Live Review: BICEP at WHP

The 28th of November

Last Saturday Warehouse Project hosted probably one of the most iconic House duos of the decade. Andy Ferguson and Matt McBriar, more commonly known as Bicep, after a long wait finally performed their debut album in Manchester, surrounded by an eager crowd.

A great plus to the show was the venue. Quaint and grungy but very cool, the Warehouse Project installations under Manchester Piccadilly Station were probably the perfect location for this event. However, the main stage soon became massively overcrowded, making it nearly impossible to even move your hands.

Despite this, the audience still managed to sway and follow the beat. Incredibly surprising was the lack of females in the audience. With approximately a 70:30 male-female ratio, the presence of more woman was missed.

Not only did Bicep indulge us with their debut album, but they also revitalized several genres of classics of electronic music such as Detroit’s techno or Chicago’s House. Playing records such as ‘Daliah’ and ‘Just’ the audience saw itself trapped in the hypnotic rhythmic progression of this Belfast duo.

It was probably the variety of their music that engaged the crowd so much. In addition to the great act of Bicep, the acoustics at WHP were good and the beat was accompanied by flashing lights and incredible special effects that would make even the soberest person trip.

Although counting with Bicep as the main act, WHP presented an amazing lineup amongst which were artists like Carl Craig & Moody Mann, Hammer, and Kink. A range of artists was distributed across the venue allowing several of them to play simultaneously, making sure that no one was bored and a variety of music was played throughout the night. This also helped escape the claustrophobic main stage at times, were the drunk audience acted a little bit too drunk.

Overall, a great night, with great artists, long lines, and ice pops for when it got too hot. Despite it being packed, the venue was easy to move around and Bicep stood out by far to the expectations. Perhaps the night was a little bit overpriced, paying 40 quid entrance and overpriced drinks, but WHP is totally worth going to at least once in your life.

7/10