WHP17 // Drumcode

Lauren Bones | 23rd November 2017

As the end draws nearer to a year which has been highly successful for Drumcode, Adam Beyer brought his techno record label to the Warehouse Project this month for what was one of the fastest-selling nights of the WHP season. And with last year’s event being one of my personal music highlights of 2016, with an arguably weaker line-up than this year, I could not turn down a return for the 2017 instalment.

This popularity is a reflection on the work of Beyer, who has grown his label to the top of the dance music game in recent times, culminating in Drumcode winning ‘Best Record Label’ at the 2017 DJ Awards. This is a prestigious accolade which lists mammoth previous winners such as Suara and Crosstown Rebels.

The Swede headlined the night which boasted huge names such as Pan-Pot, Sam Paganini and Alan Fitzpatrick. It also featured his wife, Ida Engberg, who only recently returned to the decks after taking an extended absence from DJing in order to spend time with their three children.

Entering Store Street just before 10 to the melodic sound of Layton Giordani, it was surprising to see how full the venue was so early on in the night in contrast to previous events, testament to the excitement and anticipation that has been generated amongst fans.

He treated the crowd to a playout of his forthcoming track ‘Body Language’, before sending them into euphoria when he closed his set with his most recent release on the Drumcode label itself, ‘Live Again’.

Next to take to the booth was the German duo of Tassilo Ippenberger and Thomas Benedix, better known as ‘Pan-Pot’. The pair, who now run their own label Second State Audio, were arguably the most hotly-anticipated DJs of the night.

They hammered the crowd with increasingly heavy yet harmonious tech, dropping tracks such as ‘Being Alone’ by Ramiro Lopez and Carl Craig’s remix of ‘Relevee’ by Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russon.

They continued to turn things up a notch with ‘Rhea’ by Andre Crom, and they left the decks well and truly warm for Alan Fitzpatrick to take over.

The Brit treated the crowd inside the transformed air raid shelter to a number of new releases from his label We Are The Brave, such as ‘Just One More’ by Gary Beck in addition to one of his own, ‘Magnetic Dog’.

Fitzpatrick drew probably the biggest crowd reaction of the night when the unmistakable synths of ‘We Do What We Want’ rang out around Store Street, with the eclectic mancunian revellers all singing along to his 2016 summer hit.

This left the main man Adam Beyer with some hefty shoes to fill. And boy did he fill them.

Taking charge at 2.45am, the Swedish selector wasted no time in making his mark on proceedings, dishing out a number of unreleased gems including ‘Protocol’ by Wehbba.

Despite being crowded into room one like a herd of cattle, Beyer’s set was not one to be missed.

He proceeded to lift the atmosphere with Loco & Jam’s ‘Acid Control’, before filling the room with the euphoric sound of ‘Stay With Me’ by Pryda – an alias of dance music legend Eric Prydz.

It was left to techno maestro Sam Paganini – making a rare appearance on a UK show – to complete the night with his deep and unrelenting style. A sizeable crowd partied with the Italian right the way through to 6am, before his feel-good anthem ‘Gravity’ capped off a night that lived up to all expectations.

Words by Marc Luther Thomas