Three years is a long time in Liverpool - since Circus started after the closure of Cream there’s been a significant shift in the way the city has developed.

Victorious in the capital of culture bid, and now boasting a plethora of world class rave shindigs, the city has come along a fair bit, mirrored by the rise of Circus. A one room gathering for Yousef and his mates has developed into the entirety of the barfly venue, attracting the cream of the house music aristocracy and bagging Pete Tong’s club of the year gong on the way, not a bad return on 36 months. Roping in Layo and Bushwacka, Stacey Pullen and Damian Lazarus alongside head honcho Yousef for the birthday was a scintillating statement of intent, and the night didn’t fail to disappoint.

First up on the agenda was Detroit heavyweight Stacey Pullen, who’s playing to a half full loft by the time the soup sneaks in. Despite the relatively thin crowd, the atmosphere is intense, and blending a sweltering combination of soaring string drenched techno and bustling fidget house Pullen soon has the floor swelling in capacity - within half an hour it’s full. As Pullen’s chugging grooves entices more and more to demonstrate their boogie prowess, the room is turned awash with a sea of smiles and bouncing elbows. For somewhere that has taken a knock in the past about its clientele it’s refreshing to be part of the buzzing atmosphere, which is welcomingly devoid of attitude and aggro. In fact anger just doesn’t come into it as Pullen continues to push the energy levels higher and higher, with the crowd moving from innocent bystanders to gooey kneed putty in no time whatsoever. Here at the soup we’re a bit partial to crowd manipulation, and we stand around in awe at Pullen. Lifting our jaws from the floor, its time to savour the rest of the evening too.

After negotiating the cavernous corridors that envelope the barfly, we end up in the theatre, where ringmaster Yousef is fiercely coercing the crowd with a violent set of jacking house. As the main resident and founder of the club, the room is understandably bursting and lapping up every minute of his Chicago influenced set, with a heaving throng of sweaty people jostling to the robotic funk. Birthday parties don’t get much better than this, and when he drops the Jacob London remix of acid house classic ‘Pump up the volume’ the room erupts, intensifying the already electric nature of the evening. Engaging in a bit of crowd discussion, we come across someone who’s gushing about Yousef and Liverpool, and the fact that she’s seen every set he’s played at Circus this year. Soon enough our interviewee has scurried off to get nearer to the dancefloor (or so she says) and the soup is heading towards the bar. Beer always provides solace on such occasions.

Apart from being a quick and easy breather, the bar is in fact getting down to the minimal vibe of Damian Lazarus, rifling through the warpy European electronics which have dominated the Ibiza scene over the summer. It’s a groovy, mind-blowing concoction, and whilst it’s a lot darker than the other two rooms, it’s still going down well, but he’s not quite up to the heady heights of Yousef and Pullen. With the barfly’s living room status in its bar, lounging on the sofas takes on a new twist when the music is messing with your head that little bit more. The Soup ends up getting so lost within the music that soon enough its time for the doors to swing open and the nocturnal inhabitants to pursue more fun afterwards, but its going to take some topping. There was some mighty huffing and puffing on this candle extinguisher.