Having just been awarded (sorry) Track of 2015 by both DJ Mag and Mixmag with ‘Just’, along with reaching their highest ever ranking in the Resident Advisor top 100 DJ poll, there seemed like not many better ways for Irish duo Bicep to celebrate than with an all-star line-up of their contemporaries and friends at Manchester’s Warehouse Project last weekend.
Curating a line up covering disco, house and techno, Bicep called in talent both new and old, with proceedings kicking off with a back to back from Jackmaster and Ben UFO. Drawing for the usual eclectic selections Jackmaster stuck to his guns with party records from the bassier Akito to UKG classics like ‘Hobson’s Choice‘, whilst Ben drew for deeper tracks from Levon Vincent and Kikumoto Allstars. A trip to Room 2 saw The Black Madonna tearing out huge diva house and Italo disco, with Jamie 3:26 & Cratebug’s ‘Hit it and Quit it’ throwing the room into an ecstatic delirium. Showing the breadth of her taste, she still managed to find some time to slot in some techno with an old offering on R&S and a classic from Head High. Daniel Avery followed on in Room 2 with his tripped out selections and, after a while I headed back to the main room to see what headliner’s Bicep were up to. They worked the room excellently with a wide variety of music ranging from UK Garage to emotional electro, with highlights coming from 808 State and James Ruskin & Mark Broom.
Venturing into Room 2, Andrew Weatherhall was deep in the slow-burning groovy acid he is renowned for, while occasionally throwing in slices of electro, including a recent release from Aurora Halal. This set things up perfectly for Running Back boss Gerd Janson who closed out the night with his unique style of disco and house which built up and down in a way that only Gerd knows how. Psychemagik’s edit of Chilly ‘For Your Love’, mixed into 90’s anthem ‘Everybody Everybody’ by Black Box was a late highlight from him to send me home with a grin on my face.
