All Under One Roof Raving: Jamie XX takes over Manchester

On the 11th of November, Jamie xx blessed the people of Manchester with an all-day rave at The Warehouse Project. There was an air of mystery surrounding the event, in that the line- up wasn’t revealed until just two days before – the event was simply titled ‘Jamie xx and friends’. Rewarded for their patience, fans were graced with an unbelievable line-up that featured Jon Rust, Young Marco, OR:LA and Joy Orbison.

Each DJ brought their own unique style to the decks, but they all stayed true to the disco-infused sound that dominated most of Jamie’s set. When the moment finally came for Jamie to grace the stage, he performed back to back with Young Marco. They delivered a set that acknowledged jungle, dubstep and electronica, but was ultimately founded on joyous disco. This fed nicely into the remainder of his set which featured ecstatic highs of joyful abandon, and lows of pensive reflection. He warmed the crowd’s hearts by playing crowd-pleasing solo-successes like ‘Seesaw’ and ‘Gosh’, which feature on his ‘In Colour’ album.

Above: Young Marco warms up the crowd before his back to back with Jamie

The set also featured his re-work of The xx’s track ‘On Hold’, amongst a flow of feel-good anthems like New Order’s Mancunian anthem ‘Blue Monday’. A huge disco ball hung behind him on the main stage, acting as a stunning visual, whilst (literally) reflecting the disco vibe. In the wake of worldwide success with The xx in the past year, many were left asking what the future of Jamie’s solo career would be. The show very much acted as a reminder to many that he really is one of the best DJ’s out there. His ability to transition between band and solo career, are a mark of how incredibly talented this man is. All we can do now is hope that 2018 brings the announcement of big shows like this and dare we say it, new releases.