Club: Project 13 Secret Sessions Part II

22^nd March

Secret Warehouse Location

7/10

Replicating the success of last year’s Secret Sessions, tonight’s event is sold out. As the text announcing the location comes though at around 10pm I head off to Salford excited and intrigued about what’s in store for tonight. ‘2 labels 4 headliners’, hailing from Bristol, is all the line up details known.

Entering the Secret Warehouse Location doesn’t feel all that different to any basement club in Manchester such as Soup Kitchen or 2022NQ: there are pillars through the room, the walls are bare and there’s even a bar at one side – one that remains surprisingly busy considering the BYOB allowance tonight.  Indeed, the only noticeable difference to this location is that everyone inside is carrying big rucksacks stacked with booze, an allowance that raises SWL from a gimmick to an ideal feature for many of the cash strapped students in attendance.

A set list on the wall reveals the headliners: Ipman, Pinch, Batu and Beneath. A fine selection, and by my estimations that makes Tectonic and Cold the two labels represented. A night of dubstep and techno is on the cards it seems.

Ipman immediately confirms these expectations as he gets the room moving with a hard, bass heavy set. This is typified by the dropping of Special Request’s ‘Hackney Parrot VIP’, an appropriate choice considering its sound bite samples from illegal raves. The baton then passes to Pinch and he picks up where Ipman left off, releasing a ferocious set that shakes the room. Techno and dubstep are blended expertly, the pinnacle of the set arriving with the selection of future-classic ‘Mercy (Boddika’s VIP)’ . Next up is newcomer and young gun Batu, an artist who released his first ever record on Cold Recordings last year. His sound is more crunchy than the previous 2 DJs but it retains strong grooves. The selection of ‘Null Results’ by Demdike Stare for example highlights this, with pulsing acid emerging from the relentless percussion. Final headliner Beneath brings down the tempo slightly as the night draws to a close, opting to spin many of his own productions as well as those by the likes of Alex Coulton.

It’s easy to see from tonight why on reputation alone Project 13 were able to sell out this details undisclosed event, bring on Secret Sessions Part III.