Last night I was at 'BBC Radio 1Xtra Live'; an event broadcast live on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra with a bass-heavy line-up that included Friction, Shy FX, Crissy Criss, Chase & Status and Sub Focus. What I experienced inspired me to write this article, because although I've seen every one of these artists perform live before numerous times, last night I witnessed what I would describe as a new turning point in drum & bass culture.
I first started going to drum & bass events some ten years ago, and the majority of my countless hours of raving were clocked up during what's sometimes called the 'third wave' in the evolution of jungle and drum & bass (if you're interested in the history and progression of the scene's formative years, I'd highly recommend reading Brian Bell-Fortune's book, 'All Crews').
Throughout those years, when experiencing drum & bass in a live environment, the crowds I've seen have mainly comprised of a mixture of starry-eyed space cadets, pick-pockets, drug dealers, yardies, coked-out gangsters, prime ASBO candidates, gang members, out-and-out nutters, and a variety of other reprobates. Frequently even the security would be taking and/or dealing drugs, or at the very least protecting club-authorised dealers. Needless to say, if you were sensible, you trod carefully.
For the most part, even the licensed events took place in relatively underground venues, which tended to be dark, dirty, sweaty, smoky and often subterranean affairs that closed at maybe 6 or 7 in the morning. For a long time The End in Holborn was hands-down the club of choice, with Shogun Audio, Renegade Hardware and Ram Records all hosting label nights there. At this point, anyone who was there is likely to be wistfully sighing and remembering ‘the good ol’ days’ of this legendary venue. Personally, one particularly stand-out Ram night was the launch of the first Chase & Status album, More Than A Lot, in 2008.
Fast forward to yesterday, when Chase & Status released their third studio album, Brand New Machine, and ‘Radio 1Xtra Live’ effectively served, in part, as the launch party. By complete contrast, the event last night was held at the Windsor Hall of the Bournemouth International Centre; a polished, family-friendly, wheelchair-accessible venue, where forthcoming concerts include James Blunt and Wet Wet Wet. There’s even a panto at Christmas.
What's more, the whole thing was wrapped up by 11pm, meaning you could attend this event until the very end and be comfortably at home tucked-up in bed well before midnight. This is the type of venue that ten years ago almost certainly would not have touched a drum & bass event with the proverbial ten-foot barge pole. It’s a venue that hosts what I would call ‘gigs’, not raves. I have experienced an enormous number of drum & bass raves, clubs, squats, free parties and festivals but, and here's the important distinction, before last night I had never been to a drum & bass ‘gig’.
Now, I've been going to gigs for even longer than I’ve been going raving, and this was, unmistakably, a gig. It’s about much more than just a venue choice; it’s the atmosphere, the performance, and crucially, the crowd. Last night the audience were singing and clapping along, there were girls up on their boyfriends' shoulders, teenagers pogo dancing alongside fat bearded men, and yes, even a mosh pit or two. They were behaving exactly as I’ve seen audiences behave at gigs a hundred times before.
There were, of course, still a handful of revellers wandering around with distinctly wide eyes and swinging jaws, but there were plenty of people using the toilet cubicles for, well, actually going to the toilet. Whenever someone brushed past me, my well-trained reflex action would kick in and I’d check whether they were trying to rob me, but no, not a single one of them actually was.
Other benefits of this change of environment were also apparent. Aside from an over-stretched bar (par for the course), every aspect of this event was delivered flawlessly, with capable staff at every turn. Notably the sound quality was impeccable and the lighting and staging, particularly for Sub Focus, was genuinely absolutely spectacular, highlighting professionalism which was simply on another level.
However, I’m not getting completely carried away with the merits of this new breed of performance; there were a few important drawbacks. First and foremost, there has certainly been a loss of emphasis on the skill of DJing itself. You’re left wondering what proportions of some of the sets were mixed live, and nowadays the suggestion that any DJs would mix on vinyl would be frankly delusional.
Then there’s the matter of the music itself, which was evidently tailored to cater to the more commercial palette of the crowd. For this line-up, the audience could not really have been much more ‘non drum & bass’, and it’s definitely the first time I've ever seen tunes like 'Be True' by Commix dropped without getting any reaction. This goes some of the way towards explaining how some of the magic of the clubs has not made it to this setting. Reprobates they may have been, but they knew their tunes.
You can’t help thinking that there is a certain inevitability about all this. After all, the live performance of drum & bass is arguably just catching up with some of the other aspects of the genre that have already made their way from out in the badlands to infusing a big part of the current mainstream. Just try switching on daytime Radio 1 and you won’t go for more than an hour without hearing an amen break from the likes of pop acts such as Rudimental or Naughty Boy, or indeed the drum & bass acts who’ve made the transition like Chase & Status, Sub Focus or Fresh.
Many complain that these acts have sold out. DJ Fresh is the prime candidate for this, you only have to look at the comments he gets on Facebook to see an endless stream of jaded ravers queuing up to pour scorn on him because he's 'not making stuff like The Nine' any more. I was never one to blame these guys for making a living, but after last night I believe I understood what they’re doing to a greater extent. Although it's easy to conclude that they are 'selling their souls' purely for financial gain, their becoming more mainstream is undeniably putting this music in the hands of a much wider audience. If you simply hate the fact that more and more people are getting exposure to a certain genre, then maybe your love for that genre stems more from the air of exclusivity than it does from the music itself.
I’m also reading in various places that DJ culture is ‘dying’ or ‘dead’. In my opinion DJ culture isn't dead, it has merely spawned a child, and that child is currently in the process of moving out into a new house. I am confident that for the foreseeable future, the existing strongholds will remain. There will continue to be a place for ‘proper’ drum & bass at clubs, free parties and squat raves, as well as the relative newcomer of the big festivals. However, just as each of these began as a divergence from something that came before it, we have now seen a new splinter emerge. I do not necessarily see this as an evil perversion of the existing culture, just a new and different extension, allowing it to get it to places that it would not otherwise reach.
Just as the introduction of the Criminal Justice Act of 1994 saw some of the culture move from the illegal outdoor raves to inside the clubs, with bass music currently occupying a firm place in the mainstream will we now see the music begin to work more and more in these concert-style settings to cater for this? Chase & Status certainly think so, they are about to kick off an arena tour for their new album that will see them play a whole range of venues like this. They’re even back at the Bournemouth International Centre next month, playing in the Windsor Hall while on the very same night the Moscow Ballet performs Sleeping Beauty in the Pavilion area.
For me, last night was an indication of this paradigm shift. This was an event where drum & bass had one foot in a combination of gig and rave, but certainly not one foot in the grave.
