Hello Manchester Crew,

It's that rare weekend where pay day and a bank holiday collide. Use it wisely, because this one delivers. Two festival-scale events bookend the weekend: Outwards on Saturday turns five outdoor spaces in Ardwick into a 5,000-capacity celebration of electronic music past and present, Orbital, Moodymann b2b Carl Craig, Midland and more. Then Sounds From The Other City on Sunday, the 21st edition of Salford's brilliant multi-stage community festival across churches, pubs and galleries.

For Friday my pick is something different. The Airspace Tunnel Party is exactly what it sounds like: a city centre tunnel under New Bailey turned into a day rave, KILIMANJARO on the system, 4pm till 10pm. These are the kind of pop-up events that make summer raving extra special. Later on, Leon Vynehall is back in Manchester, a true musicisan who blessed us with choosing electronic music as his canvas.

After Sounds of the City on Sunday we’ve got a legend taking stage. Gilles Peterson celebrates five years of The Blues Kitchen Manchester from 9pm. A lovely way to round it all off.

Tom (japanese.knotweed)

PS: - We’ve been working behind the scenes to create a Lab.Club App. Sign up here for early beta access.

🎧 DJs wanted in Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle

I’m sure there are a few budding DJs in our readers list so we wanted to call out that JW DJ Agency put out an ad last week looking to build it’s roster of freelance DJ’s in the North.

DJs Wanted, North of England @ JW DJ Agency
Freelance Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle. Minimum two Saturday nights per month.

Friday

  1. Airspace: Tunnel Party @ New Bailey Tunnel
    City centre tunnel turned day party. KILIMANJARO on the system. 4pm till 10pm.

  2. Treehouse MCR Takeover @ The Bag Factory
    Intimate Salford bank holiday day party from a crew who know how to throw one.

  3. Leon Vynehall, Surusinghe & Zuri @ The White Hotel
    Deep, emotive house and leftfield electronics. Midnight til 7am.

  4. Surgeon b2b Dan Bean + Adam Resonance @ The Golden Lion, Todmorden
    Two industrial techno heavyweights collide in the Calder Valley.

Saturday

  1. Outwards Festival @ Ardwick
    Orbital, Moodymann b2b Carl Craig, The Orb, Midland, DJ Pierre. The debut.

  2. Freak: I. Jordan, Sedef Adasi, Kim Lana @ Hidden
    Day and night queer rave from 2pm. Courtyard then dancefloor. Last day entry 4pm.

  3. Time Flies 4th Birthday @ Secret Open Air Location
    Secret open-air from noon til 6am. Techno, deep house, art. Location TBA.

  4. Willikens & Ivkovic @ The White Hotel
    From start till finish. Two of the most trusted selectors in the business.

  5. HØL x Selekt: Kessie b2b Matrixxman @ The DBA
    Kessie and Matrixxman going head to head. Proper techno, proper room.

Sunday

  1. Sounds From The Other City @ Chapel Street, Salford
    21st edition. 100+ artists, 17 stages, pubs, churches, galleries.

  2. Gilles Peterson @ The Blues Kitchen Manchester
    Five years of Blues Kitchen MCR celebrated by one of the best selectors alive.

  3. SlapFunk & Innercity Bank Hol Special @ Progress
    Four stages. The full roster back in 2026. D&B, garage, house and bassline all day.

Collaborate with Us

Our mission is to support the growing Manchester underground scene as its taking shape. We want to hear from underground promoters to help hero your nights. If you want to be featured in an upcoming newsletter or collaborate with us in any way, hit us up.

Email us at [email protected] - we read and respond to every email.

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