DJ Mag

9

9. Warehouse Project

Manchester certainly wears its musical heritage with pride. The city that spawned The Hacienda, Happy Mondays, New Order and A Guy Called Gerald has a lot to live up to when it comes to maintaining its enviable reputation as one of the UK's cornerstones of dance.

A hard act to follow? Not for rave chasm Warehouse Project, the semi-permanent club which takes up residence beneath Piccadilly train station from September through December, and for several other events throughout the year. Summoning Mancunia's most club-hardy, mad-fer-it denizens with line-ups that few others would have the cajones to even contemplate, Warehouse Project acts as a parasol under which other reputable club promotions and one-off nights can thrive.

So Luciano's Cadenza rubs shoulders with live gigs by Little Boots; Chibuku brings electro addicts Tiga and Mehdi to town; and Sasha & Digweed blast punters into the stratosphere with their tech prog beats. And it all happens in a massive carpark on Store Street, beneath the industrial clanking of the trains above - a space seemingly tailor-made for raving, and as close to an authentic warehouse vibe as you're likely to find today.

Born in 2006, Warehouse Project quickly outgrew its disused Bodington's Brewery venue origins. Today, WP manages to balance floor-filling commercial appeal with underground, experimental electronica, and all under one roof, though it's already setting its eyes further afield, curating the dance-focused Parklife Festival in Manchester this June.

Words: djmag

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