New venue, same old brilliance for the Warehouse Project - autumn 2012 dates on sale now

The Warehouse Project

For every swaggering flop-topper who has greeted the renaissance of the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays with characteristic blissed-out enthusiasm, there's another who grows ever more bored of Manchester's musical heritage and the column inches it appears to attract long after its heyday.

It's true that the shadows cast by 'Madchester' are long and lingering but they should not draw the eye from the vibrant electronic music scene that continues to thrive in Manchester and the other great cities of the north. The Hacienda (yawn) was about dance music, after all - not indie. And the influential club's great traditions have continued to shape and drive the music scene. In fact, forget indie, if you want to lose yourself in dance music, there are still few better places in the world than Manchester.

From Dave Haslam's Temperance to Sankeys and now The Warehouse Project, the city maintains a pull for ravers (yes, we said ravers) far beyond the traditional borders of the Pennines to the east or the Mersey to the south. Named Best Club Night in the UK in 2007 by deckhead bible Mixmag, the Warehouse Project has combined the ad hoc punk feel of bricked walls and crudely assembled rigs with the very best in music. It's a heady mix, a naughty-but-nice blend of live bands and DJ sets from the world's best.

This year's series is no different, although the nights have moved from Store Street off Piccadilly out to Trafford Park and the huge Victoria Warehouse (don't worry, there's a tram stop and a KFC). The names are, as usual, beyond stellar. Bloc Party, Erol Alkan, Four Tet, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Orbital, Fatboy Slim, Laurent Garnier, Armin van Buuren, Richie Hawtin, Rinse, Diplo, Lianne La Havas - and that's barely the start of it.

The series begins on 28th and 29th September with two massive opening nights to blow the cobwebs from the Victoria Warehouse, continuing on and off until New Year's Day 2013. We have a huge number of tickets available now, priced from around £20 - see below for a full list. Viva Manchester.

Stewart Darkin