Just returned from The Digital Recitals evening. It was certainly an interesting change of vibe. The venue was like an old fashioned working men's club tucked away in a quiet side-street. My mate Mike tagged along and said he used to come to this place with his dad for skittles nights when he was younger. Of course there was no proper stage, but a makeshift performance area had been set up, with a home-made PA system, encased in hand-painted wooden boxes, along with a couple of tables for the artists to set up their gear on, and some nice graphics projected behind. We arrived quite late, but in time to catch Micheal J. Rocks live set, which was like mad breakcore stuff. I enjoyed the quiet bits. It was a bit too frantic for the occasion though, I thought. There was no dancefloor. Everyone was sat around at tables, just drinking, chatting and soaking up the sounds. Not a huge crowd by any means, but a nice intimate feel nonetheless. I enjoyed my hour behind the Numark cd decks, even though they insisted on turning the lights on just as I got started. A small handful of punters hung around to listen to what I was playing and I thought I did a pretty good set, with only a couple of minor cock-ups, although Mike reckoned the set got a bit too horizontal in the middle. But what does he know - he's 37 for christ's sake. Oh, hang on - so am I!
Can't remember exactly what I played, cos I was making it up as I went along, but definitely kicked-off with Bass Clef's "Welcome To Echo Chamber", followed by the Burial mix of Blackdown's "Crackle Blues". Other sure-fire dubs included "Descent" by Headhunter, "Trenchtown" by Wedge, "Rubber Chicken" by Caspa, "Time Off" by Secret Agent Gel and Gatekeeper's "Tomb" (which prompted a 'what the fuck??!' moment from Jack). The PA seemed to cope pretty well with the bass frequencies, although I could hear stuff rattling and buzzing around me during the particularly heavy tunes. Apparently, Jack's mate had designed and built the PA to withstand the rigours of dubstep, and I was more than happy to road-test it for him! Oh, and one of Jack's other mates handed me some cd-rs of his own stuff (sorry, can't remember his name right now, but his producer name is Soundbox) and I played one of his at the end without any idea what it sounded like. The bassline was phenomenal. Apparently he's already signed for an EP with Boka Records, so definitely a name to watch out for. It was a lovely, mellow evening. I doubt Jack recouped his expenses, but I hope he has the belief and determination to do it again sometime. Big-up you, mate...
