The end of 2011 brought the curtain down on one of Manchester’s iconic venues. Five years ago the mere thought of an underground car park becoming one of the worlds premiere dance music venues would’ve been considered an extremely unlikely (if not unhinged) proposal, but the Warehouse Project have made sure that the Store Street venue will go down in Mancunian clubbing folklore; and 2011 saw possibly the strongest line-ups ever fill the place again & again over its’ 12 week tenure. Following on from DJ Shadow’s opening party Annie Mac brought an eclectic extravaganza that included great live sets from L-Vis 1990, Ms Dynamite plus a storming session from Jack Beats.

A fortnight later, one of the biggest events on the WHP calendar; the Ape Birthday night. Ape has consistently brought the best showcase of bass-heavy acts to the Warehouse and truly topped themselves this year. Rinse FM’s Oneman kicked things off, his DJ sets span all genres and are perfect to start any party. Then the highlight for myself had to be Hip Hop legends Naughty by Nature who had the crowd bouncing to classic tracks like ‘OPP’. This is what the WHP is all about, acts you’d never see in another club setting. An education in dub followed from David Rodigan. This man truly deserved his recent MBE for dedication to teaching the youth about dub culture. A culmination of beats from Caspa, Nero and the Digital Soundboy crew topped off the night perfectly. Look out for the return of Ape @ the Apollo February 10th!

By mid-October Hospitality brought their all-star show to town. WHP 2012’s first proper D&B spectacle saw a huge album launch from Camo & Krooked, performing live inside a huge cylindrical light-covered cage. High Contrast and London Elektricity proceeded with customary storming sets. The pinnacle of the night had to be the final set from Logistics. This guy quite often falls under the radar compared to some of his flashier Hospital compatriots but on his day there are few better drum & bass DJs on the planet.

My next trip to Store St. was for the mighty Metropolis. There are few promoters of similar stature in the country when it comes to DnB and dubstep and this was going to be their 9^th birthday bash. The main room featured the likes of Sub Focus, Knife Party and True Tiger demonstrating the huge pulling power of big electronic acts these days, and the huge light shows they tour with. The true spectacle of the evening however was Room 2, featuring a big local line-up. The Manchester room was an absolute roadblock for the entire night as we were treated to performances from Virus Syndicate, Jenna G, Chimpo & Trigga, North Base, The Steppahs, Karmic Evolution and Tonn Piper! A true showing of our home city’s wealth of talent!

The 18^th and 19^th November provided potentially the heaviest weekend from this years’ calendar. Aphex Twin headlined Thrasher on Friday (reviewed separately here) in the only disappointment of the season, Saturday saw a debut from club giant Fabric. It is surely a sign of the reputation of WHP when a huge London-based club brand wants to curate a night here. It was a good show too from the southerners as they brought Andy C’s ‘Alive’ tour to Manchester! The Executioner takes drum & bass to the next level, combining his usual 3 deck madness with a hugely impressive visual show, probably the best set witnessed at Store St. this year.

In December there was possibly the most interesting line-up on the list. Always ending up as a highlight of the Warehouse Project, this year’s Modeselektion night was on the back of their first proper album in 4 years and what an album! If we combine that with a rare appearance from the legendary Squarepusher, plus DJ sets from Four-Tet, Pearson Sound, and an eye-catchingly-labelled 130bpm set from Skream... The night that followed did not disappoint; Skream showed his talents extend beyond mainstream dubstep; Modeselektor took the crowd on a bouncy journey through their new material, transcending sound and tempo; Squarepusher was his typical breaks & glitches, sonically-emphatic self. Nobody failed to impress!

Overall we’ve seen a fitting finale at the Store St venue. Over the past 5 years virtually every major name in dance music has graced a stage beneath these arches, etching many memories into a thousand clubbers minds. The Warehouse Project will be moving onto bigger and better things in 2012, of that there is no doubt, but I’m sure I won’t be the only one who, despite the queues and crowds, the dirt, dust and sweat, will miss that misused & abused car park.