys played disco infused house with a couple of slightly techie tracks to give the crowd their last little bit of will power and energy before they headed off home for a disco doze.

Of course the downside of the evening was unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances Norman Jay MBE pulled out. I was so thrilled to finally witnessed Norman’s magic as I had never before been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this legendary icon but although there was this little downside, the plus sides blow this out the park.

The overall atmosphere of La Discothèque was so warm and welcoming. I didn’t see a single person stood still the whole evening – from the back of the room to the front barrier everyone was grooving. The diversity of the crowd was really special to see as well, from students to a middle aged crowd – though, it felt there was absolutely no age gap. Everything just flowed, everyone danced together. The power of disco!

La Discothèque have just got this absolutely nailed. There were 2 stage dancers that I couldn’t take my eyes off. Half way through their performance they came into the crowd and gave out branded fans and danced with us in the crowd. They had fire breathers and people walking on stilts. These quirky touches and attention to detail don’t go unnoticed by the audience – it lifts the atmosphere and makes the event even more so intimate and special. The sound and production were on another level as well. They exceed all expectations of what you normally predict of an ordinary event, this is why they have established such a supreme brand and deliver a superb event.

La Discothèque have created a very special brand and community. Stay tuned for a very busy year. The fabulous flamingos have announced their 2nd birthday tour. From Croatia to Newcastle with their big birthday party to be held in their home town and venue Albert Hall, Manchester on 24th November. They have also been teasing us with snippets of information regarding taking the iconic brand over to the white isle of Ibiza. Exciting things ahead.