The Warehouse Project has announced details of its opening season party this autumn, with brand new stages and a headline performance from Jungle.
And the iconic clubbing series will expand beyond the walls of Depot Mayfield this year, also taking over spaces at the Star & Garter pub, Temperance Street, the Plant Room at Freight Island, and the roof above the venue.
The opening party for The Warehouse Project 2024 season – known as Repercussion – will be headlined by Bonobo and Jungle, along with a massive bill of other talent from the electronic, house and techno worlds.
The day-to-night party takes over three rooms at the enormous building near Manchester Piccadilly, Depot, Concourse and Archive within Depot Mayfield, and will kick off the months-long programme of music that draws hundreds of thousands to the venue.
Set to take place on Saturday 14 September, Repercussion will welcome master of electronic Bonobo, fresh off his Outlier showcase at The Warehouse Project’s first ever Australia edition.
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Then British dance project Jungle will round off their enormous world tour at WHP, a couple of months after they’ll headline Sounds of the City at Castlefield Bowl.
The line-up for Warehouse Project’s main stage, Depot, also includes Peruvian DJ, producer and vocalist Sofia Kourtesis; DJ Seinfeld who is known for his sweeping emotive cuts and creative samples; the emerging Austrian-born, Manchester-based salute with an upcoming debut album via Ninja Tune; alongside the mysterious act that has burst onto the jazz-house scene berlioz (DJ); NTS radio host Tarzsa and Mancunian Rich Reason.
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Credit: Sophia J CareyCredit: Graham Joy PhotographyWarehouse Project has announced its 2024 opening party, with a headline performance from Jungle.
The unique 360° booth at Concourse is set to welcome a blend of cross-genre sets, curated by Honey Dijon.
The line-up features Major League DJz who has been referred to as “amapiano’s global ambassadors” by DJ Mag; DESIREE with her soulful cuts and deep African infused house; and Josh Caffé who has crafted an assured reputation in the underground house and techno scene.
All alongside Rhythm Section’s founder Bradley Zero, Parisian DJ/Producer and multi-instrumentalist Chloé Caillet, and The Warehouse Project’s longest-standing resident, Krysko.
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Under the archway at Archive, the city’s music venue YES takes over the stage to celebrate contemporary UK club music.
Manchester’s very own Anz is set to lead the way, alongside sets from some of underground heroes Hamdi, Bakey, Love Remain, Aletha, Tañ, and Jim Bane.
Brand new for this year at Warehouse Project will be the On The Roof stage, a loft space with rare views of the Manchester skyline from the rooftop.
Warehouse Project 2023. Credit: Supplied
The intimate space will welcome a set up hosted by Luke Una presents É Soul Cultura, who will be DJing alongside the likes of deep house pioneer Chez Damier, Chilean artist Paula Tape who returns after her Boiler Room set at Repercussion 2022 and Manchester’s own rising star, DJ and Producer, Joey T.
Luke Una’s curation for É Soul Cultura has became one of Manchester’s staple parties in recent years, throwing in an all-welcome attitude and bringing in the free party spirit into the scene.
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Extending the stage to adjoining Temperance Street, Manchester-based party collective Habitat will present their biggest street party with Dutch artist Jarreau Vandal headlining alongside JAEL and Taylah Elaine, plus Habitat residents Yung_omz, AK Gramm, Tone Rarri, and all hosted by one of Manchester’s favourite presenters Faro.
Manchester’s legendary music pub venue, Star & Garter, is set to play host to the city’s newest online community radio station Crop Radio, with a line-up of grassroots acts from in and around Manchester.
Also participating at Repercussion, the Plant Room at Freight Island is another celebration of the expansive local underground heroes. With acts from SNO, Mikey D.O.N, Levi Love, Me Gusta Collective, Sam Redmore & Joe Motion, and Shimrise.
Pre-sale ticket sales go live on Thursday 30 May from 10am.
General ticket sales go live on Friday 31 May from 10am.
Review | Villanelle debut: Liam Gallagher’s son’s band release their first track – here’s our review
Danny Jones
Liam Gallagher’s son, Gene, and his band Villanelle, have officially released their debut single to the masses, and since we’re still very much immersing ourselves in everything even remotely to do with Oasis, we thought we’d give this first track a review.
Now, if you’re expecting a familiar Britpop vibe like his dad and uncle used to bash out back in the day, you’d be very wrong…
It’s one thing to settle into something similar to what you’ve grown up around and try to continue a lineage if you’re from a successful family – especially with a legacy as important and influential as the one left by Liam and Noel – but we’re glad to report they’ve done something pretty different.
24-year-old Gene Gallagher and his bandmates Ben Taylor (guitar), Jack Schiavo (bass), and Andrew Richmond (drums) haven’t just tried to do an impression of Oasis; instead, they’ve found their own sound, and while it does give somewhat of an old-school flavour, it’s not what we expected.
It takes literally milliseconds for you to click into realising the vibe they’re going for.
‘Hinge’ is a simplistic but hard-hitting, grungey and dark debut from Villanelle, who, despite having played a number of in-progress songs live over the last year or so, have only just dropped their first studio single.
In fact, they’ve actually taken the admittedly bizarre and unorthodox first steps of having already played live with Liam Gallagher on the Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary tour before they actually released anything people can easily listen to outside of their live performances.
Nevertheless, the young four-piece introduces Villanelle as the latest post-punk outfit amidst the ongoing revival of the classic rock genre.
That is to say that punk is a tried and true classic style of music, not that these lads are trying to sound like The Rolling Stones…
Anyway, we’re getting sidetracked: Villanelle draw plenty of influences from both original and contemporary examples of this sonic subculture, and while it isn’t explosive per se, ‘Hinge’ is short, direct and hits the same formulaic notes.
It’s also fair to say you can hear a bit of the recognisable LG whine in Gene’s vocals at times, too. Listen to it in full down below and see if you agree.
Even the basic found-footage style video fits into the same category.
To call it straightforward isn’t intended as any kind of a diss, by the way – some of our favourite tunes and best artists spearheading the renaissance of the punk scene write like this.
What we will say is that it looks like bloody good fun to both play and listen to in a small, sweaty room, with plenty of pits and people bouncing off the walls.
Gallagher Sr. might be surprised to see his son going for a slightly heavier, more hardcore route with his sound, but he can’t accuse him of forgetting his roots as the child of a ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Star.’
The boys are actually hitting the road this winter, including a date at The Castle Hotel in the Northern Quarter, if you fancy grabbing a ticket.
You can grab your tickets to see Villanelle on tour HERE, and in the meantime, let us know what you think of their debut track down in the comments.
Johnny Marr teases his work on upcoming Gorillaz album
Danny Jones
Legendary Manchester musician Johnny Marr has revealed he features on the new Gorillaz album, adding even more interest in the highly anticipated release.
The Mountain is the ninth studio LP from the musical collective led by Damon Albarn, which is set to drop in early 2026, more than three years on from their last album, Cracker Island.
Although the virtual band made up of several real-life creatives (though the ex-Blur frontman and artist, Jamie Hewlett, technically remain the only two consistent core members) hasn’t been away for too long, each new project brings a wave of excitement.
With that in mind, we have no shame in admitting we have even more interest in Gorillaz’s latest album now that we know Johnny Marr is attached to it.
I’m pleased to share that I appear on four tracks on the upcoming Gorillaz album The Mountain. It’s a privilege to be a part of this record along with so many great artists. #Gorillaz#JohnnyMarrpic.twitter.com/KXVZxgyGg9
In the new rundown of tunes already posted earlier this month, the former Smiths songwriter and lead guitarist features on four different songs on the new record. You can see it in full down below:
Gorrilaz – The Mountain tracklist
1. The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash) 2. The Moon Cave (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda and Black Thought) 3. The Happy Dictator (feat. Sparks) 4. The Hardest Thing (feat. Tony Allen) 5. Orange County (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar) 6. The God of Lying (feat. IDLES) 7. The Empty Dream Machine (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 8. The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof) 9. The Plastic Guru (feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 10. Delirium (feat. Mark E. Smith) 11. Damascus (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey) 12. The Shadowy Light (feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash, and Ayaan Ali Bangash) 13. Casablanca (feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr) 14. The Sweet Prince (feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 15. The Sad God (feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar)
As you can see, the 61-year-old appears for the first time on song seven, ‘The Empty Dream Machine’, as well as ‘The Plastic Guru’, ‘Casablanca’, and the penultimate track on the album, ‘The Sweet Prince’.
It’ll be interesting to see how he fits into the captivating soundscape already teased by the group, with Gorillaz having now shared ‘The Happy Dictator’ featuring art pop duo Sparks.
A strong and politically loaded start.
Marr – who only released his fourth batch of solo material, Fever Dream Pts 1-4, back in 2022 – has continued to craft and produce with countless other artists over the past few decades, sharing the studio with fellow icons such as Noel Gallagher, Billy Bragg, Talking Heads and many more.
He even helped create the score for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack with legendary composer Hans Zimmer.
That being said, we can only hope to hear some of his famous guitar tones sprinkled throughout this album, though it’s still unclear as to exactly how much input he had on The Mountain overall.
What we do know about the album is that it’s the first to be released via Albarn’s new record label KONG; it’s 15 tracks, and was largely made following extended recording sessions across India, with the likes of Ajay Prasanna, Omar Souleyman and Anoushka Shankar, joining IDLES, Jalen Ngonda and other collabs.
Perhaps most excitingly, the announcement of ‘Gorillaz no.9’ came alongside a series of tour dates, including one right here in Manchester. We can’t wait to see 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle ‘live’ in 0161.
Daisy Jackson -
29th May 2024 
