I attended the Modeselektor / Rudimental double weekender at Warehouse recently and reviewed the latter for Artrocker! My flatmate also met Andy C and nearly cried with joy but that is for a whooole other time; it was fun, sweaty and warpy- you can read my words over here or scroll below!
Rudimental presents... @ WHP
2013 sees the now world-celebrated line-ups of Manchester’s Warehouse Project, still only in infancy at it’s Victoria Warehouse Old Trafford home, hit an all-time high- but it’s not as if we expected anything less than superiority. With note-worthy bills uniting music legends and fresh faces off the block, we here in the Artrocker camp headed off to our first official outing of the season where love-ins, Craig David and see-it-to-believe-it talent supervened…
Wriggling into the massive five-thousand strong capacity venue , security has always been a high priority on the agenda here and in light of recent headlines (That shouldn't be the be-all-and-end-all to tar seasons with, may I add.), I personally, can say I've never felt so safe nor welcomed in the past. With security staff tripled (and armed with hilarious conversation), sniffer dogs multiplied and free water for revellers, there is a cooperative sense of wholeness between everyone involved and whether it is your first or fiftieth visit, excitement and anticipation still runs rife. These nights are where stuff of legend materializes without warning or pre-conception.
Cryptic London duo Snakehips were first on our schedule in the ambitiously colossal main room with their balmy electronica, fusing remixes for next-up Bondax and late-nineties’ r&b classics (Kp & Envyi, anyone?), enrapturing 80’s Vice City-esque visuals of blunts and bling sculpted across a multitude of screens throughout, for a fully-immersive audio-visual experience. Yet Snakehips’s early releases are where their production flairs really shine through. ‘On & On’ accumulates with waves of plush, glossiness thanks to George Maple’s vocal callings, whilst chopped beats sound drenched as if they stem from a warmer climate than the duo’s native Camden. Then there is the hyperactive ‘Make It’ with super-speed impressions sampled from Mary J Blige’s ‘Just Fine’, wrestling with punchy bass-heavy beats to create rousing proficiency. They aren't exactly trying to innovate an already saturated genre of tinged “future bass”, yet adding their individual catchy imprint is undoubtedly party music to take notice of.
Adorning the stage with their ever-amplifying presence next up was the Lancaster coupling of Bondax. This particular ‘Rudimental Presents…’ evening revealed itself as one of the first across the calendar to sell out and the age old debate (Not to mention uncomfortability) of whether the in-house organisers’ had actually over-sold the event cropped up across many attendees’ we spoke to- and was an attribute of which was highly noticeable. As the one-way system became increasingly swelled a little after eleven and entry into the main room became something of an unbearable task, we managed to maneuver ourselves in just in time for these now-seasoned producers to blow us away.
Playing out re-fits of close collaborators Aluna George’s ‘You Know You Like It’ construed out into an indescribable influx of marathon dimensions, an almost unrecognizable yet brilliant melancholic presentation of Brandy & Monica’s ‘The Boy Is Mine’ also spiralled off, as the fact that these boys perform way older than their years has been widely reported- and rightly so. Scoping our way through to catch DJ EZ’s set albeit at an early rate, we unexpectedly stumbled into Buraka Som Sistema’s DJ set, booming out of a vibrating room two. The usually African-influenced Portuguese group span an admirable wave of UK Garage including Artful Doger’s ‘Re-Rewind’, causing an upsurge of rapture unlike any other- yet- of the night.
Spot-on midnight garage aficionado DJ EZ took to the decks to completely smash the titanic crowd ensuing. Fusing the benchmark of Missy Elliot’s ‘Get Ur Freak On’ with current cheeky French Montana releases, as well as a whole load of cleverly spun indie anthems that exceeded at least 110bmp, EZ not only held his own among the evidently unfamiliar crowd, yet managed to completely blow the roof off and astound visitors to the site.
Here is the thing about us writers- opinion does form some critical reception, to suggest otherwise would be blatant fiction, no matter how much we try and deny it, it’s in our human nature. Yet one thing is for certain; I’m no drum and bass fan but there is no one as unrivalled, prestigious and technically talented in the genre than Andy C. The Ram Records head honcho bought GQ along to assist in keeping the on looking “warriors” parading the front row into a militant throng of pounding limbs and stamina. Caning drum-&-bass-meets-jungle Friction remixes of Jonny L’s ‘Back To Your Roots’, A quint of Chase and Status smash-hits and a whole host of Shy Fx and Wilkinson; this was literally a paradise of go-hard proportions. Enlisting renowned multiple deck strategies, lengthy sets and an appreciation for not only the tracks projecting out but also his fans, all collectively assist in confirming the attributes of which ensure that Andy C remains at the pinnacle of dexterity.
Words by Yours Truly / Images by WHP (via here) X
Wriggling into the massive five-thousand strong capacity venue , security has always been a high priority on the agenda here and in light of recent headlines (That shouldn't be the be-all-and-end-all to tar seasons with, may I add.), I personally, can say I've never felt so safe nor welcomed in the past. With security staff tripled (and armed with hilarious conversation), sniffer dogs multiplied and free water for revellers, there is a cooperative sense of wholeness between everyone involved and whether it is your first or fiftieth visit, excitement and anticipation still runs rife. These nights are where stuff of legend materializes without warning or pre-conception.
Cryptic London duo Snakehips were first on our schedule in the ambitiously colossal main room with their balmy electronica, fusing remixes for next-up Bondax and late-nineties’ r&b classics (Kp & Envyi, anyone?), enrapturing 80’s Vice City-esque visuals of blunts and bling sculpted across a multitude of screens throughout, for a fully-immersive audio-visual experience. Yet Snakehips’s early releases are where their production flairs really shine through. ‘On & On’ accumulates with waves of plush, glossiness thanks to George Maple’s vocal callings, whilst chopped beats sound drenched as if they stem from a warmer climate than the duo’s native Camden. Then there is the hyperactive ‘Make It’ with super-speed impressions sampled from Mary J Blige’s ‘Just Fine’, wrestling with punchy bass-heavy beats to create rousing proficiency. They aren't exactly trying to innovate an already saturated genre of tinged “future bass”, yet adding their individual catchy imprint is undoubtedly party music to take notice of.
Adorning the stage with their ever-amplifying presence next up was the Lancaster coupling of Bondax. This particular ‘Rudimental Presents…’ evening revealed itself as one of the first across the calendar to sell out and the age old debate (Not to mention uncomfortability) of whether the in-house organisers’ had actually over-sold the event cropped up across many attendees’ we spoke to- and was an attribute of which was highly noticeable. As the one-way system became increasingly swelled a little after eleven and entry into the main room became something of an unbearable task, we managed to maneuver ourselves in just in time for these now-seasoned producers to blow us away.
Spot-on midnight garage aficionado DJ EZ took to the decks to completely smash the titanic crowd ensuing. Fusing the benchmark of Missy Elliot’s ‘Get Ur Freak On’ with current cheeky French Montana releases, as well as a whole load of cleverly spun indie anthems that exceeded at least 110bmp, EZ not only held his own among the evidently unfamiliar crowd, yet managed to completely blow the roof off and astound visitors to the site.
Here is the thing about us writers- opinion does form some critical reception, to suggest otherwise would be blatant fiction, no matter how much we try and deny it, it’s in our human nature. Yet one thing is for certain; I’m no drum and bass fan but there is no one as unrivalled, prestigious and technically talented in the genre than Andy C. The Ram Records head honcho bought GQ along to assist in keeping the on looking “warriors” parading the front row into a militant throng of pounding limbs and stamina. Caning drum-&-bass-meets-jungle Friction remixes of Jonny L’s ‘Back To Your Roots’, A quint of Chase and Status smash-hits and a whole host of Shy Fx and Wilkinson; this was literally a paradise of go-hard proportions. Enlisting renowned multiple deck strategies, lengthy sets and an appreciation for not only the tracks projecting out but also his fans, all collectively assist in confirming the attributes of which ensure that Andy C remains at the pinnacle of dexterity.
Words by Yours Truly / Images by WHP (via here) X
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