From: Jon Freer (jon-freer_at_excite.com)
Date: 2004-03-08 16:47:14
Blackbeard at Lights Down Low, Sheffield, UK. Friday 27th February 2004.
The powers behind LDL know fully well that they don’t need guests to entice the city’s night people to their sell out shadowy basement blowouts. Therefore, bringing in Blackbeard, as with the guests who’ve graced their turntables in the past, shows the respect Chris & Raif have for him as a DJ. Considering his alias, it was a little surprising to find the guest spinner sporting facial hair with more of an untamed hedge-type stubble appearance than a perfect chin of hair. Not as productive in the studio as his swash-buckling pirate soul contemporaries probably due to his involvement in other spheres of the music business, the unshaven one has still made waves with his sweet understanding revisions.
Packed to the rafters as per usual, one of the beauties of this monthly is its ability to bring in a varied assemblage of people each month, but still retains a wonderful atmosphere. The propulsion of the event to an almost mythical position has understandably shaped the mosaic-like appearance of the crowd. The unintentional trendy status of the night may attract a certain type of clubber, whilst the unpretentiousness and sheer accessibility of the refreshingly mixed bag of tunes appeals to others. The scramble-like process of obtaining a ticket adds to the status of the night and also gives insight to why LDL is never the same one month to the next.
Jah Raif did an excellent warm-up job, dropping cuts such as The Rebirth’s welcoming “This Journey In” to an appreciate crowd. Blackbeard exposed his ability to select the best in groovacious disco alongside cool street soul flavours expected from his reworks and shimmering uptempo yet soul-infused numbers. In a past dimension, he worked for a swaggering label famed for its compilations celebrating dance music’s rich history, so the discoid element of his set makes perfect sense. Obviously taking pleasure from the reaction his selections were getting, the bearded one had to be literally prised from the decks at the end. Tracks that tickled the fancy of those on the dancefloor included Lucy Pearl’s law laying “Don’t Mess With My Man”, The Chi-Lites angst-ridden “My First Mistake” and Blackbeard’s own stunning re-rub of Talib Kweli’s “Get By”.
Chris Lowlife stood by and admired with a characteristic grin on his face. He wasn’t disheartened by not getting the chance to play a single record all night. However, when your DJing partner and guest deliver the goods, it’s probably encouraging to be able to occasionally just sit back and smile at what you’ve created.
Jon Freer(jon.freer_at_wrongsteps.com)
reviewer and writer for the following
websites and magazines: Blues & Soul Magazine,
FACT Magazine,littleplanet.net, City Life Magazine,
XLR8R Magazine, Keep On Magazine, pitchadjust.com,
beyondjazz.net, Store Records(Sheffield),
cratertechnology.com, vybemuzik.com, Steel Press,
deephousenetwork.com, offitsface.com, Sandman mag,
breakevencrew.com, overloadmedia.co.uk, funk-me.com,
Vanguard online, quadrastate.co.uk, spaced.co.uk,
beats.to, housecollective.org, capitolvibes.com,
www.selekta.com, djriri.com, universalsource.co.uk,
Inner Loop Magazine, housemuziq.com, undergroundhouse.net, worlddj.com,
mosoul.co.uk, discotribe.net, flygarictracks.com,
skansen.no, nwdnb.co.uk
planetsoulnetwork.com
allaboutdj.com
mundovibes.com...
Writer for:
Brique Rouge, Exceptional Records,
Foreplay Recordings,
Robsoul Recordings, Dust Traxx,
Spiritual Life Music and more...
_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!