What can I say, this weekend saw the return after a long break of probably the best club night in the UK. People travel from far and wide to be in attendance at the place known as the West Indian Centre for a night known in our circles as Exodus… On Friday the 30th of May I travelled up to Leeds from London, for a meditation sessions brought to us by the Iration Steppas sound system and the creme de la creme of dubstep dj’s. It was, in all honesty a fantastic night, seriously, an excellent one for the true Steppers out there, it’s a pilgrimage I tell you, but worth it if you live in the UK . The crowd was great, the bass weight was enough to make the hairs on your arms stand up, as if you were in the middle of an open windy field. The Digital Mystikz played a fantastic set both eyes down and shock out, reminiscent of the set played at the january DMZ at the mass, with one or two new dubs from their camp that had me giddy with delight upon hearing them for the first time. Look out for an almost spooky sounding Coki dub, as well as WTF from the one like Benga being featured in Loefah’s bag right about now along with Skream’s Hitch. Was a nice performance from those three.
All through out the night the energy levels where maintained, Skream and Benga played a lively crowd driven set. Which was brought down a pace or two by the deep sounds of Distance, but raised again by Heny G, along side Jay 5. It was a great night, the drinks where flowing, the crowd was reacting really well to the songs being played, there was not so much of a drug induced hype, which was really nice to see these days in a big rave, everyone was brukking out no matter what direction you looked in. . On a personal note, there is no nicer rig to hear Distance: Night Vision(Skreamix) on, truly blows me away, as well as it’s always so fantastic to see so many people inside a venue with the lights on. Can’t wait until the next one.
Can I have can I have some noise for the DJ!!!
Skream, this Sunday happened to be down at FWD and although not as packed as previous outings when his name has been on the bill, nevertheless the night was one for the heads that remember. Especially for those that like their nights a little quieter and to meditate in the pitch black FWD is now the place once again. The line up was the kind that many people outside of London would kill to get the opportunity to hear: D1, Skream, Quest b2b Silky, and Loefah. For those who have read the post above, are probably asking "Grand, didn’t you listen to pretty much the same guys only 2 days previous?" the answer is "Yes", however, at FWD, listening is a much different experience then elsewhere. Such an enclosed space with minimal lighting adds to the listening pleasure, the bodies swaying in the dark and the gentle head nod of a familiar person on either side of you, with the lyrics of Crazy D, create a vibe that isn’t replicated easily. It is nice, mind, to have a somewhat less wall to wall FWD these days. The people that are now attending still have yet to come out of their shells and are a little reserved, but it’s to be expected I suppose. I guess once everyone gets to know each other again, the atmosphere down there between the old guard that has returned and the new, will hopefully bring back the feel of the FWD’s of yesteryear. Only time will tell, I will be there shocking out in the dark, minus the studying. Ha! out to all those that think my revision practices are illogical, you'd be surprised! Out to all those that made it down on the night and out to the Plastician, responsible for the creation of Grandiana Jones. All in all was a fun night, for all those that missed out, try and be at the next. Especially if the quality of line ups continue on.
PIcture above of FWD from early 2006.
