They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it had been a long time since I had had the chance to go to Godskitchen – one of my favourite club nights ever. I was itching to get out and when I saw word of this January extravaganza laid on by the good folks at Gods, I knew it was meant to be. Without further ado, I corralled a group of friends, booked a weekend off work, and put on my glad rags… and so it was that I found myself at Air super club with 1,600 other likeminded party people ready for the return of Mr. Eric Prydz!

Going back was like catching up with an old friend; the good things had not changed and it was pleasing to see them doing well with some new ideas – I was pleasantly surprised that the Nitrogen Room was being hosted by Pete Jordan’s Spectrum brand for the evening. Diversification seems to be the key in these genre-hopping times so some break-beat goodness was a welcome addition to the Godskitchen platter.

By the time we finally arrived the queue snaked unappealingly round the corner of the building; the night was bitter and snow was forecast, we consoled ourselves with the thought that it would be certainly be all-white in the club whatever the weather did outside. The sight of the doors was welcoming and as we entered and disrobed our troubles melted away as we caught the end of Paul Thomas’ set. We had hoped to catch more but it was not to be as Seb Leger stepped up to the plate for his Godskitchen debut. Making waves on the European techno scene for several years Seb really made his mark in 2008 with the release of his anthem Jaguar and he now proceeded to show Birmingham just what he could do with a storming set, balancing technical precision with a selection of killer dancefloor grooves.

A quick trip outside for a cigarette confirmed our suspicions that yes, it really was too cold for smoking so that was that and I headed upstairs to check out the vibe in the Nitrogen Room where the intriguingly named Dolby Anol had control of the sounds. Not an artist I am familiar with, but one I would be happy to see again and who provided a steam of chunky break-beat delights to keep the crowd happy. I think Pete Jordan took over the decks while I was in the room, but information was hard to come by in the confined, confused but contented climate so I let go and just enjoyed the music…

Time was passing swiftly, flowing into that indefinable void categorised as ‘fun’ only after the event and after another Artic cigarette break which the entire club seemed to take simultaneously it was time for Eric Prydz and his brand of hard-hitting electro-house fresh out of Sweden. And do you think he disappointed us? Are you mad, of course not – this is Prydz! (Well, you may still be mad, I don’t know.) The master was on top of his game and kept the crowd on its toes with three hours of yummy dancefloor goodness – Godskitchen was serving up the goods fresh from the oven to warm the cockles of the coldest clubber. (Just what are cockles, by the way? I’m not entirely sure I want to know…)

Taking my usual spot toward the back all I could see was a crowd moving as one swathed in the neon glare of the club lights, faces occasionally illuminated by smiles and strobes, shadows through the lasers… and I thought, I have missed this. Life seems to be a constant stream of bad news at the moment, and in troubled times, what better thing to do than to gather some good friends and head out to a favourite club for an excellent night to forget it all? Life will carry on whatever you do so take some time out and enjoy it. In the words of Ferris Bueller, ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you’ll miss it’.

Now that I’m done quoting Matthew Broderick, back to the night. And the night did move fast, because before I knew it, the lights were rising and the music stopped. Did we step out to a snow-covered winter wonderland, as predicted by the more optimistic members of our party before the night? No, it was just damned cold, so we hopped in a taxi and headed home to mull over an excellent night. A definite double thumbs up for the night, and that is only because raising all your fingers is not an acceptable mode of congratulation, otherwise we would have done that.

As you may have picked up, I had not been out for a good long while, and it was good to return to my old Gods stomping grounds for a wicked night. Some things never change; one of those is the guarantee that you will have a good night at Godskitchen, so here’s to many, many more!