On Saturday 4th December, Warehouse Project provided a home for another top three night out of the year. The other two spots also belong to the Depot Mayfield, those being Four Tet and Jamie xx’s equally impressive events. After seeing Jon Hopkins and Bicep at Parklife earlier this year, it was a no brainer to see them in their element amongst some of the globe’s most creative DJs. The line-up is for sure one of the most impressive offerings from whp this year, and it lived up to every high hope and expectation.
Bicep, who everyone should be aware of after their monumental rise in popularity following their 2017 debut LP, headlined the night – but before we were sweating in the crowd, mesmerized by ‘Opal’, we arrived in the pouring rain, at what seemed like the exact time every other guest had shown up for press and VIP tickets, leaving us wishing we had brought our brollies.
After about 45 minutes in the cold, we had sobered up a little, but before we could get our hands on more drinks we arrived just in time to hear Anz’s blissful earworm track ‘You Could Be’. I was so grateful we got in just in time for that, although did regret not catching Interplanetary Criminal or Kelly Lee Owens, who would have surely delivered some of the most mind-bending sets of the year.
Unfortunately, we did not get to set foot in Archive the whole night, as much as we wanted to catch India Jordan, we were too entranced with the insane back-to-back line up of Jon Hopkins, Bicep (Live), and Mall Grab, and with only a couple short cigarette breaks in between, we spent most of the night calling Depot home, amongst thousands of passionate ravers.
Jon Hopkins provided the set with the biggest crowd pleasers, dropping that unreleased Four Tet track that everyone desperately wants to release, and Floating Points’ ‘Bias’, which is by far one of my favourite tracks of the past couple years. It’s one of the most mental pieces of music I’ve ever heard, and I’m ecstatic I finally got to hear it in a crowd like this, at such a historic venue. It was quite a heavy set for the multi-talented DJ whose worked with the likes of Coldplay, David Lynch, and Imogen Heap, but everyone was having a fantastic time.
It was finally time for Bicep, who provided a magical set of their signature Ambient Techno and Deep House. It had the crowd seemingly under a spell, as we gradually drifted towards the front. The light show was incredible, the music was spectacular, and it was definitely a privilege to see the Belfast duo live. They did not disappoint, and neither did Mall Grab, who I had been waiting years to see! A surprisingly gloomy assortment of Techno came from the decks of the Australian DJ, and it was a phenomenal end to an unforgettable night of music from some top shelf talent.
I feel very fortunate to have gone to three of the best Warehouse Project events this year, and can’t wait to see the 2022 line ups announced. Make sure you check out the rest of Warehouse Project’s upcoming events here.