Mr Scruff @ Koko - 24/10/09

I've seen Mr. Scruff various times around the country (from Manchester to Wales, Wiltshire to Cambridge) and his gigs have varied considerably (from awesome to average). His selection of music from the world of funk, hip hop, latin, ska, electro and beyond is always spot on, with the soundsystem and venue (*ahem* The Junction) being the only real reason for an auditory let-down.



This was fortunately not to be at Koko. Reknowned venue it is, the bass came thick and heavy into the ears and got even those up on highest balconies getting their boogie on.
He does great build ups to heavy basslines and knows exactly how to make his audience move, even if what he's doing technically is pretty simple. Sometimes simplicity is exactly what you need for a knees up. He avoided the temptation to play 'the hits' - Get A Move On and Fish spring to mind. Instead he played a lot of new and exciting stuff off Ninja Tuna and Bonus Bait. This barely mattered at all as Scruff's selection will make you dance whether you know the tune or not

I've sometimes found Andy's animations to be irritating and twee, especially in its efforts to be 'oh so random' with pictures of pies and fish. This seemed to have been toned down in comparison to the other gigs and the animations updated a little to incorporate some pretty amusing saxophone-wielding characters, funky spinning records and other music-related visual delights.



Scruff has worked hard to merchandise himself - his tea stand is now something of a legend - but the need to sell felt a lot more toned down than on previous occassions. I was happy to see that they were giving away free online mp3s of the night (you simply have to input a code onto his website) and were selling a lot more actual music (as opposed to badges/bags/tshirts) that I remember.

As far as the crowd itself went, the place was packed. It was great to see such a varied age range dancing together - scruff certainly had a broad appeal. The number of people completely off their heads was pretty impressive, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves an awful lot. His bass and brass-heavy beats kept the place shaking on down so much so that we had to leave the dancefloor for a breather. Andy Scruff truly minced it.

Massive Attack - Brixton 02 Academy - 19/09/09

It's been 18 years since the release of Massive Attack's debut LP Blue Lines, and nearly 3 since '100th Window' hit our ears. Now, minus the presence of Andrew 'Mushroom' Vowles, but armed with the promise of a brand new album for 2010, The Wild Bunch performed for the third and final consecutive night at Brixton's 02 Academy.

What struck me first about the venue was how civilised the whole place was. There were a few small and orderly queues for toilets and merchandise, but otherwise the place was uncrowded and completely relaxed. The arena itself offered a unique blend of space and intimacy. The sloped floor leading to Brixton's huge stage meant that a good view could be had from almost any spot in the room, reducing the need for elbow-bargy bitchiness at the barrier (although admittedly that kind of behaviour does have its place in certain gig circles!).

After a few drinks the support act came on. Martina Topley Bird, complete with perm and sparkly outfit, failed to impress me. The songs of this soul-less Goldfrapp, middle-aged La Roux or self-conscious OMD started and stopped without a discernable beginning or end, and no one tune was particuarly distinguishable from the others. The sound engineering for the first couple of songs was pretty awful too, but once this was sorted the band seemed mundane at best. They warm up a little towards the end of the set, with their last two songs taking a rockier, drum-centric edge, but by then they had already lost the interest of the audience. We were simply too eager to see the band we'd paid £30 for.



After a refreshingly short break, Massive Attack finally graced the Academy's titanic stage. There was no repeat of the previous act's sound issues. With two drummers, DJ, synth, bass and cacophony of vocalists amongst the line-up, the band were on top form. Massive Attack got the balance between fresh new sounds and crowd-pleasing classics just right. It was great to see Daddy G back in on the action and engaging in some quality audience interaction - 'This is dedicated to all the starving models in the world' - as well as performing alongside some rather funky guest singers. Disappointingly, Damon Albarn did not make a repeat appearance (he turned up on friday) but the roots-reggae greatness of Horace Andy more than made up for this. I was sceptical of Martina's vocal presence in some of the songs (including the seminal 'Teardrop') but aside from her attention-seeking tottering about the stage she did a pretty good job.



To my delight, the guys played 'Future Proof'. As a 14-year old I used to light incense and meditate to 100th window, and hearing this played granted me a nostalgic epiphany that took me right back to 2004. The absolute climax, however, came during 'Angel', the first track from the phenomenal 'Mezzanine' where I lost myself completely in the shuddering bass and beams of light. MA are undoubtedly still on form, but I doubt if they will ever reach the dizzying musical heights they reached on that album again.

The accompanying lightshow that night was beautiful. Old school stereo-style 'strip' lighting was used on the backdrop, with displays ranging from red and white sparkles to videos of anti-war marches and even live 'trash' news feeds. This was paired with some rather impressive 'beam'-style lighting reminiscent of a sea anemone a la Blue Planet, which granted the songs a visual as well as an aural climax.



The gig was absolutely fantastic, with the boys fiercely defending any suggestion that they're too old for this business. Their new music was exciting and their old classics still held strong. Like 100th Window, new songs from the '5th LP' seem a lot more centred around smooth synth sounds and vocals rather than their previous tendency towards a heavier, more rhythmic approach.

It was a totally inspiring evening. I really wanted to ignore the fact that playing at the 02 Academy was totally hypocritical when set against all the jibing anti-capitalist messages that they spread across their backdrop and more subtly in their tunes. This occurred to me during 'Unfinished Sympathy' and as a result I don't think it will ever have quite the same resonance.

Labrynth Reunion - Hidden - 08/08/09

Old Skool, Drum n Bass and Jungle have been a staple of my musical upbringing. I remember dancing to the stuff in between playing power rangers and eating carrot sticks and hummous at pre and post-rave parties throughout my childhood as well as listening to North London pirate radio stations and, later on, nicking my parents' mixtapes for my Sony walkman. Labrynth was a household name along with the likes of Raindance, Sunrise and Tribal Gathering since the early 90s, so it felt a little weird to me that, 15 years since the last one, this was my first time.

After some house party madness and a hefty tube ride to kick up the pre-rave excitement, we reached Hidden, situated under Vauxhall's magic arches. The area has a buzzin' nightlife I'd never really known about , although admittedly most seemed the up-market, overpriced cocktail-sipping type that I don't normally go for. After some hassle where the club took a stupid amount of time to acknowledge the guestlist queue, we wangled our way in. The place had only been open for an hour but it was already packed out with the music thumping in every corner. A quick scout round established 3 rooms - jungle/heavy DnB ('Originals') for the hard core, house for the softer core nostalgia ('Loyalists') and old skool classics/hardcore for those somewhere in between ('Legends').


Then: Ravers at 12 Dalston Lane, '93

The rooms were dark, the place was buzzin' and I had to dance to the sickeningly great choons - who cares if we've heard this one already? Our group naturally split as we found our sound of preference, but it didn't really seem to matter. You only had to glance around to find a friendly face. DJs, MCs, Promoters and other big names on the Rave scene were naturally mingled with regular punters - some of whom tried their own hand on the mic or dancing behind (or indeed on top of) the decks. I even had a little banter with Adrian Age and Chalky White myself. The old skool room was especially inclusive, with the DJ booth placed between sets of stairs leading up to the balcony for a real connection between music makers and appreciators. There was no sign of any 'VIP' elitism or cliques and friends were made very easily. By the end of the night I felt I knew everyone - not at all like the usual, slightly hostile or predatory vibe you get at regular, drink-orientated nightclubs: this is even considering that the vast majority of Labrynth attendees were blokes!


Now: Ravers at Hidden, 2009

I can't believe I've gotten this far and not yet properly mentioned the music! My group were pretty split on what room they preferred, but I spent most of my time in the Old Skool room. The House room (in the middle and by the entrance) was a little too crowded and bright for my liking and although I loved the heavy beats in the jungle room, the energy generated in there made it way too hot to stay in for long. All the soundsytems were massive, and the bass was heavy enough to make my hair stand on end. DJ Ellis Dee , Slip Matt and Billy Bunter did it for me especially, as they pumped out classic after classic that got everyone's horns and hands up in appreciation. The trademark deep synth sounds of old skool sent shivers from my ears to my spine and time just flew by. Pretty soon they were playing 4 o'clock (in the Morning). I used the loo, grabbed some water, talked crap to people who were happy to reiprocate whilst cooling down outside and had a little rave. All of sudden Billy Bunter was shouting "One More?!" and it was 7am. One More fortunately became Four More, with legendary Valley of the Shadows and Incredible being among their number.

I left the club at around half seven and stepping into the bright sunlight with basslines and piano licks still ringing in my eardrums was a very surreal experiences. I had sweated, smiled, blew my whistle and danced myself silly and bloody loved it! I didn't yet ache (that was to come later) and spent the rest of the day talking rubbish and reliving the night. Rumour has it there's to be a Christmas 09 special - watch this space!

THE 12TH BIG NIGHT @ CARGO - 16/07/09 - United Vibrations + Nathan 'Flutebox' Lee + Kalakuta + MCs/DJs

The Big Issue , following recent trends set by OXJAM and Bollocks to Poverty, are now in the habit of fundraising in the form of running gigs across the country . With previous lineups in London brimming with impressive household names - The Levellers, The Noisettes, Adrian Sherwood and *shudder* The Alabama 3 being among them - it is a wonder as to why these monthly events aren't more popular.

When this month's event was brought to my attention I was very excited. I'd seen Nathan 'Flutebox' Lee before at WOMAD last year and he blew my mind with his beatastic musical multi-tasking. Adding to the tantalisation, TBI's Facebook page boasted "Afro Beats, Hip-Hop, Inspiring Spoken Word and rib shaking live dance rhythms." so I was all ready to grab my pint and shake my booty...and all in the name of a good cause!

United Vibrations, part of lefty musical collective 12tonewere first to take the stage. As the supposed headliners, this confused me somewhat. I was informed that Cargo-ers tended to go to bed early on weekdays, so it gets busiest at around 9pm. Fortunately I had already been nicely warmed up by the funky hip-hop beats of DJ Snuff (not to mention a rather potent bottle of cider. I was ready to enjoy myself, but nothing was to prepare me for what I heard next.



Operating as Vocals, Drums, Bass, Sax and Trombone, this very attractive band produced an equally amazing sound. The beautiful harmonic bassline worked so well that I only twigged two songs into their set that they had no guitarist. In addition, the drummer was awe-inspiring, bashing out fast-paced funk rhythms with flawless movement between afro-cuban rhythms, varying tempos and even time signature. Saxophonist Wayne talked about his disregard of the need to conform to musical genre restrictions and indeed, it felt like I was listening to Miles Davis, Gil Scott Heron, Jimi Hendrix and Ray Baretto all at the same time. Catchy shouted hooklines like 'I know who I am/Do you know who you are?' gave this tight group of musicians a delicious political edge.


After an unfairly short set (simply because of the massive lineup!) came Nathan 'Flutebox' Lee. Just as I remembered, he put on a great show. The audience loved him and I couldn't move for the number of cameraphones being waved at him. Joined by Skrein to provide some of the bassier, darker tones he got the whole crowd crotch-grabbing and arm waving as best they could. Their version of Knightrider (click link for video) was definitely my favourite of the night!



What followed proved to be a little disappointing. I'm sure Riz MC, shortMAN and Mic Righteous had very profound and creative things to say - Riz has even performed with the likes if Nitin Sawnhey and Plan B! - but with the room slowly emptying it was very difficult to get into it, especially after being so furiously warmed up by the previous two acts. MCs are not neccessarily something you can dance to and the waning crowd just weren't in the mood to listen.

Cargo is a lovely place, but I felt it was a bit mismatched to the music vibe The Big Issue crew were trying to project. Holding an anti-capitalist, revolutionary and politically charged energy was difficult in a venue normally reserved for the Shoreditch prat. It didn't help that the room was also half-empty for the majority of the night. I felt so sorry for the poor MCs performing in front of us and about 10 other people and couldn't help thinking that their message would be more appreciated were they back at previous haunt at Proud.

The Big Issue are making these gigs a monthly venture. They have great acts and a great venue - all they really seem to need are great numbers of people. Get your welly down there next month - it'll be fun and it's for a very worthy cause!