Review: Chibuku Shake Shake @ The Warehouse Project

The Warehouse Project and Chibuku compliment each other perfectly, fusing together to bring what promises to be a relentless night of hedonistic, electronic pleasure.

Date published: 6th Dec 2010

Reviewed by: Helen Geraghty

The Warehouse Project and Chibuku compliment each other perfectly, fusing together to bring what promises to be a relentless night of hedonistic, electronic pleasure.

2010 has brought Chibuku into its tenth year of partying, a feat very few other club nights can compete with. Such success has been built out of dedication, simplicity and good relations with big names. Chibuku continues to bring the crowd what they want and tonight’s Warehouse Project was no exception.

Chibuku rolled out a typically exhilarating spectrum of electro and techno artists in its line-up, guaranteed to get the warehouse grooving from the very start of the night.

Temperatures outside in Manchester tonight were said to be as low as -8 degrees. Huddling deep into the middle of the crowd of sweaty bodies at the front of the stage had never been so inviting. Brodinski has been a big name at the forefront of the electronic music scene for a number of years now and most people seemed to have turned up at a reasonably early hour to make sure they caught his set. It wasn’t long before he had warmed up the crowd (even in the sub-zero temperatures) with his much anticipated pounding techno set.

Dj Mehdi and Riton teamed up to perform back to back as Carte Blanche. Carte Blanche’s passion for classic old house was given a great reception from the crowd as the duo pumped out chilled, rolling beats.

Busy P took no time at all in showing the crowd exactly why his name has become synonymous with the electro scene. The DJ who managed the hugely popular Daft Punk at the height of their success and founded the famous Ed Banger record label took to the stage with an air of (founded) confidence and played an eclectic mix of electro, techno and house that reflected his experience and depth of knowledge of the genre.

By the time Vitalic took to the stage the crowd was raring to go. After seeing Vitalic at Parklife Festival in Manchester and being a little disappointed by the sound system there I was very excited to see him tonight. His performance this time definitely didn’t disappoint and was the highlight of the night for me. After being built up by the rolling steady beats played by the likes of Brodinski and Carte Blanche the energy and speed of Vitalic’s set was an uplifting peak. He performed tracks from both his debut album OK Cowboy as well as his second album Flashmob and threw in some new stuff too. Somewhere between electro and techno Vitalic’s performance was full of strong basslines, quirky sounds and tremendous drops. The impact of Vitalic’s performance was heightened by the intense lighting and visuals that flashed in time with each pulsing bassline. The only thing that disappointed me about the performance was the fact that it seemed short-lived, he only played for about an hour.

Despite being one of the only Warehouse Project nights of 2010 not to be sold out well in advance, the venue was heaving from start to finish. Where some Warehouse Project nights begin to empty as soon as the main act has finished playing, the Chibuku crowd proved themselves to be as inexorable as ever, with a tumultuous crowd right up until 5am.

Overall a great night, no toilet queues, queues at the bar not too bad and a great crowd. The night definitely peaked whilst Vitalic was playing, just a shame this couldn’t have gone on a little longer. Nevertheless this was not a night to be missed, Chibuku and the Warehouse Project proved themselves to still be unstoppable forces when it comes to hosting the most electro-fying parties out there.