Dave Connor from Manchester’s Venus tells AOD how to stay at the top for ten years … and don’t even ask about City!
When and why and how did you get into promoting?
I first got into promoting around 96 when I was a door picker at Manchester’s “Holy City Zoo”. The night was a great success and this is where I set my standards for the clubbing clientele I wanted in the club. Cool funky people with no attitude, a great taste in music and definitely no thugs!!
How have you kept going so long?
Its quite simple really, we have always had a really strict door policy at the venue. As mentioned above, only the coolest, most up for it & friendly crowd will get in. Cool doesn’t mean super models or perfectly formed human beings, it means really nice people that want to party and don’t have an attitude. This together with great house music & awesome resident dj’s that know exactly what the crowd wants is our simple recipe for success.
We have a fantastic reputation for being one of the safest and friendliest club nights in Europe
Three tracks that most reflect the ten years?
OOOOh, that’s a very hard question as there have been so many fantastic funky house tracks from the past 10 years.
I think I would have to pick some massive Venus anthems like:
Portabella – Vive La Difference
Pique & Nique – You Will
Simpson Tune – Bring it back
Milk & Sugar – Higher & Higher
I know there’s four there but I started thinking of loads then… I think you get the drift of tunes that has made Venus.
Best DJ that’s played the club?
We have had so many really great djs at the club over the years but I really have to say the best dj we’ve had there are our residents – Simply because they know exactly what our crowd wants… They always have them jumping.
As for big name guest djs I’d have to say, “Raul Rincon”. The guy is awesome. He plays it just right and like he’s been playing for us for years.
If you could book anyone alive or dead who would you book?
Definitely ELVIS!!
How has the Internet effected how you promote?
The same as everyone else I guess. It’s a great media for advertising and promoting events. We’ve always been pretty on top of promoting this way… It’s like garlic bread, it’s the future!!
How did the smoking ban affect the club?
I think it has affected everyone in the entertainment industry, particularly clubs and bars. To be honest with you it’s a real pain in the arse as people now have to go outside and miss bits of what’s going on in the club throughout the night. I personally do-not smoke but think clubs and bars should have been given the option whether or not they wanted to go smoke free or not. That way people could have a choice if they wanted to go into a club that allow smoking or not. But the Government didn’t give any choice and it’s crippled a lot of the industry. They would argue against that, but that’s the truth!
Have you felt the credit crunch?
Same again, I think everyone is feeling it slightly simply because people are skint or can only afford to go out once or twice a month, or what ever they do, instead of every week.
What do you have on New Years Eve?
Ah… NYE’s at Venus are always a blast. This year’s theme is, “WINTER WONDERLAND”. Which the club will be transformed into for a 10-hour magical extravaganza.
Each New Year we figure that’s our time to give something back to all of our loyal Venus regulars & members for their support throughout the year. Entrance is only £20 a ticket… That’s cheaper than your local boozer!!
For that you get 10 hours of quality clubbing featuring all of the Venus & Studio One11 (Our Friday night sister event) Djs, a fully licensed bar right the way through and a goodie bag with a Venus mix cd as a little thank you present from the crew.
If you want to come in later on for the all night clubbing you can pay just £10 on the door after 3am.
Any big events in the near future?
We always have big events planned for each month, Hed Kandi once a month, big name dj’s the first Saturday of each month, the hugely successful Venus Classics (the very best of 10years of Venus) the last Saturday of each month etc etc. Next summer we are going to putting on lots of boat parties around Manchester, Liverpool and maybe taking Venus to Ibiza.
So many people have asked why we have no done it before, Ibiza that is. The truth is we have looked into it before with various clubs offering us their venue to run the night but it never felt it was right. I know Ibiza is the clubbing capital of the world with some of the worlds best nightclubs but we really love what we have in Manchester. Club V is a relatively small basement venue in Manchester City Centre but has an awesome sound system (Funktion One), atmosphere and crowd second to non…. Sounds daft I know, but until you come and experience a Saturday night at Venus you wont understand.
Some regulars say its Manchester’s best-kept secret, as we don’t go global … I think for the time being we like it that way.
What’s Manchester like at the moment?
Take a wild guess … Raining!! LOL
Or do you mean scene wise?
I think the clubbing scene has grown over the past couple of years with many great nights and events on. Its healthy competition I guess, but we are still full week in week out … We must be getting something right.
City or Utd?
That’s a ridiculous question, the team that wins things, “MAN U”.
You get city fans commenting, “I’m from Manchester, of course I’m a city fan, UTD fans don’t come from Manchester”. Firstly most of Manchester are UTD fans, secondly, we can’t help being the most supported and famous team in the World … Obviously we’ve got supporters from the entire World coming to the games. CHAMPIONS!!!
Venus Manchester November 2008
Dave Connor from Manchester’s Venus tells AOD how to stay at the top for ten years … and don’t even ask about City!
When and why and how did you get into promoting?
I first got into promoting around 96 when I was a door picker at Manchester’s “Holy City Zoo”. The night was a great success and this is where I set my standards for the clubbing clientele I wanted in the club. Cool funky people with no attitude, a great taste in music and definitely no thugs!!
How have you kept going so long?
Its quite simple really, we have always had a really strict door policy at the venue. As mentioned above, only the coolest, most up for it & friendly crowd will get in. Cool doesn’t mean super models or perfectly formed human beings, it means really nice people that want to party and don’t have an attitude. This together with great house music & awesome resident dj’s that know exactly what the crowd wants is our simple recipe for success.
We have a fantastic reputation for being one of the safest and friendliest club nights in Europe
Three tracks that most reflect the ten years?
OOOOh, that’s a very hard question as there have been so many fantastic funky house tracks from the past 10 years.
I think I would have to pick some massive Venus anthems like:
Portabella – Vive La Difference
Pique & Nique – You Will
Simpson Tune – Bring it back
Milk & Sugar – Higher & Higher
I know there’s four there but I started thinking of loads then… I think you get the drift of tunes that has made Venus.
Best DJ that’s played the club?
We have had so many really great djs at the club over the years but I really have to say the best dj we’ve had there are our residents – Simply because they know exactly what our crowd wants… They always have them jumping.
As for big name guest djs I’d have to say, “Raul Rincon”. The guy is awesome. He plays it just right and like he’s been playing for us for years.
If you could book anyone alive or dead who would you book?
Definitely ELVIS!!
How has the Internet effected how you promote?
The same as everyone else I guess. It’s a great media for advertising and promoting events. We’ve always been pretty on top of promoting this way… It’s like garlic bread, it’s the future!!
How did the smoking ban affect the club?
I think it has affected everyone in the entertainment industry, particularly clubs and bars. To be honest with you it’s a real pain in the arse as people now have to go outside and miss bits of what’s going on in the club throughout the night. I personally do-not smoke but think clubs and bars should have been given the option whether or not they wanted to go smoke free or not. That way people could have a choice if they wanted to go into a club that allow smoking or not. But the Government didn’t give any choice and it’s crippled a lot of the industry. They would argue against that, but that’s the truth!
Have you felt the credit crunch?
Same again, I think everyone is feeling it slightly simply because people are skint or can only afford to go out once or twice a month, or what ever they do, instead of every week.
What do you have on New Years Eve?
Ah… NYE’s at Venus are always a blast. This year’s theme is, “WINTER WONDERLAND”. Which the club will be transformed into for a 10-hour magical extravaganza.
Each New Year we figure that’s our time to give something back to all of our loyal Venus regulars & members for their support throughout the year. Entrance is only £20 a ticket… That’s cheaper than your local boozer!!
For that you get 10 hours of quality clubbing featuring all of the Venus & Studio One11 (Our Friday night sister event) Djs, a fully licensed bar right the way through and a goodie bag with a Venus mix cd as a little thank you present from the crew.
If you want to come in later on for the all night clubbing you can pay just £10 on the door after 3am.
Any big events in the near future?
We always have big events planned for each month, Hed Kandi once a month, big name dj’s the first Saturday of each month, the hugely successful Venus Classics (the very best of 10years of Venus) the last Saturday of each month etc etc. Next summer we are going to putting on lots of boat parties around Manchester, Liverpool and maybe taking Venus to Ibiza.
So many people have asked why we have no done it before, Ibiza that is. The truth is we have looked into it before with various clubs offering us their venue to run the night but it never felt it was right. I know Ibiza is the clubbing capital of the world with some of the worlds best nightclubs but we really love what we have in Manchester. Club V is a relatively small basement venue in Manchester City Centre but has an awesome sound system (Funktion One), atmosphere and crowd second to non…. Sounds daft I know, but until you come and experience a Saturday night at Venus you wont understand.
Some regulars say its Manchester’s best-kept secret, as we don’t go global … I think for the time being we like it that way.
What’s Manchester like at the moment?
Take a wild guess … Raining!! LOL
Or do you mean scene wise?
I think the clubbing scene has grown over the past couple of years with many great nights and events on. Its healthy competition I guess, but we are still full week in week out … We must be getting something right.
City or Utd?
That’s a ridiculous question, the team that wins things, “MAN U”.
You get city fans commenting, “I’m from Manchester, of course I’m a city fan, UTD fans don’t come from Manchester”. Firstly most of Manchester are UTD fans, secondly, we can’t help being the most supported and famous team in the World … Obviously we’ve got supporters from the entire World coming to the games. CHAMPIONS!!!