Ultragroove, the story so far...
Ultragroove is Edinburgh's longest running and leading underground house night. Having hosted the likes of Dixon, Jimpster, , Ame, Justin Martin, Honey Dijon, Jesse Rose, Linkwwod Family and Trus'Me in the last couple of years.
Formed at the tail end of the last century as a monthly party for lovers of real house music, who, like us, were disillusioned at the standard of nocturnal kicks on offer in Edinburgh. Which, apart from a couple of notable exceptions, was over run with generic trance & prog nights.
After an opening party showcasing the talents of residents Gareth Sommerville and Colin Cook, Ultragroove took a gamble and handed Cricco Castelli and Miguel Migs their first Scottish gigs - giving an early indication of the forward thinking music policy that would become one of the clubs calling cards.
Ultragroove's popularity increased so rapidly over the next few months that a switch from Fridays to Saturdays was inevitable. Still at La Belle Angele, and continuing to grow in popularityj, the start of 2001 saw Ultrgroove take up residence on the first and third Saturdays of the month. Mikey Stirton a.k.a Mikey General of Bugz in The Attic fame was added to the resident roster and guest DJs such as Pete Heller, Joey Negro, Ashley Beedle, Elliot Eastwick, Benji Candelario and Terry Farley joined the club's burgeoning fanbase.
Over the next couple of years, Ultragroove stayed true to the open minded ethos that set it apart from day one, focusing on pushing a broad spectrum of house music, rather than ploughing a narrow furrow or slavisly following the vagaries of fashion. This commitment to keeping things fresh and exciting was reaffirmed by guest appearances from Jazzanova, Solesonic DJs, Joey Negro, Clive Henry, Bill Brewster, Rauoul Belmans (Swirl People), Matty Heilbronn, Onionz, Kerri Chandler, Kenny Carpenter, Inland Knights, and Scottish debuts from Jerome Sydenham, DJ Gregory, Dennis Ferrer, Jon Cutler and Tedd Patterson. Culmanating with the debut UK live performance from Metro Area (as part of the financially disasterous, but musically awesome third birthday celebrations).
After three fantastic years, it was decided a change was needed. November 16th 2002 was the date for the last ever Ultragroove at La Belle Angele, every bit as good as the first party, the last night at La Belle featured Kerri Chandler playing a superb 4 hour set, before ending proceedings by playing keys and singing - a moment made all the more poignant by the fact that La Belle Angele and much of the surrounding area burned to the ground a week later.
For the last Four years Ultragroove has run fortnightly Saturdays at Edinburgh's best underground clubbing space, the intimate basement venue, Cabaret Voltaire. Outlasting countless other nights by simple virtue of throwing great parties that attract a clued-up crowd of hedonists.
Cabaret Voltaire's two rooms have allowed greater scope with the music policy, affording the opportunity to host parties for record labels such as Salsoul, Farout, Mllion Dollar Disco and Firecracker as well as Guest appearances from The Unabombers, The Nextmen not forgetting stints from the residents from local club nights Trouble, Motherfunk, Solescience , Headspin and Departure Lounge. The perfect counterpoint to main room house sets from world renowned DJs: Derrick Carter, Justin Long , Claude Vonstroke, Miss Honey Dijon, Ben Watt, Dimitri From Paris, Joey Negro, King Britt, Spirit Catcher, Tom Findlay (Groove Armada) and Dave Taylor (Switch/Solid Groove), Milton JacksonMartin and Prins Thomas and Deepchild
With 2009 seeing ultragroove welcome the likes of Dixon, Milton Jackson,Todd Terje,Linkwood andJimpster playing, the club has maintained it's reputation as one of the leading house nights in the UK.
Anchored since day one by one of Scotland's finest DJs, Gareth Sommerville, Ultragroove has maintained it's position as Edinburgh's house night for the discerning clubber by side stepping fads, avoiding bandwagons, leading not following. But most of all by throwing great parties.
