Venue: Mass Nightclub
Date: 05-03-10
Line up: Joe Nice, DMZ, Loefah, Joy Orbison, One Man, Hatcha, Ntype, Skream, Benga, Artwork, Chef, Quest, Distance, Pinch, Zed Bias, Jason Transition, Benny Ill, Orris Jay, Actress, Dave Q, Instra:mental, & Half a decade of support.
MC: Sgt Pokes, Crazy D.
MC: Sgt Pokes, Crazy D.
DMZ 5th birthday. Rosa and I, had planned this London trip for quite some time and had been looking forward to a night of pure dubstep at the MASS. Rosa had already once attended the 3rd birthday but I had skipped that one. All I knew about the venue and the party were the stories, the pictures, and the video's. That's exactly the reason why we're putting this up on our blog, so the ones who missed it will get a feel of what it was like and for those who were there to reminisce. It was an amazing night. Finally some quality time to meditate on bassweight, with friendly folks, diverse DJ sets and many worthwhile rewinds. Culminating point of the evening in my opinion: new Coki banger and Mala jumping on top of the table next to the decks out of enthusiasm, challenged by Loefah to take a dive. A shout-out to all involved, Elize.
I feel partially dazed just remembering what transcribed on what was truly an amazing night. A night that was definitely for those who have stepping at heart. On the 5th of March Mass played host to the DMZ 5th Birthday with two rooms of sound that have changed the underground music scene in every city that this music has taken root in.
“May we all unite” is definitely the tag line for what transpired on this night. Dubstep has a global following and on these special occasions those from far and wide, put their credit cards to good use and travel on down to what has become one of the Mecca’s of Dubstep. With a star studded line up, it seemed like everybody was looking forward to meditating on bass weight. Send it out especially to: Rosa, Seckle, Orson (who was fresh off a plane), Joe 'Baltimore' Nice, Dave Q, and Georgina Cook; as these guys especially have been involved with Dubstep in their respective Cities for many years now and travelled from places on the other side of the Atlantic to take part in this joyous occasion. A celebration of five years of the DMZ night, a night started up in Third Bass by the Digital Mystikzs & Loefah, a group of artists who have been fundamental in shaping the sounds and the energy of Dubstep over the last seven years.
Distance B2B Pinch
So I had arrived, 'Motion in Murder' is one way to put it, that’s certainly how it felt as I got to the top of that winding staircase that seems to go on forever. This by no means is any stairway to heaven, what awaited at the top was nothing less than "50,000 Watt’s of pure funking BASS", and at this time Distance and Pinch were in full orchestration. These two make a great combination, you will hear it in their production and when commanding the decks. With Pinch taking you to the right and Distance taking you to the left; the party was kicking off and we were all about to get swept up in what turned out to be an incredible night. Pinch has a distinctive selection that allows him to stand out, drawing for tunes that are quite miminal, offsetting them with the busyness found in tunes like 'Tron' by Bristols own answer to Prince- Joker. The crowd really seemed to be in touch with the mood that was created especially by Distance, who started things of nicely with some fresh material, look out for 'Ill Kontent', 'Result of Sound', as well as reeling off favourites that make you clench your face and grit your teeth like 'Devastate'. Really loved when he dropped the VIP of 'Memory Loss'; one of my all time favourite Deleted Scenes productions; the collective name of collaborations between Distance and Pinch. Throughout the set the energy changed constantly, being upped by productions by Joy Orbison and Skream. I suppose we were having a party and these guys by any means were there for no other reason.
Ashley of Get Darker says “It’s great Distance and Pinch, playing together. Pinch brings that niceness and then Distance brings that Eruggh!” It was a great set from the duo, however I was a little disappointed with Distance for not playing any proper Distance classics; I would of loved to have heard 'Cyclops' or 'Night Vision', or for him to have ended with 'Feel Me'; a 130bpm tune that feels like no other. Either way it was an amazing set that both the DJ at the helm and the crowd seemed to be enjoying.
Where to begin, first of send it out to them and their gang on their 5th Birthday and not forgetting Hijak as well who also was celebrating his birthday! So lets get to business. I suppose this is what people tend to travel far and wide to hear, the set that everybody looks forward to, the time when the engineer makes a conscious decision to turn up the master on the sound system and everyone prepares to get that little bit more sweaty! On this outing Mala, Loefah & Coki where playing two for two, moving in a circular motion like the dubplates on the decks themselves.
Mala started things off nicely, like he always does, playing something nice to lure us in to a false state of comfort before turning it up to that famous Spinal Tap special level of Eleven, it was time for the DMZ & Loefah to go one louder, time to push everyone over the cliff and that’s exactly what happened during this set. Now came the hour for the masses to meditate on bass weight.
One thing that comes to the forefront of my mind is the amount of energy there was during this set. Loefah started off with some 808 badness, playing some fresh bits, that was allowing the crowd to circulate. Nothing but riddem after riddem was drawn; from classic Skream with 'I' into Coki's 'All Of A Sudden', from 'Lean Forward' and 'Anti War Dub' there wasn’t a flaw that I could find in their performance. The sound was on point, Thanks to Will and Rio, and a loan of two awesome one of a kind Funktion One Speakers, courtesy of Space nightclub in Ibiza. Nothing but ruff beats, definitely a highlight of my night when' Ruffage' and 'Super Whatever' by XI was dropped, I like my subbed out stripped down rollers, so nothing gets better hearing tunes like that on a night like this one. Who remembers when Loefah played Beyonce's 'Video Phone' to the crowds delight? Maybe its not Dubstep but it sure as hell went off, in Poax’s word’s “Murder!”, definitely worthy of getting a pull up.
It was an intense set from start to finish, definitely vibes, there wasn’t anyone around the way that wasn’t smiling throughout the duration of this set, a sense of unity, this was especially felt when the needle began to make it’s way around the one tune that can sum up the DMZ Dubstep scene for me; 'Anti War Dub'! “We don’t want to fight tonight”… “Raise your glasses” as Poaxs said, “It’s about people coming together from wherever”… "I don’t wanna see no more bloodshed", “ Raise your hand’s, raise your glasses raise your lighters”. The energy of the crowd singing a long at this point was at it’s peak, for any of you who didn’t attend but were at DMZ last year, when Mala dropped 'Eyez' and had the crowd play sing along, it was of a similar feeling.
Send it out to Coki forth with a next level of 'violation', all I can describe is that this one tune sounded like some kind of a drill after what seamed to be some Count Dracula interlude, whatever the case, I remember turning to to Emma Warren, expecting the worst, saying - “Brace yourself it’s coming…”. The tune for Coki selection at this moment in time is untitled but definitely had the same effect as 'Sponge Bob' and 'Goblin', two other Dubstep club anthems produced by the enigma that is Coki. For all those who were not in attendance this truly was a set for the Dubsteppahs amongst us. Hold tight Loefah by the way for playing audio from the Redbull Sound Clash; once again the Digital Mystikzs seemed gunning to kill any sound…
Benga, Artwork & Skream
They say the number five along with the number three are powerful and mystical numbers, I suppose with what had already transcribed over the past few hours, that would definitely add weight to this notion; especially with what was to come next from Benga, Artwork & Skream. The three apparently had been locked away in a secret location with the idea of making nothing but beat’s and given that these three have produced some of the most instantly recognisable and acclaimed tunes that fall under the Dubstep umbrella: collaboration on such a magnitude can only result in some banging basslines, and on the most part we were not disappointed.
The trio came with an arsenal of dance floor movers and shakers, starting off pretty heavy, maintaining that high previously set by the Mystiks & Loefah. They came in hard and fast. That tune with P Money on the vocal’s- the only thing you could say to this when it dropped was "Guilty!". I was very impressed with the hybrid grime beats they were playing such as "I Can’t Wait No More" featuring Footsie and D Double E of the Newham Generals. There were so many tunes they played that I hadn’t heard before which had so much energy and movement. Definitely this was the party set of the night. They broke into an eyes down ravey segment that I wasn’t feeling too tuff but then followed up with tunes like Skream's 'Clap Your Hands' and a few others with that 'bang-on-the-beat' kind of feel that the crowd seemed to love. It was a great set that contrasted the sounds of the DMZ crew, but that’s what DMZ is about; showcasing the broad sprectrum of sounds that is Dubstep.
Chef B2B Quest
Of all DJ set’s Chef & Quest was most probably my favourite in terms of listening. I especially have to send it out to Quest from the Anti Social Entertainment. He most certainly is up there among my favourite Dubstep DJ’s at this moment in time. Both him and Chef were blending like nobodies business taking the hi’s from the left deck and the low’s from the right- Dubstep 'mash ups'. That’s what makes this genre of music one of the most interesting to listen to in the mix; tunes like 'Loveless' by Jack Sparrow & Signus, 'Tell Me, Tell Me' by Von D and Show Me were featuring in this set as well a some fresh untitled ones from LD and Skream, 'Transformers' and another Grime/Dubstep remix of 'Boy Of The Ting'. It was certainly great to hear another grime artist being played at DMZ on this particular night, given that it was the genre of music that was most influential in my playground, during my young teen days. The tune of the set most certainly was 'Clap Your Hands' the Drumsound & Bassline Smith Dubstep Mix– you know the one “ Somebody shout Hallelujah! Somebody shout Amen!”. Raise your hands for that one there, as it is testament to the sounds of Chef and Quest, nothing but technical technique came from these two amazingly talented DJ’s.
N-Type B2B Hatcha
At last we come to the final hour, it’s taken a chicken burger, 5 hot wings and four bottles of water, a toilet break and about 100 different conversations to get here. It’s time for Hatcha Vs N-Type. Hatcha started things of with some Dubstep from yesteryear , taking those still going strong back to the grass roots of this movement that the multitude of those who attended DMZ are a part of. Crazy D was hosting this set, squeezing the last bit of energy out of the crowd. N-Type for the early part of the set was playing the opposite; rolling out more recent flavours– a battle of old versus new. 'Exterminate', went off incredibly plus a few bits by up-and-coming producer Benton on Futurism recordings. I caught the first and the last fifteen of their set before going to check out Joy Orbison and Oneman in room 2. Check out the wonky footage for a sense of the energy that still remained as those lights turned on.
Oneman B2B Joy Orbison
Oneman B2B Joy Orbison
So far I have not spoken much about Room 2, it featured acts such as Oris Jay and Zed Bias– two originators of the Dubstep sound. Actress Vs Instramental were dropping some oldskool that everybody who was either chilling on the seats at the back of this room or were down in the pit seemed to be in love with. Jason Transition played an absolutely wicked set for the most part. He has an amazing selection and a library of dubs that stretch back beyond most of our memories. Finally, Oneman & Joy Orbison with the one like Asbo hosting. As far as set’s go in room two, the 1st prize goes to the last set of the night– it was emotional. I remember being particularly worn out at this moment in time, hell the night was so exciting I think that everyone was feeling it in some way shape or form. I remember being pulled back and forth between the rooms, hearing fresh Dubstep tracks in Room 1 only for an excitable person to come and whisk me away to hear the classic set that Oneman and Joy Orbison were throwing down. Every time I went to sit down, I would then leap to my feet as instrumental after instrumental was dropped. My high point… Spitting the bar’s to 'I love you'– “If a girl knows where you stay that’s poor”. Send it out to Mz Beatz’s who was always in eye shot skanking hard at this particular point in time. It was an amazing night, sorry to all those who were unable to attend. Just make sure you're at the next one.
The crew
The crew
Text: Grand, intro Elize
Pictures: Rosa, Grand and Elize, after effects by Rosa at nikanika.com
Videofootage: Grand
Thanks to Ethereal & all who were there.
