Over the past few years, Birmingham’s thriving dance scene has continually clashed with the local authorities. The Rainbow Venues’ fight to remain open is without doubt the most high-profile of these instances, but Secret City has been fighting its own battle throughout this struggle, finding it increasingly difficult to secure licences for their notoriously underground events. This is because the Secret City concept was founded on staging raves in abandoned buildings, a format that the police were keen to crack down on – but, in response to a deluge of fan mail, Secret City is back. It’s not quite the gritty, sweaty City rave of old, but Lab11 is a fitting new home for the brand, indisputably one of Digbeth’s most exciting independent spaces. But the more things change, the more they stay the same: the dress code is still all black, the music is still tech house and minimal, and the Secret City spirit is well and truly still alive.

Sat 7 April, Lab11, Trent Street, 10pm-4am, Tel: 0121 643 2422, from £11.25, www.skiddle.com