24th January sees the opening of what looks set to be another seismic event for Mancunian Clubbing, Paradise. Run by the same team behind the Warehouse Project, it’s promising to be an unpretentious and uncompromising club which returns to some of the values inherent in clubbing in the city. It’s housed in an iconic and building which was originally the Factory Records Office, with two rooms spread over three floors in an intimate environment set in the heart of Manchester.

Sam Kandel, one of team behind Paradise Factory says: “The building was of course originally renovated to become the Factory Records HQ by Ben Kelly who did The Hacienda. So before it was even opened as a club, there was incredible Manchester musical heritage surrounding the place. After the demise of Factory, it was turned into Paradise Factory, which became an iconic gay venue in the UK. There are two rooms of music over three floors (the upper floor of course being the infamous loft which housed Tony Wilson’s legendary thirty grand table) and a 700 capacity. Since we announced that it was re-opening, the feedback has been amazing. After The Warehouse Project, which is such an incredibly high pressure situation, we thought it would be great to have a club that was open during that January - June six month period after The Warehouse Project. We are not going to make Paradise Factory a super slick state-of-the-art international club, but rather a real Manchester club.”

After the phenomenonal success of the second season of the Warehouse Project which saw the previous sound concerns obliterated in the new venue, this shows a different side to the plan, eschewing the huge capacities for a more intimate styling, yet still crafting some intense line-ups unseen in venue of that size. It’s certainly appearing to be a labour of love for the team, owing to some long term affections held for the venue and the accelerated reverence for it’s iconic history.

Sacha Lord-Marchionne, another member of the Paradise Factory team, adds that: “Many, many moons ago, I started promoting at the Hacienda and spent many a night stood outside venues handing out flyers. Of all those places, the one which stood out the most was Paradise Factory - the smoke pouring out, the crowd queuing in anticipation, and once inside I was introduced to absolute mayhem which led into the loft. It’s the perfect location, nestled behind the BBC. There’s no pretentiousness. It’s not about your label, but your attitude. This has always been my favourite space in Manchester. I keep pinching myself! Whilst I was at Sankeys, we always wanted to buy Paradise, but the time wasn’t right, but now it is!”

As if that wasn;t enough, the first three parties are nothing short of amazing. Reuniting hacienda heroes Mike Pickering and Laurent Garnier, a man who cleaned the toilets in the club just to be a part of it, sees the grand opening soiree on Thursday 24th, with dubstep lynchpins Skream & Kode joining drum n bass titans High Contrast and Logistics on the firday and Steve Angello and Paul Woolford battling it out on Saturday. February then sees Theo Parrish, Basement Jaxx (DJ Set), Annie Mac, Andy C, Kissy Sell Out and Adam Freeland amongst a bulging talent list heating it up:

Full Line-Ups