Superfish! celebrates its 10th birthday

We're pleased to announce that despite the current negativity in the scene, hard dance is most definitely not dead - as a sold out Koko last Saturday night for Frantic and Nukleuz's respective tenth and 15th birthdays more than illustrates.

The next big event on the hard dance calendar is the tenth birthday of pioneering night Superfish! on Friday 24 August at Brixton's The Fridge. The Skipper aka Captain Tinrib aka Jon Bell will also be celebrating the re-launch of his label Tinrib Digital, plus it's his final farewell set in this summer's UK tour before he's back on the high seas and heading home to his new dock in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Terms like 'genre defining' and 'legendary' are often bandied about these days, but it cannot be denied that Tinrib helped mould the genre of hard dance into what it is today with his unique rifts and incredible live shows, let alone his oceanic obsession and extraordinary dress sense.

The beginnings of Superfish! spawned in 1996 when Tinrib, D.F.Q., Steve Thomas, Dave Randall, RR Fierce (RIP) and Karim decided they wanted to party to the music they were producing and after stints at the Soundshaft and Crash, Superfish! found its spiritual home at the Fridge.

Ramming the Fridge regularly, Superfish! parties were known for their progression, starting out on a more funky tip with the likes of D.F.Q. and building up throughout the night via the innovative hard trance sounds of the likes of Weirdo. Hard dance heavyweights like Max Alien Trax, OD404's Superfast Oz, Simon Eve, Steve Hill, Pete Wardman and Sol Ray all graced the Superfish! decks, pumping the pace up to the relentless hard NRG of French fish cookie Karim, who religiously played the closing set.

The line-up on the 24th brings back many of the original crew, including D.F.Q., Dave Randall, Max Alien Trax, Weirdo (whose live PA is not to be missed), Steve Hill (back from Sydney for a rare appearance) and of course the Skippwhore himself. The new breed are represented by Tinrib's production buddies Ben Javlin and Ben Stevens. Room 2 is hosted by Totally Techno and there'll be a specially mixed CD containing the most upfront tracks from Tinrib Digital given to the first 100 through the doors on the night, plus - in typical Tinrib stylee -they're free to anyone dressed as a pirate.

Check out www.tinribdigital.com for more info about Captain Tinrib, Superfish! and Tinrib Digital, including details of a remix competition to net some new talent. Entries close on Friday 31st August and any style of track is considered.