Delphic / The Whip/ Fenech-Soler @ The Warehouse Project, Manchester

Warehouse parties were once synonymous with the worst excesses of society; sordid, sweaty affairs that made the heady days of the Roman Empire look like afternoon tea with Stephen Fry.

The Warehouse Project is a different breed. Over five years, its periodic residency under Manchester Piccadilly’s railway arches has become the stuff of legend. Cavernous surroundings, premier DJs and a soundsystem loud enough to rearrange your innards; having attended, we now completely understand its allure.

The glitter-ball electro stylings of Fenech-Soler began the night in earnest. We once feared they’d be written-off as “a bit too pop” for these pages, but tracks like ‘Lies’ and ‘Battlefields’ take on a dirty, bass-driven edge at a live show, making them more than worthy of a mention.

New bands - or those wondering what sort of reception a hometown crowd gives you when you’ve made it - should have been present for The Whip’s set. This is the fourth time we’ve seen them this year, but the explosion of sweaty bodies as ‘Trash’ reached its climax was unlike anything we’ve witnessed before. They simply never disappoint, and if ‘Shake’ and ‘Secret Weapon’ are signs of things to come, the new LP really cannot arrive fast enough.

Fellow Mancunians Delphic have had their fair share of doubters, but few will have left this show claiming (as some previously have) that their material doesn’t hold up in a live setting. As the bassy blasts of ‘Clarion Call’ and ‘Doubt’ rung through the arches, the sea of bouncing people mixed in with an incredible lightshow and told its own story: Delphic, like the Warehouse Project, are worthy of positive accolade bestowed upon them.