Warehouse Project

Warehouse Project

SEPTEMBER 2007

GOING DEEPER UNDERGROUND

UPFRONT, OTW, SEPTEMBER 2006, COMMENTS

“The Warehouse Project is the opposite to what I was involved with previously - the antithesis of running a club week in, week out, 52 weeks of the year,” says Sam Kandell (27, pictured right), director of one of the most ambitious club projects to happen in Manchester in, umm, ever. “We’ve got 12 weeks to play with here, to cram everything in. Then it’s done. There are some great nights in Manchester but there hasn’t been anything for a long time with a real wow factor. We’re going off in a completely different direction.”

The different direction Sam refers to features two giant warehouses, state-of-the-art production and a heavyweight DJ line up, all located into the former Boddington’s Brewery on the outskirts of the city centre. For up to four nights a week from October until Christmas, 3,000 people will be entertained under a newly secured premises licence in the industrial surroundings of the former Racking Hall and Keg Store. And then everything will be disassembled. Instead of turning the site into a permanent fixture on the local club scene, its promoters are simply aiming to stage some world class gigs.

Heading the project with Sam is co-director Kirsty Smith (25). Working with the support of experienced consultants such as former co-owner of long running Manchester dance club Sankeys Soap, Sacha Lord-Marchionne, and production specialist John Drape of Ear to the Ground, they’ve also overseen the transformation of the brewery site into functional entertainment space. Not that it’s too cosy, mind.
“We don’t want to turn it into a club - that would defeat the object of doing it at the brewery,” says Sam. “The venue will have fantastic sound and light, but apart from that it’s going to be pretty raw - it needs to be quite industrial.”

The team looked at various 1,000 capacity sites before coming across the brewery which, despite being three times that size, Sam describes as perfect. “Although the logistics are huge and it’s a difficult thing to arrange, the space itself is pretty flexible,” he explains.

The scale of the site is one of the reasons that line ups (featuring headliners like Public Enemy, 2 Many DJs, De La Soul, Francois K and Roni Size as well as up to 10 supporting acts on any one night) have ended up so huge. “It’s a very expensive set up,” says Sam. “We need to make every event unmissable.”

Working with former Sankeys Soap promoter Sam is Project shareholder Rich McGinnis (28, pictured left), whose CV includes Liverpool club nights Chibuku Shake Shake and Circus, as well as Creamfields. The pair have jointly planned and secured the mass of line up talent.

“Signing the deal started a mad dash of booking,” says Rich. “It’s been insane, even compared to Creamfields, because we’re booking so many different shows of contrasting natures, trying to get all the stuff of different style to land on the same night, to build something that fits that theme. I actually don’t know how we’ve done it.”

A lot of good will and interest surrounds the project, which has certainly helped so far. But the acid test will be the reaction of the crowd in the opening weeks.

“We need to make sure they have a fantastic experience,” says Sam. “If they enjoy it, if the first few weeks are incredible, then it’ll snowball. If every night there’s an element of the crowd who are bowled over by it it’ll be great – everyone else will feed off that.”

Words: Alex Eyre

From: September 2006 Issue

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