|
Reviewer: Richard Brown
Sunday 2nd March 2003
Two Tribes 2003
Youthful thespians from across the subculture spectrum converged
on the Globe and Metros for Two Tribes over the March long weekend,
and as expected it was a hell of an evening.
News filtered through early that Italian Mauro Picotto was unable
to appear on account of an ear infection. This was a great disappointment,
as Picotto is globally renowned as one of the leading purveyors
of intelligent big-room house, but extended sets from JXL and Armin
Van Buuren made the blow easier to take for most. Obscene queues
in front of Metros for the first couple of hours were another minus,
but thankfully from there on Two Tribes was all positives.
The self-described "McDonald's" of DJs, Judge Jules,
was the first of the internationals to take over at Metros after
locals Adam Kelly and Kenny L (who displayed considerable big-room
talent). The Judge pretty much lived up to the burger-chain analogy,
as Macca's is certainly predictable and ubiquitous, but a hell of
a lot of people enjoy it. The ageing mega-DJ had the massive crowd
suitably enthralled with a set that typified his fist-pumping hard
house style. In the Globe main room Dave Seaman, another veteran
of the circuit who knows how to work a crowd, was solid as ever,
blasting out an uplifting set of trance-tinged progressive house.
The dropping of rock/trance crossover hit Staring at the Sun, provided
an ebullient hands-in-the-air moment, and even ardent cheese-haters
had a hard time fighting off a wide grin.
A beret clad Junkie XL was next up over at Metros, and as one of
the most high profile and innovative producers in the industry,
he was hotly anticipated. JXL's reputation as a technical boundary
breaker was immediately evident in the fact that he didn't have
a vinyl or turntable in sight. As far as I could tell he mixed digitally
and bloody well to, using a variety of space-age equipment. Thousands
of people going off at Metros isn't really the time or place for
the latest crossover acid-trip hop white labels, and as such the
tune selection was kept mainly to earth shaking hard house and progressive,
however the creativity and experimentation that JXL is known for
was still evident. And while I never thought I'd see a DJ who's
physical enthusiasm exceeds the ecstatic "teckno boogey"
of Carl Cox, after witnessing multiple mid-mixing fly kicks from
JXL, I stand corrected.
Armin Van Buuren then took over, and finished things off at Metros
with a set of melodic, anthemic, noughties-style trance that he
has been a key figure in defining. As usual the cavernous Metros
was an awesome spectacle, as thousands let loose to a raging storm
of high-energy tunes. The airing of Van Buuren's mix of Solar Stone
(fast becoming a classic of its genre) was a particularly epic passage
of time.
Meanwhile the UK's Sander Kleinberg continued the four-to-the-floor
at the Globe. For a large portion of his set the tune selection
of dark-edged prog seemed a little flat and lacking in direction,
and consequently the atmosphere at the Globe dropped off a bit for
a while. Eventually though Sander started displaying ability that
has earned him huge global respect, and the dropping of King Unique's
remix of Two Months Off had the room in a rapture once more.
Layo and Bushwacka were back to back for the last two slots at
the Globe, with Matt Benjamin (Bushwacka) up first. Over the next
three hours he and Layo Paskin displayed why they are two of the
most relevant players in all of electronic music. Traversing territory
that spanned through a variety of guises of break-beat, often heartily
infused with techy house, the guys showed sublime ability on all
fronts. Having the privilege of standing in the booth as Matt scratched
in a manner that was somehow both measured and full of improvisational
abandon, and mixed in, out and over the top of tracks with surgical
precision and freight train pace, was the highlight of the evening
for me. The track selection was varied, unpredictable and occasionally
eclectic (breaks versions of Run DMC's It's Like That and Justin
Timberlake's Like I Love You were both surprise winners), but always
mixed razer sharp. The biggest crowd response was garnered from
the dropping of tracks from Layo and Matt's brilliant sophomore
album Night Works. The unmistakable strains of Love Story had people
dancing in tribe-like unsion, Shining Through provided a beautifully
dark and brooding section, while the massive breaks anthem Let the
Good Times Roll went down in kinetic fashion.
Upon the conclusion of the set the party people roared for an encore
and were promptly appeased with the dropping of the beautifully
layered, exquisitely vocalled track Where Did We Go Wrong? just
put together by Layo Paskin. When the tune filtered down the stairs
to the subterranean VIP area, Dave Seaman and Matt Benjamin jumped
from their seats and rushed up the stage to join the festivities.
The crowd went off to the bitter-sweet tune, which provided a fitting
finale to an event which provided superb quality to all tastes.
Richie Brown
Contact : Richie Brown
Return to reviews
|
Saturday 1st March 2003
Presented by Greenmelon.
Godskitchen (Metros):
Armin Van Buuren
Judge Jules
Junkie XL (JXL live)
Plus: Adam Kelly, Kenny L
GlobalUnderground (Globe):
Sander Kleinenberg
Dave Seaman
Layo & Bushwacka
Plus: Choice, Chad D
Hardware (Globe):
Meat Katie
Speedy J
Will E Tell
Slam
Plus: Greg Packer, Echoic, Gully, Richie Rich
|
