The Warehouse Project returned for its 2025 season at the beginning of September, hosting Annie Mac’s Before Midnight for a no-phones opening night of dance and celebration. Since then, electronic duos DJ Heartstring and ANOTR have hosted their own separate concourse-only shows.
But, it was for Grammy-nominated Australian producer FISHER that the season kicked off with a multiple-room night making use of the famous Depot main space. The chart-storming titan brought UK house royalty with him in the form of Newcastle’s Patrick Topping and Manchester’s own Morgan Seatree, closing a line-up that made the night one to remember.
After Ruze opened the concourse stage, Murphy’s Law followed with a set filled by heavy tech house that was guaranteed to get the party started. The Leicester duo are made up of brothers Sonny and Finn Murphy: their stage name, while clearly referencing their shared surname, also refers to the supposed law of nature which expresses certainty that if anything can go wrong, it will. There were no mistakes made this time, however, as the duo held a large, excitable crowd in the palms of their hands, even pausing at one point to keep them engaged by passing a bottle of Don Julio tequila along the front row.
Credit: James McGraw @ The Warehouse Project
Enzo is Burning continued the tech house theme with a back-to-back set alongside Joshwa, who has been cementing himself as an icon within the UK’s underground dance scene since his debut release in 2017. Their set mixed in various party classics, such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Heads Will Roll’, as well as some unpredictable remixes, including a spin of Khia’s highly-explicit ‘My Neck, My Back (Lick It)’ and SOPHIE’s undeniably brilliant ‘Immaterial’. One strange decision came through Imogen Heap's 'Hide and Seek', best known for its use in Jason Derulo’s ‘Whatcha Say’ - a choice that didn’t quite land, but the rest of the set was near-flawless.
Despite being the sub-headliner of the smaller stage of the night, Patrick Topping stole the show with his own high-tempo house set that confirmed his position within the ranks of electronic royalty. His latest single ‘Want U’ provided an early highlight within his slot: the song is pulsating and impressively catchy, incorporating a sample of Patti LaBelle’s 1983 track ‘Love, Need and Want You’ which lends Topping's track a sense of both longing and euphoria. As a result, it’s perfect for the dancefloor, and The Warehouse Project’s never-flagging crowd reacted accordingly.
A dash to the Depot meant catching the final few songs of Morgan Seatree’s set before it was time for FISHER himself to take to the stage. The rising Manchester DJ and producer performed a standout set at this year’s Parklife Festival, and if fifteen minutes of his Warehouse Project slot are anything to go by, he shows no sign of slowing down.
However, the only fault with both Morgan Seatree and FISHER stemmed not from their own selections, but from the volume in the Depot: at events The Warehouse Project put on, you’d expect to feel the vibrations of bass and witness the walls shake, but this time around the sound in the concourse seemed to hold up a lot better than the Depot.
Credit: James McGraw @ The Warehouse Project
While other DJ sets have to rely on hits made by others, FISHER evidently had enough of his own to fill the two-hour headline slot in Depot Mayfield’s main room. Tracks such as ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘Take It Off’ delighted the crowd, while the strong, recognisable drop of ‘Losing It’ proved why the song has become a staple for innumerable other DJs.
That’s not to say that FISHER didn’t use the music of others to his advantage, however, as his remix of Gotye and Kimbra’s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ alongside Chris Lake and Sante Sansone also provided a highlight within his set, as did his remix of Bob Sinclair’s ‘World, Hold On’ which has also become a classic in its own right. The Australian hit-maker was also aided by humorous visuals which positioned various versions of himself on the screens behind him, and the Depot's laser lighting made up for the slight disappointment of its sound setup.
Lingering past four to lap up his audience’s adoring cheers once the lights came on, FISHER brought a triumphant end to eight hours of pure elation. On paper, the event may not have been one of the most unmissable of The Warehouse Project’s 2025 season, but it was well worth attending thanks to FISHER himself, and also to the artists that accompanied him who all rank amongst the best in the UK’s current dance music scene.
As the first night of the 2025 season to be held across multiple rooms, FISHER’s show truly set the bar high, and the remaining artists performing in the weeks ahead now have a lot to live up to.
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