This morning the iconic Manchester party series The Warehouse Project (WHP) has revealed its final show for its 2023 season.
The final show is an absolute corker, seeing the series conclude with a curated show from Leeds-born, Manchester-bred record producer, DJ, and songwriter Nia Archives on Friday 8 December.
The BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year has put together a belting line-up, bringing together the likes of Shy FX, Skream, underground UKG and Asian revivalist Yung Singh, a debut Special Request B2B Clipz, and more for the series’ final show of the season.
Awarded BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year last year, Nia Archives is set to return this season with her very own debut curated show at The Warehouse Project, UP YA ARCHIVES.
Image: Nia Archives
Image: Nia Archives
No stranger to the Depot Mayfield domain, Nia Archives released a spooky ‘Off Wiv Ya Headz’ remix of Yeah Yeah Yeah’s ‘Heads Will Roll’ earlier this year which was born out of her Halloween set at The Warehouse Project last season.
ADVERTISEMENT
A true champion of the DIY spirit and one of dance music’s most exciting prospects, Nia Archives is set to bring her unique sonic palette to the warehouse – taking over the three stages of Depot, Concourse, and Archive.
Joining Nia on the nightwill be the UK’s finest and freshest talents across DnB, jungle, dubstep, and UKG – including the likes of Shy FX, Skream, Yung Singh, Interplanetary Criminal, salute, a special debut b2b set from Clipz and Special Request, and more announced below.
Commenting on her first UP YA ARCHIVES at The Warehouse Project, Nia Archives, said: “Am so buzzin to curate ‘UP YA ARCHIVES’ at The Warehouse Project in December!!
“Manchester is a special place to me and am so gassed I’ve got to book so many of ma favourite artists + DJ’s to play alongside me, can’t wait! Tickets on sale Friday @ 10am!!”
ADVERTISEMENT
The Warehouse Project and Sports Banger collaboration
Image: Sports Banger
The Warehouse Project has also announced this morning that it has joined forces with London’s independent label and provocateur Sports Banger, which has taken the party and fashion scenes by storm since its conception in 2013.
This 2023 season marks an exciting collaboration as founder, curator, and raver Jonny Banger has designed a capsule collection for WHP23 merchandise.
The Sports Banger x WHP23 merchandise will drop as a limited run featuring heavyweight hoodies and crewneck t-shirts.
Clothing will be available to purchase on-site from this weekend, Friday 29 September, at WHP merchandise stall across the remaining shows this season. Some proceeds from the sales will go to charity partners – Manchester South Central Foodbank and Mad Dogs Homeless Project.
This year also sees Sports Banger embark on a new project as the genre-defying, boundary-breaking fashion collective is set to publish an illustration book Sports Banger: Lifestyle of the poor, rich & famous to celebrate the irreverent brand’s first ten years featuring archive images and essays. The book is due for release on October 26.
Commenting on the collaboration, the man behind Sports Banger, Jonny Banger, said: “This is an exciting project for us, to collaborate with one of the UK’s long-standing club series.
“We look forward to launching the first capsule collection for WHP23 which features some core Sports Banger designs with a nod to The Warehouse Project and its home city Manchester.”
Featured image – Nia Archives
Audio
Hip-hop, soul and R’n’B legend Mary J Blige is coming to Manchester for a massive arena show
Danny Jones
Manchester is getting ready to welcome a global icon of hip-hop, soul, pop and R’n’B as Mary J Blige is set to put on a massive arena show.
With a music career spanning more than 30 years, Mary J Blige is an absolute legend of the American music scene, with nine GRAMMY Awards and nearly 40 nominations, along with a plethora of BET, Billboard, and AMA nods over the years.
Currently on ‘The For My Fans Tour’, jetting quite literally all over and recently adding on even more dates, not only has London been given some love, but so has Greater Manchester – and rightly so.
Announcing the special one-off show and Co-op Live debut this Wednesday, 16 April, Mary J Blige won’t have to wait too long to be part of the ‘Family Affair’.
The 54-year-old from New York will be coming to the state-of-the-art, one of the biggest indoor entertainment venues in all of Europe, in just a few months’ time.
On top of the already well-established AO Arena, this is the pedigree of truly worldwide artists that Co-op Live was built to further attract – and it looks to be working.
It’s been the best part of a decade since she was last in these parts, so she’s sure to get a huge reception.
While most audiences in the likes of North America have been treated to fellow R’n’B favourite Ne-Yo, those watching Ms Blige will be keeping things domestic as long-standing London collective and producers, Soul II Soul, will be joining her for the show.
‘Back to life, back to reality…’
So there you have it! Mary J Blige will be coming to Manchester on Friday, 4 July 2025, with her own pre-sale going live at 10am on Thursday, 24 April, but Co-op members can get there even earlier, with the venue’s early access available from the same time the day before.
As for general admission, you can get ready to grab your tickets HERE from 10am on Friday, 25 April.
Fri 18 April – London, UK – OVO Arena Wembley (Sean Paul, Ashanti and Big Joe)
Sat 19 April – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
Sun 20 April – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
22 April – Cardiff, UK – Utilita Arena
23 April – Brighton, UK – Brighton Centre (Sean Paul ONLY)
24 April – Bournemouth, UK – BIC (Sean Paul ONLY)
Sean Paul and Ashanti tickets for AO Arena gig
Just like Ashanti’s 2002 hit, you’d have been ‘Foolish’ not to get tickets when they first came out, however, there’s still a chance for you to ‘Get Busy’ like Sean Paul’s ‘02 throwback.
There’s a limited run of tickets left throughout the venue, including standing, seated and even an option to watch the show from ‘The Mezz’ if you’re after a VIP experience – AllHERE.
There’s no official setlist yet, however, if you consider the past selection of hits from their previous separate gigs, fans are in for a jam-packed night.
Sean Paul:
So Fine
Get Busy
Ever Blazin’
Cheap Thrills
Baby Boy
Bailando
Hot Gyal Today
Infiltrate
Breathe/ Make It Clap
Give It Up To Me
Got 2 Luv U
Mad Love
No Lie
Boasty
Love Me Ladies
Tip Pon It
Volcano
Bring It
Greatest
I’m Still In Love
Light My Fire
Punkie
Rockabye
Like Glue
Deport Them
Trumpets
She Doesn’t Mind
Temperature
Ashanti:
Happy
Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)
Mesmerise
Only U
Baby
Southside
Down 4 U
Body On Me
What’s Luv?
Ain’t It Funny
Always On Time
Foolish
What are the stage times for Sean Paul and Ashanti in Manchester?
AO Arena has a curfew of 11pm; anyone attending this link-up of a lifetime can enjoy their night knowing they’ll be ‘Ever Blazin” after a full night’s sleep.
Doors for the ‘Bring It Tour’ are scheduled for 6pm with a kick-off time of 7pm, with no confirmed or mentioned support acts as of yet.
For those of you heading to AO Arena, luckily, it’s connected to Manchester Victoria Station and it has an integrated Metrolink stop to make your life even easier.
Head along the pink, light blue or yellow lines directly to the Victoria stop, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Train
Considering this live entertainment venue is situated right in the middle of one of Manchester’s most frequented stations, concertgoers should find no problem getting to the arena wherever they are.
Bus
A variety of buses cover AO Arena andVictoria Station on their route, such as the 2 bus, which stops just a one-minute walk away from the venue.
A full list of buses and their routes can be found HERE.
ADVERTISEMENT
Getting there by car and parking
The Arena has its own official CitiPark, with 958 car parking spaces including 40 Blue Badge parking bays, which can be booked in advance.
Alternatively, anyone attending a gig can park at their nearest train station and jump on a train service or the various Metrolink park and ride facilities.
Walk/cycle
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app.
ADVERTISEMENT
About the AO Arena
The AO Arena has a few strict policies to keep gig-goers safe, so make sure to check entry requirements carefully before you travel.
For example, only one small bag per person is allowed, and bags like backpacks, travel cases and laptop bags are not permitted inside the arena.
All bags are scanned on entry to check for prohibited items like laser pens, flares, projectiles, weapons, drugs and alcohol, and even selfie sticks.
Georgina Pellant -
27th September 2023 
