Roots Manuva / Magnetic Man / The Bug

The Warehouse Project has changed somewhat from last year. For a start there are two rooms now, though that became an annoyance more that anything, but more on that later. The addition of a revamped seating area is a very welcome change. On the left hand side there is now a huge area dedicated to deck chairs, benches, soft lighting and drunken attempts at conversation. Being as the Warehouse was the highlight of Manchester clubbing last year these changes could only make this event better.

The first act I saw was The Bug, who swept his dark beats under Flowdan's deep vocals to mesmerizing effect. Early on he dropped his remix of Thom Yorke's 'Harrowdown Hill', giving a small break from Flowdan's more aggressive MC style. 'Jah War', the single from his album 'London Zoo', which has Flowdan featured in the recording, played close to the end of the set brought the energy that would be maintained throughout the night. The crowd loved it. We were off to a good start.

Magnetic Man, AKA Skream and Benga, played what would have been a blistering set; An onslaught of heavy dub step tunes that had the crowd convulsing involuntarily. Losing yourself entirely during this set, though, was not as easy as it has been in the past with these guys. Apparently they have some new skills in their palette, their laptops playing a much more integral role in the music this time round, in taking away, adding and generally chopping the music in what is admittedly a skilful addition, but the sheer amount this was happening made getting totally engrossed difficult. Just as you were getting into a trance, letting the music wash over you, a flurry of fills and scratches and bleeps would interrupt and pull you straight back out of it.

It was after this, and after listening to some of Rich Reason, Manchester's local drum 'n' bass DJ, that I decided to look around. The seating area, like I said, is a very welcome improvement, being just far enough away from the stage to allow conversation, but too far that you feel isolated, or can't listen out for the arrival of a particular act. The other room, however, seems quite unwelcome. For a start the names in each room are both amazing, which means making some awkward decisions. For example Boxcutter played at the same time as Roots Manuva, which all but broke my heart.

Aside from that, the room was fairly empty all night, suggesting that what people love about the warehouse, and it's certainly what I love about it, is the feeling of being underground and together with so many people who appreciate coming out for good music. Having just one sound system at one end of a huge underground warehouse made the experience unique. The addition of another room makes it feel too much like a club.

At last we come to the Roots Manuva. Striding on stage with the experience of six albums under his belt, he demanded attention. From talking to people in there and afterwards it seems that a many were not all that excited about seeing songs from the newest album, 'Slime and Reason' but that was but a small portion of what was played. There were some old favourites like 'Witness (1 Hope)' and 'Dreamy Days' that plastered grins ear wide all over the bobbing faces of the attentive audience. I doubt any fan would have been disappointed with what was played. There were, however, some minor problems that have stopped this from being an immaculate review. It would have been better if the two huge screens either side of the stage were used more. The visuals were unimpressive, but perhaps a camera could have been set up so that smaller people in the crowd could see Roots Manuva himself, which does add so much more to the experience.

Overall the night was great. It's still the best place to be in Manchester and the quality of acts is a grade above the average Drum 'n' Bass / Dub Step night. I just wish they would do something about the drink prices...

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.