The return of WHP season: Repercussion Festival ’22
Last weekend we giddily made our return to the legendary Depot Mayfield, for what was definitely another fantastic Warehouse Project event. It feels weird to say that it’s WHP season already! Last year’s season feels like it was only a few months ago, but thankfully, as time keeps moving quicker, we’re now thrust into another remarkable calendar full of potential track IDs and gun fingers. Saturday 10th of September marked the return of the renowned Manchester night out, welcoming thousands back to the venue for a night of electronic music, with a strong sense of community amongst the crowd of ravers.
2022’s Repercussion festival boasted so many fantastic names on the line-up, perhaps making it one of Warehouse Project’s most standout events so far in terms of sheer top-shelf selectors. The night was overwhelmingly full of talent – when noting down whom I wanted to see I was way too optimistic about how many DJs I would end up experiencing. To drive my point home, Moktar, Habibi Funk, Mr Scruff, Eve’s Drop Collective, Folamour, Jeff Mills, Benji B, Fred again…, Carista, Uncle Waffles, and Tarza are just some of the revered names we didn’t get to see. However, the likes of Jamie xx, Little Simz, Leon Vynehall, Nia Archives, and Goldie awaited us.
Photo Credits: @JodyHartley on Instagram
Across seven rooms and stages, it was the biggest WHP event we’ve been to in terms of size and scale, equipped with a Boiler Room in an old pub, mind-boggling dancers downstairs, a street party with mouth-watering street food, and even an outdoors plant room full of record traders, selling some classic vinyl for anyone with enough cash handy.
After arriving to check out Leon Vynehall at the ever-impressive Concourse, we got a few drinks in and made our way over to the deep house, downtempo extraordinaire, it was a hypnotic start to our evening, before checking out the record shops & plant room, boasting mastermind disc jockey Luke Una, for a spellbinding selection of handpicked ‘É Soul Cultura’ tunes, which consisted of Brazilian grooves, and rare Afro vibes.
After briefly checking out the empty Boiler Room, we made our way to other stages, regretting our decision when we saw the queues progressively pile up throughout the night, missing out on the likes of Habibi Funk, and Tarza. However, our regrets were quickly mellowed with the carnivalesque energy of the Temperance Street party, where acclaimed acts like Mikey Don and Mr Scruff spun some classics. The atmosphere was immense, despite being packed full of people all queuing for various fried foods. Once you were amongst the party, the sunshine and the music made for an unrivalled experience.
One name I was incredibly excited for was Soichi Terada, an artist I’d stumbled upon earlier this year by accident, immediately becoming hooked on his 1990s Japanese breakbeat/jungle record ‘Sumo Jungle Grandeur’. His new music is a lot deeper house, but it was still a mesmerising experience, and his energy on stage was so infectious; he was full of character and having the time of his life as the crowd followed his every dance move. It was a pleasant surprise to see such an underrated global DJ on the lineup, and for them to be just as fun as expected. The Archive stage was particularly stacked with fabled names, with Nightmares On Wax, Gilles Peterson, Nia Archives, and SHERELLE to come.
We stopped past Goldie with the live band Subjective Ensemble just at the right time, as ‘Inner City Life’ rattled from the speakers, whilst a very excited Goldie jumped around the stage. It felt especially special to witness this moment, considering a lot of Goldie’s sets nowadays consist of heavier drum and bass, as opposed to his trademark atmospheric gems.
After a Tropical Rumbull and a Watermelon Ginbull, I was ready to get moving again, as we made our way back to Archive for Trip Hop royalty Nightmares On Wax, who played a disco heavy set of euphoric, upbeat bangers. After a sweaty half hour appreciating the ‘Smoker’s Delight’ hero behind the decks, we made our way to Concourse yet again, for a surprisingly heavy set of tracks from HUNEE. Spinning various electronic vibrations and dropping ‘Blue Monday’ amongst a genuinely mind-blowing light display reflecting off a disco ball. The crowd went particularly wild for HUNEE, who exceeded expectations for us too.
We made sure to leave plenty of time for UK rap critical darling Little Simz at the Depot stage, delivering her final show on her recent tour, getting through an electric set of tracks like ‘Point And Kill’, ‘Introvert’, ‘101FM’, and ‘Venom’, with a live band to make the experience of seeing hip hop in the Depot even more surreal. Whilst the environment lends itself to electronic sounds more, it was still a highlight of the night.
After a taste of Gilles Peterson, the Manny star we were waiting for – Nia Archives – had arrived. She delivered our favourite set of the evening, bringing her contagious energy along with her to the decks, occasionally taking to the microphone to perform her tracks like ‘Luv Like’ and ‘Forbidden Feelingz’ too, amongst countless head-turning D&B, breakbeat, and jungle tunes. Luckily, I didn’t miss too much when I went to get a drink, and even got to faintly hear the sounds of some of Fred again…’s major tracks, ‘Jungle’, and ‘Turn On The Lights again…’.
Photo Credits: @sophiajcarey on Instagram
Needing a break from the madness, we sat by Archive, not quite taking in the sounds of SHERELLE as much as we should have, but our legs were killing, and we wanted to enjoy our drinks without sloshing them everywhere. However, from what we heard, she was immense, as usual.
Time crept closer and closer to 1 am when we would head off to the Depot stage and secure a spot for Jamie xx. It was the third time I’d seen Jamie, and as usual, he didn’t slip up. However, we weren’t so lucky as to gleefully dance side by side with TikTok’s ‘train guy’ Francis Bourgeois this time around. One of the most revered DJs on the planet, he was the perfect curtains close send-off for the evening. Getting through a set full of classic fan favourites like ‘Idontknow’, but also sparing plenty of time for some hand-selected gems, he had firm control over the crowd for his whole set, and everyone left the venue very tired, but mostly with huge grins. With countless failed Shazam’s, we’d just have to make up for the missing track IDs next time.
Whilst I was incredibly exhausted after being stood for the better part of 10 hours, I got enough out of my experience, but couldn’t help the unavoidable FOMO of missing out on so much talent across the various stages, most notably Temperance Street, and the Boiler Room. I will definitely be going back to Manchester for more soon, and I’d recommend you do the same.
Photo Credits: @JodyHartley on Instagram
You can check out the calendar here. There’s something for everyone, boasting the likes of Chase And Status, Four Tet, and even Happy Mondays for a celebration of the Hacienda.
