Basement Jaxx and Armand Van Helden in Sankeys Warehouse

2 champions of house music joined forces last night in Manchester's Victoria Warehouse. The building is now host to Sankeys Warehouse, a season of house music events running up to Christmas and New Year. Last night they brought together two of the biggest names in the genre: Armand Van Helden and Basement Jaxx.

On entry everyone who wants to buy a drink is required to buy drink tokens, which come in break-off strips and denominations of £10. This I have a problem with. Some of us are designated drivers. We don't need to spend that much on soft drinks. 

 

The venue is huge, featuring numerous rooms, stages and performances. I managed to catch a small part of Crystal Waters performing Gypsy Woman early on in the night.

Basement Jaxx are comprised of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, the latter of which bears a passing similarity to Bill Gates. Here we see them passing over to Armand Van Helden, or Vice Versa.

Basement Jaxx and Armand Van Helden

They played great music, but I got the impresion Buxton and Ratcliffe are producers at heart, rather than DJs who put on a performance on stage. You'd imagine them being more comfortable making music in the privacy of their studio rather than playing it to a huge live audience.

It's still great to see such big names in the flesh.

Here's some guy being turfed out of the venue.

Best moments were not videoed- too busy dancing. In Van Helden's set, his last few songs were his own- I Want Your Soul, Funk Phenomenon, My My My. Brilliant atmosphere. The 45-year-old DJ and producer responsible for this looks much younger than his age. I remember seeing him play in Sankeys in 2004. I don't think I could get close enough to the stage on that night.

I went with Party People Manchester, this being my first Meetup with the group. My first impressions were that they were my kind of people and we had a great night. I'd met at least 3 people previously from other Meetup groups, which shows that the culture of Meetup is working- we're forming social circles and finding the people who share a passion for our music and venues through the different groups. 

The Facebook event for Sankeys Warehouse Opening Party has more info.