True to Manchester, the Friday night of Bonobo’s The North Borders Tour, it was raining ad infinitum! That didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits though, the city was busy and The Noise Gate were on their way to the Warehouse Project, a return back to Store Street once more.
Having made the round trip back to Store Street just before their new venue next year, the WHP have seen this season been packed out with sold out show after sold out show, nothing unusual there though, however this night boasted what was more of a gig vibe than a club night, so how did it hold out?
We entered with Dauwd just coming on in the second room, and it’s safe to say the majority of the capacity venue was in there! Spinning a fast-paced deep mix with plenty of oomph, it was instantly impressive and a great start to the night. Dauwd threw new tracks in like ‘Saleh’ and mixed them up with older cuts like his smashing dub edit of ‘Silverse’. Dauwd definitely got the energy levels right, the room was packed and brimming with all sorts of dance moves, karate chops next to belly dancing… the WHP crowd certainly are a varied bunch of people.
The next couple of hours were mixed up between a rare Gold Panda appearance and a DJ set from one half of Mount Kimbie. Gold Panda with his glitzy and ethereal music, with a twist of haziness for good measure, was setting things off with a big cheer when he opened up with ‘You’, and the vibe of the crowd was still full of energy with Gold Panda’s music booming out of the speakers full of bass and bells through most of his set, although more sombre tracks like ‘Brazil’ mellowed things out and had everyone singing along to it’s vinyl crackling sample.
Dominic Maker aka one half of Mount Kimbie, had a record bag full of all sorts, playing everything from disco to grime, keeping the ambience quite in-tune with Gold Panda in the main room. For those that hadn’t wondered off to get in early for Bonobo, there was a final treat of King Krule’s ‘Easy Easy’, which was sung by a whole bunch of dedicated fans that knew every lyric. Dedicated in that the second room now had dwindled down to the latter and some wondering souls, expected though as the headliner was on in only a couple of minutes.
Bonobo has been touring extensively with his live band since The North Borders dropped last year, with the awesome Flashlight EP on its way in early December and some cracking remixes for the likes of Maya Jane Coles. Simon Green has been in high demand and is easily one of Ninja Tune’s prized artists! Opening with ‘Cirrus’ the packed out main room started jumping up and down, people literally seeping out the sides of the arched entrances as everyone clapped, shouted and whistled!
Things did slow down a big notch though as the band went into full swing, this wasn’t about flashing lights and big bass now… it was all about live instruments and warm hues. Smiling faces were ubiquitous when tracks like ‘Recurring’ and ‘The Keeper’ were played out, but so was the feeling that things had definitely slowed down, put simply the vibe had changed and Bonobo should have been on earlier. The majority stayed for the bulk of his set, and hats off to his drummer and the rest of the band for getting the energy back up later on, but by the end of it, when Bonobo and his band dispersed of stage… so did nearly all the crowd.
An absolute shame if you ask me as Illum Sphere is one of Manchester’s premiere talents and rising stars, I guess he can’t really be labelled as rising though, he’s pretty much out there now. Those that stuck around got an eclectic mix of what you can expect from the latest Fabric released IS mixed up, fair enough he did what he could and this guy is still one to see this coming Saturday in Manchester itself at The Roadhouse with Hoya Hoya!
