Whilst the rain was bouncing off the road outside, inside the sweat stuck to the walls and floor, the atmosphere was relentless. This was in no way a bad thing. Underneath the clean outlook of Piccadilly Station lies the Warehouse Project. This series of events marks 'The End of Store Street', as WHP do not have a licence for further events in 2012. This does not mark the end for future WHP events, but everyone agrees that Piccadilly Arches (a car park disguised as a venue) will be difficult to match. Nobody knows where the new venue will be, but we don't doubt for one second whether or not the Warehouse Project will return to Manchester.
It gets to midnight, some eager music fans are still in the queue underneath the arches of the station, waiting to pass the venues tight security. The police are waiting near the entrance with sniffer dogs, which is hardly surprising given dance musics' relationship with drugs. Walking inside, the heat smacked you in the face, the whole room was alive. The event had sold out weeks in advance, and this was evident as the audience of twenty-somethings filled the main room, side to side and front to back – there was no space to move. Warming up in the early hours of Sunday morning was a stellar line up of DJs. Just before the act that everyone had been waiting for arrived, David Rodigan took to the stage. With a love for reggae and dub, he got the crowd pumped. He finished his set with a sing-a-long to the likes of Bob Marley and Johnny Cash – a memory that will stick in my head for a long time. After an explosion of applause and a few moments of eerie silence, the lights went out making the packed venue almost pitch black. There was a sense of desperation and paranoia in the air as everyone awaited a somewhat late-running show from the one and only Nero.
By this point, perhaps it was safe to assume that the audience were quite drunk (or otherwise intoxicated). A huge platform made of wiring, television sets and other 'junk' was uncovered on stage. This was the debut of Nero's new lighting show. One larger screen had the iconic Nero logo in blue that lit up as soon as the intro kicked in. The dubstep duo launched straight into 'Doomsday', the first track from their #1 album, 'Welcome Reality'. From then in chaos ensued, as Nero provided some heavy bass accompanied with strobe lighting and lasers. They ran through some familiar material such as 'Innocence' and 'Guilt' (with Alana on vocals), and also their new single, 'Crush on You'. This was the first time Nero had returned to the north west since 'The Dubstep Symphony' – a Radio 1 event which marked the opening of Media City UK, in Salford. This was an experiment which fused the Nero dubstep sounds with a classical music set up. It was interesting to hear the opening bars of the hit single 'Me and You' played by a string section of an orchestra back in June, but at the Warehouse Project the sound was more whole. The bass could be felt throughout the almost circular main room, and the vocals of Alana were almost drowned out by fans singing every word of what was the last song of the set.
Those that left after Nero had finished felt as if they had woke up from some form of dream-like state, leaving those that stayed to party through till sunrise. The Warehouse Project continues for what is left of 2011 before the last event on New Years Day. Highlights include Aphex Twin, Skream & Benga, Skrillex, and James Blake. http://www.thewarehouseproject.com/calendar.php
Review by Zach Roddis
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