image: Sebastian Matthew
The Warehouse Project is back, and it’s safe to say that The Noise Gate’s first visit of the season went off with a bang.
For one year only, The Warehouse Project has returned to its spiritual home of Store Street – which surely couldn’t be any better of a situation for Duke Dumont who made his WHP debut last Saturday.
Since the chart-topping success of singles ‘Need U (100%)’ and ‘I Got U’, the Duke has become one of the leading lights of a new house-crossover sound. Supporting him on the night were the likes of prolific remixer Cyril Hahn and Austrian trio Klangkarussell. We also got to witness sets from French Express’ Jonas Rathsman and Isaac Tichauer.
Starting proceedings in room 1 was Jax Jones who is probably best known for his part in Duke Dumont’s smash “I Got U”. Having not known much about Jax, his set was pleasantly surprising, giving the crowd the perfect warm up for the rest of the night.
Next up, and over in room 2, we waited for Friend Within – a guy I have been looking forward to seeing again for quite some time and someone whose sets never fail to impress. It must be said that his set was probably one of the most exciting of the night. How effortlessly Friend Within mixed throughout the set to keep the crowd moving was genius in itself and a clear example of why he is touted as one of the hottest production/DJ talents on the scene. I mean, not many can he boast collaborating with Disclosure as well as having a catalogue of hit reworks featuring artists such as Banks and Naughty Boy!
Although we had every intention of leaving Friend Within’s set a little early to make it back to room 1 for Duke Dumont we didn’t. So, arriving a litte bit into the set we were greeted by a packed crowd who all seemed to be having the time of their life – and it was easy to see why.
Duke Dumont played an hour long live set of bass driven house, indicative of the label ascribed to him as being a revitalizing artist for the reborn garage scene, through to warped electronica as well as more straight up flavours; the set was heady and fast-paced, offering the audience little in the way of let-up. The biggest reactions came when Duke Dumont played his own tracks.
Such is the standard of his own productions, there was a distinct difference in comparison to other artist tracks he had chosen for inclusion in his set, and they seemed bland and repetitive in comparison. I mean, any tracks following dance-floor bombs such as ‘The Giver’ will struggle. Duke Dumont’s mixing was incredibly slick, as you would expect after years of honing his craft.
To end the night we went back to room 2 to see Jonas Rathsman and Isaac Tichauer. An integral member of the French Express crew declared ‘Future Star of 2013’ by BBC Radio 1’s key dance gatekeeper, Pete Tong, Jonas Rathsman seemed to burst from nowhere with huge Summer anthem ‘Bringing You Down’. Together with Isaac Tichauer their sets oozed soul and moody bass-lines which were infused with classic and contemporary house schemes to keep everyone moving until the end.
With outstanding music on offer and it’s return to Store Street we can’t wait for the next one. If this party is anything to go by, the rest of the season is going to be big!
