Following on from our recent review of Birmingham clubnight, Bigger Than Barry, next up, we head north to Sheffield.

By Sam Moir

Having recently won Best Clubnight in Sheffield at the Exposed magazine awards, the Tuesday Club can officially lay claim to being the best night in Sheffield and few people would begrudge them of the title best midweek clubnight for underground dance music in the whole country, if ever there was one.

There is hype from BBC Radio 1 DJ and Sheffield’s own, Toddla T, ‘Tuesdays are the new Fridays in Sheffield, believe the hype,’ to national praise from the country’s press such as the Guardian, ‘Every city should have a student night as good as this’.

Respected industry tastemakers including impending XFM DJ, Mary Anne Hobbs, continue the trend, “My favourite university gig in the whole world has to be Tuesday Club. The people who book the line-ups are bringing the best artists internationally into Sheffield every week and there’s just this incredible exchange of energy between the audience and the DJ.”

Past DJs to grace the city’s famous decks include Chase & Status, Skream, Mark Ronson, Major Lazer, Scratch Perverts, Eve, DJ Yoda, Andy C, DJ Zinc, Magnetic Man, Caspa & Rusko, Toddla T, Sub Focus, Annie Mac, MistaJam, Wiley, Pendulum and countless more. Then resident DJs Andy H and Stoaty’s eclectic mixes of the finest cuts in underground music can headline nights in themselves.

But what’s all the fuss about. Over a coffee, I caught up with one of the clubnight’s promoters and former student at the University of Sheffield, Mike Mcquillan.

“The most important thing for us at the Tuesday Club, musically, is to keep inviting back the artists and DJs who we’ve always loved and have a great relationship with such as Skream, Caspa, Andy C, Scratch Perverts and Toddla T.”

“But always strive to break the freshest artists representing new and exciting music such as recent bookings SBTRKT, Ramadanman, Untold and Jacques Greene.”

With any clubnight, there’s a need to be current; to play what’s hot in the scene and what the Tuesday Club have in their weaponry is a team of promoters who are looking to book the up-and-coming producers and DJs.

“We’ve stayed relevant and at the forefront of bass music by listening to and involving our clubbers. That, plus an amazing team of promotional, technical staff, DJs, artists and supporters have helped us make the Tuesday Club the institution it is today,” says Mike.

Dubstep has been a genre heavily supported at the Tuesday Club with promoters being the first to bring dubstep to the Valve Sound System when they booked Kode 9 and Spaceape to play in March 2007.

“The first ever dedicated dubstep night we put on in 2006 with Mary Anne Hobbs, Loefah and Plastician is a landmark night for me. Our residents had been playing dubstep at the Tuesday Club for a while already,” says Mike.

“This was the first showcase night we did for what was a new and incredibly exciting sound. The buzz in the room that night from crowd and artists was amazing; Mary Anne still talks about it whenever I see her now, it was a legendary night.”

As more and more promoters now book similar artists who have played at the Tuesday Club, the promoters now need to work harder than ever to be at the top of their game.

“2010 was an interesting year with dubstep really crossing over into the mainstream. Certain artists who we’ve regularly had play at the Tuesday Club over the years have been thrown into the spotlight, and deservedly so.”

“We’ve seen this happen with hip hop and d&b before so we’re used to seeing a change in tastes and a commercialisation of certain genres of music.”

While chatting, I ask Mike for some of his personal favourites.

“A moment I always remember is the first time I ever saw DJ Dexter from the Avalanches. To this day it may be the greatest turntablist set I’ve ever seen, and we’ve had the likes of Q-Bert, C2C and Kentaro.”

“The set was a complete mash up of styles, aimed squarely at the dancefloor, so no technical ‘noodling’ as can happen with some scratch DJs – just amazing drops, cuts and tricks which culminated in a ridiculous mix from System of a Down’s Chop Suey into Aphex Twin’s Windowlicker.”

“It was seamless, came from nowhere and the crowd went ballistic,” says Mike.

Another university year is nearly over for Mike and the team, who continue to put on occasional events throughout the summer such as Tramlines and Graduate events, and they are already looking to the next year.

“We’ll continue to keep our ears open to new and exciting music and listen to our crowd and what they want. I hope that people reading this from outside of Sheffield will have an opportunity to come and see what we’re all about,” he says.

”Twelve years in, we’re certainly established, there isn’t another promoter in the city that puts on big line-ups like those at The Tuesday Club on a weekly basis.”

“But we won’t ever rest on our laurels and say ‘we’re the best, bar none’ because there are some great little nights across the city run by dedicated promoters and DJs who we’re pleased to have a good relationship with.”

“All of these are integral to a healthy scene.”

Related Links | The Tuesday Club Website | Follow Sam on Twitter