Review: Annie Mac Presents @ The Warehouse Project

Date: September 23rd 2011

Words: Jo Waddington

Excitement is rife in the vicinity of Store Street, and looking round it seems to be the first Warehouse Project for a lot of tonight’s revellers. Tonight’s event coincides with the close of Fresher’s Week so the night already has more of a ‘student vibe’ as opposed to the usual fayre, but it’s clear everyone is here for the same thing… one hell of a party.

The duo that took Ibizan dancefloors by storm, 2 Bears, indulge the crowd to an injection of top-notch house. Joe Goddard of Hot Chip and Greco-Roman Soundsystem’s Raf Rundell live up to the hype and buzz created over the summer by delivering a high energy set which included summer anthem ‘Bear Hug’ and new single ‘Gabriel’.

Labelled as one of the most exciting DJ’s in the UK, L-Vis 1990 (pictured) shakes things up with some dubstep, garage and electro. Usually known for a more ‘pop-house’ vibe, L-Vis delivered an impressive set, which mixed things up, while still keeping his signature basslines.

Ms Dynamite dishes out hit after hit onstage in her eye-catching glittery leggings. ‘It Takes more’, new single ‘Neva Soft’ and recent collaboration with Katy B, ‘Lights On’, receive a rapturous reception, however her lengthy onstage ‘rant’ grew tiresome. With most of the audience in the peak of their night, many started to rapidly recline when having to listen to Ms Dynamite continuously plug her Twitter account – luckily Annie Mac herself was on hand to raise the phoenix from the flames and remind us why she is a thorough Warehouse favourite.

From House to Drum n Bass and 2-Step to Electronic, Miss Mac played many a classic and kept a virile control over the crowd's dance moves. Her homage to DJ Mehdi, the stunningly talented French DJ who tragically died earlier this month was a highlight of the night. Mac paid a fitting tribute that was well received by all, especially the Warehouse regulars and organisers who had the pleasure to work with him over the years.

Despite curating and headlining the event, Annie leaves it up to Jack Beats to play out. A firm favourite of Kissy Sell Out and Herve, the U.K. DJ duo laid down a solid layer of fast beats and heavy bass and topped it off with a lot of synthesised noise. They did an awesome remix of the classic Tetris theme song that really got the dance floor moving. Annie Mac even crowd surfed during their set. They got the crowd in a state of riotous euphoria with their remix of Passion Pit’s ‘Little Secrets’. Never has a room had so much love!

Despite there being no time for an encore, the crowd are fittingly played out with the Beatles classic ‘All You Need Is Love’. As the chorus echoes and spills out into the street-lit roads of Manchester, we look forward to our next Warehouse installment.

Photos: Courtesy of the @WHP_mcr Twitter stream

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