Here at Ministry of Sound we may be about to celebrate ‘coming of age’ by reaching 16, but up in Liverpool the hugely important 3 Beat Records shop is reaching the even greater milestone of hitting 18 years old. (They can go out on the piss, vote in elections and buy/star in porn now, whereas us MoS not-so-sweet 16 whippersnappers can’t even buy a packet of fags these days!)

3 Beat is a UK clubland institution originally set up by Jon Barlow in 1989 when he was still a student. Back then, tracking down the latest club bangers was really tough (no newfangled downloads in those days). So the shop gained a reputation for bringing over the latest house music vinyl direct from Chicago, NYC and Italy and all the big name jocks shopped there, either in person when they came to Liverpool to DJ at places like Cream, or via mail order.

It’s a massive achievement that the shop is still flourishing today in the digital era so to mark the occasion, house legends Marshall Jefferson and vocalist Ce Ce Rogers are flying in this weekend for a special party at Liverpool’s Carling Academy. It’s on Saturday night and goes by the name of ‘Back To The Old Pool’, which leads us to expect a fair few classic tracks from the last 18 years. Go and get all misty eyed and enjoy a spot of proper crate-digging nostalgia while raising a glass or 3 to the future of vinyl emporiums like 3 Beat.