Store Street, Manchester. A road name which, 5 years ago, was probably unknown to most Mancunians and certainly unknown to the wider world. Fast forwards and it is now world famous. Not for the street itself but more for the activities which have taken place in a large indoor carpark every weekend for the past 5 autumns. This is the home of The Warehouse Project- although not for much longer.

In the initial conception of the Warehouse Project (WHP), it was intended to change the site each year- to find a new large and novel space to fill with huge parties and the biggest nights Manchester had seen. The initial run in the condemned Boddington’s Brewery, although fun, was fraught with complaints about the sound quality, as I’m sure many will still testify. In the WHP’s second year they brought the events to a car park underneath Piccadilly Train Station. It was large, but well covered, offered plenty of room to expand the size and capcity, and the brick arches construction offered superb sound reinforcement. All these ingredients proved a  perfect recipe and the nomadic concept was cast aside- until now. 

 After 5 years in its adopted home, this year’s WHP was announced as the last to be held at the now iconic venue- a new venue will be found in 2012. More likely one which can offer the promoters opportunity to sell even more tickets, as the parties now sell out extremely quickly, and put on even bigger line-ups as a result. It was a sombre note to announce it on, but one which made sure many people wouldn’t pass up the chance for a final party within those walls.

The opening night, ‘The Beginning of the End’, had as good a line-up as we’ve come to expect over the years. Each WHP has thrown surprises into the mix, to compliment the standard parties we expect every year. Last year saw MF Doom doing a midweek live show, for example. This year the series opened with a headline show from the legendary DJ Shadow, with support from SBTRKT and new residents Hudson Mohawke and Skream (how many UK clubs can boast resident DJs of that quality!?).

SBTRKT was performing a DJ set and managed to fit in most of his eclectic styles. Whilst watching him a friend of mine asked me what genre I would put him into and I couldn’t answer him, always a sign of a great electronic artist; “He’s just SBTRKT” was all I could offer.

Shadow was to follow and the stage was set up for his performance- DJ Shadow: Inside the Shadowsphere. It is truly something to behold. In the middle of the stage there is a large white sphere, about 3m high, Shadow appears, say’s a quick hello to the crowd and gets inside from the back. The music starts up and the sphere and screen behind it are transformed. Strategically positioned projectors turn the plain white into a visual treat- one of the best I have witnessed, in fact. The sphere is suddenly a globe, it spins round and zooms in on Manchester. Images representing the city pop up, clearly the visuals are adapted to every show- a nice touch- and all the while some seriously heavy beats are pumping out. 

Over his career, DJ Shadow has switched styles and influences a few times, for better and worse. While Endtroducing will always remain a truly seminal, game-changing piece of work, his new material is very exciting. Industrial sounding, heavy hip hop breaks with throbbing bass build-up to an unexpected twist, a doubling of tempo turns the pieces to a Drum and Bass rinse out showing a clear Jungle influence on the new material. The sea of people in front of him look stunned, but take to it with raised arms and go crazy. Such is the quality of the music that I am left mystified as to why he hasn’t made Drum and Bass before when he’s clearly a natural!

And so the rollercoaster continues, up and down to varying tempos, but all with expertly crafted percussion, nobody knows what’s coming next and it is exciting! During a breakdown piece the visual sphere spins round on its axis, the open back switching to the front and showing our man inside. Shadow is at a table surrounded by equipment, from what I can gather there are decks, mixers, samplers, electronic drum kits and pads a plenty- this is clearly more than a DJ show. Shadow confirms this to the crowd on a well-placed microphone, “Nowadays too many DJs get on stage and press play on their hard drives. I wanted to do something different. To perform my music for you all.” The sentiment is correct and embraced by the fans. A couple of tunes are played out with a full view of the DJ and you can see the work involved, switching from scratching to playing on the electronic cymbals and drums to tapping out new rhythms on a sampler. I didn’t need think I could have much more respect for an artist of this calibre, but he certainly commanded more with this show!

After the show, many people left, clearly only here to see one man. This was a slight disrespect towards the next acts and it was their loss really. Hudson Mohawke played out a quality, eclectic set, from heavy dubstep to L’il Wayne, a sign of great things to come from this hotly tipped artist. To finish we had a storming set from the one and only Skream, and with Sgt Pokes on MC duties it was only going to be great. The remaining crowd flocked towards the front and surged with enthusiasm. Skream is a man well on top of his game at the moment and seems to have the world, and every crowd, in his palm. Pokes kept the crowd energy at a crest throughout in a way that defines his reputation as the top dubstep MC.

It was a fitting start to the WHP 2011, a mixture of eclecticism and weightiness, surprises and familiar faces. It’s these qualities which have kept Store Street in peoples minds for the past 5 years, and there’s more than a few more late nights in store before the doors are closed for good on January 2^nd!