Held at Store Street, in a disused space beneath Piccadilly Station – a car park the rest of the year round – Manchester’s Warehouse Project has been the largest, most ambitious annual series of clubnights since its inception in 2006. This owes not only to its novel setting but also to its high profile billings; innumerable massive mainstream and leftfield artists/DJs rule over what becomes a unique half-concert, half-rave. Sad news, however: this year’s sees the end of the event as we know it – the final year of the Warehouse Project at Store Street. The implication is that it will emerge in a new setting in the future with an entirely new vibe - if your glass is half-full, this is an exciting turn of events – but this venue is going to be missed by countless in any case.
The Project has been well under way for the best part of a month now, opening with such treats as an extravagant audiovisual display from the landmark DJ Shadow, a set from a giant of dubstep in Skream, and the first of numerous appearance from Warp’s Glaswegian post-turntablist Hudson Mohawke. The last show of September also saw a performance from three-time MOBOer Ms Dynamite,fresh from a summer’s festival-hopping.
Where next? October 7th sees a headline slot from huge UK dance-cum-house-cum-disco producer Calvin Harris, having finished a large Australian tour with Rihanna, and Chicago House second waver Felix Da Housecat (aka Thee Maddkatt Courtship, aka Aphrohead, aka Sharkimaxx) will drop a set of his distinctive electroclash in support.
The Horrors curate and headline the 15th October show, also playing host to performances from the special garage guests The Kills and intense electro-goth post-punk trio Factory Floor.
The 22nd is ministered by Hospitality – a leading UK drum ‘n’ bass night brought to us by leading UK drum ‘n’ bass label Hospital Records. Several stalwarts of the genre – including High Contrast, London Electricity and DJ Marky – come together for this particularly special edition of the night, in an optimal rave setting.
Four Tet seems to do more DJ sets than he does live shows, but thankfully Warehouse Project is treated to both at various points, and on October 29th he shares a bill with The xx frontman and prolific remixer Jamie xx.
November 18th, dubbed Thrasher, is perhaps the biggest deal, as the warehouse is graced by the presence of post-rave demi-god Richard D. James. Last month appearing in Poland with Jonny Greenwood and Krzysztof Penderecki, and earlier in the summer playing Barcelona’s Sonar Galicia with Tyondai Braxton and Chris Cunningham, Aphex Twin will provide a characteristically unpredictable show at the top of the Thrasher bill. Joining him will be, once more, Hudson Mohawke, XXXY, and Koreless.
Belgian electronica label R&S (who have actually released Aphex in the past) have a showcase night on 26th November, headlined by this year’s hot button James Blake (Mercury-nominated, BRIT-nominated, BBC Sound of 2011-nominated), who will also being DJing earlier in the night, and London alt-dubstep duo Mount Kimbie. Another treat to look out for here is the woozy, ambient instrumental hip-hop of Nottingham’s incredibly prolific Lone. (Nine albums; five years).
Approaching the end of the run, the second Friday in December is Modeselektion. As one would guess, Modeselektor are our principal act, but we have supporting the equally if not more well known Squarepusher, a 130BPM set from Skream, another Four Tet DJ set, another Hudson Mohawke set, and the euphoric progressive house of D/R/U/G/S.
When we hit 2012 the world ends (the world of Store Street Warehouse Project). The event is sure to go out with the bang it deserves, and we look forward to its future incarnations, sure to be of similar if not higher quality.