As we arrive in the last month of the Warehouse Project’s final season at Store Street, Liverpool based Chibuku came to town with some of the biggest names in electro-dance. Superstar producer, remixer and recent BBCR6 Music resident Erol Alkan, the ubiquitous Fake Blood and Alex Metric all on one bill is a huge line-up for any event but, with each artist popular in their own right, how they would work together on the same line-up was an interesting prospect.
Manchester-based resident kicked off proceedings in Room 2 with his tech house style. Having played two other gigs at Warehouse Project this autumn and impressed earlier in the year with his ‘Ordinary Things’ EP, the confidence is clearly growing with this DJ who presented an entertaining and funky set infused with garage sounds and a tech beat to an appreciative audience. Over on the main stage veteran synthpop maestro Jacques Lu Cont (aka Les Rhythmes Digitales, Stuart Price) was getting the crowd going but suffered the usual Warehouse affliction of being on before midnight. Those who missed out on Jacques Lu Cont missed a decent set but the real atmosphere was to come later on.
Both Erol Alkan and Fake Blood have appeared under the bill to Boys Noize at their BNR night at Warehouse in the past two years and have disappointed for the same reasons; up against electro giants who do it far better than them, they have paled in comparison and failed to grab their audience. Tonight however, Erol reigned supreme. With the darkness of the arches punctuated only by the flashing ‘E.R.O.L.’ lights on the back screen, the crowds went crazy to the indie-electro, synth infused house created by the maestro. Although the occasionally recognisable riff came into earshot as a crowd pleaser, Avicii’s ‘Levels’ being a prime example, the mastery of Erol’s set was in keeping the beat fresh and alive throughout his hour and a half on stage. Fake Blood followed suit with a heavier, harder style with a few more tech influences and performed admirably with the obligatory ‘I Think I Like It’ providing impetus to a slightly monotone set towards the end. Alex Metric was similarly good without being outstanding to close the night but it was Erol’s set which stayed long in the memory. It is times like this when you see the passion an artists has a producer and musician as well as just a DJ to mix styles so effortlessly and keep a crowd interested in dancing rather than playing a beat hard and fast all night. It was a set and a show you’d find hard to replicate anywhere other than the Warehouse Project.
