The venue is perfect in terms of location, space, acoustics and general atmosphere – dark, basic and a little bit grimy. So I was shocked to say the least when I read their announcement last month that this year’s WHP was to be the last at the Store Street car park. As much as nothing lasts forever, it was baffling to hear that the owners of the organisation would no longer be hosting parties there.
Their statement simply read: “After five incredible years beneath the streets, the last ever Warehouse Project event at Store Street will finish in the early hours of January 2, 2012. Within 48hrs all evidence that WHP ever existed in that space will be gone, nothing remaining to give any indication that hundreds of thousands of people passed through those doors.
The idea was always to keep things fresh. While The Warehouse Project certainly found its first proper home in this venue, it feels like when the curtain comes down on the 2011 series it will be time to shake things up again. Exactly how, where and when the WHP will return is not yet set, but one thing for sure is that this is The End of Store Street.
This last party will take the form of a seventeen-hour marathon taking us into 2012.
Thank you to everyone who has made it so special.”
With this in mind I spoke to Krysko, one of the event?s mainstays since its formative years, to talk about its beginnings, impact on the club scene in the north and where the event is going.
How long have you been a resident at WHP?
I was a resident at Sankey?s, when it was called Sankey Soaps, I left there in 2005 with the rest of the guys who started up the Warehouse Project.
Our first venue was the old Boddington?s factory, that was a real l baptism of fire but it taught everyone that we could do it. It was just an idea, a project, that no one really envisaged as something that would be ongoing. I think Manchester needed it at the time. After Boddington’s we found Store Street and we knew it would work – it?s not gi-normous you know, it?s a manageable venue.
So I?ve been resident since the beginning, which is about six years in total.
How do you feel about the Store Street site coming to an end?
I?d be lying if I said I?m not sorry to see it go. But after five years things can start to get stagnant and they need shaking up. There are only so many acts you can throw on a line up to rivitalise things so it?s probably about the right time to call it a day.
What effect would you say the event has had on clubbing in the north and the UK in general?
It?s been great. Because of the time scale of it, it?s kept people on their toes. People want to come to the parties because they?re only for a limited time, they?re not spoilt by a six-month long run of events ? Warehouse Project is only on for 12 weeks. It leaves people hungry for more, which feeds into the smaller clubs. It?s helped things flourish. But, like the demise of the Hacienda, when it disappears people will be searching for more of the same from other venues.
How would you describe WHP to someone who?s never been?
It?s a bit naughty. It?s about as close to that feeling of partying somewhere you shouldn?t as you can get. There?s not much dressing up of the venue, it?s very raw so it harks back to those old warehouse party days of the late 80s/early 90s. The main impact comes from the stage and the system, everything else is left a raw as can be.
In 2002 we threw a huge warehouse on Ancoats (in the centre of Manchester) which was attended by 10,000 people. Warehouse Project recaptures that kind of atmosphere ? as I said, it feels as though you shouldn?t be there, which is great.
Tell me about a few of your own personal WHP highlights.
It?s sounds like a clich� but there have been so many. I guess playing with my peers and heroes is way up there. I played on the same bill as the man who started Underground Resistance (a seminal techno label), Mad Mike Banks ? just chatting with him in the back room at WHP was brilliant.
The Resident Advisor night last year was really good with Jamie Jones and Seth Troxler, they?re always good value.
If you could hazard a guess, what would you imagine is next for the event?
Not a clue! I?m sure whatever comes next, if anything, will be next level though.
For more information on this year’s Warehouse Project, which launches on September 17 with DJ Shadow headlining, head to thewarehouseproject.com
Source: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/09/07/warehouse-project-is-over-for-now/
Bob Foster Bob McIntyre Boet van Dulmen Bohumil Stasa Borje Jansson
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