Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Straight Outta Bethnal - Full Review - 24/03/2006


Straight Outta Bethnal - Lightning, Ghetto & Dollar Da Du$tman
Originally uploaded by Danny Walker 1.


Straight Outta Bethnal – 24/03/2006

A simple but scented car ride away, EC1, everlasting home to SOB and skinny-jean wearing Shoredites was easily reached. I must ask organisers (Miss Fiddy & Co.) why is Straight Outta Bethnal, E2 held in Shoreditch EC1??? In related news, who does those flyers… big big big. For those who don’t know, it pictures grime’s heroes set to a psychedelic 60’s backdrop – nice.
Anyway mustn’t grumble cos I again found 333 without difficulty (knowing exactly where it is might have something to do with that). The people in the winding tailback of a queue also found it effortlessly and I waited patiently – promising myself the lack of ‘Do You Know Who I Am?’ guestlist or semi-intelligent door staff wouldn’t hinder my review… Hmmm. Finally the doorway was breached, brushing past a meathead or two and via the Becks baring bar it was straight to the Run the Road basement. Passing the odd Roll Deep member loitering with intent, the basement was imminent as grime riddims echoed from beneath.
As normal the pit like place, welcoming in sound but wavering in appearance was easily adjusted to, and the night seemed already underway. Settling just on the outskirts of the ‘I Don’t Wanna Stand In The Middle Like A Chump’ circle, I received a tap on the back of the head from Skepta. After a brief hello I turned again to face the DJ, who was amidst a sweet set – sorry but I don’t know your name – he was giving the grime lovers exactly what they wanted [It’s starts with ‘gr’ and ends in ‘ime’. Not just that though offering up, dupstep, garage classics and general big riddims.
Slowly but surely the circle and stage started to fill but it wasn’t the MCs that were being noticed it was certain garments that were being eyed. Those darn ‘Boy Better Know’ t-shirts were everywhere (I’m only hating cos I don’t have one). Skepta, JME & others in the camp, Wiley (yes, he was there), Tinchy Stryder, DJ Maximum, Gods Gift, Logan and more all sported Adenugu apparel.
After the warm warm-up, Rossi B & Luca touched down. Their box of tricks was tight (no homo), scratching and dropping special after special which included a massive Bruza dub and a N.A.S.T.Y. Crew Run 4 Cover RB & L one-away, very big. Also on stage was Bossman, Fuda Guy, Ghetto, Demon, Scorcher, Lightning, Merkston, Dimples, Devlin, Stamina (with what seemed a smuggle bottle of 20/ 20 – remember that sh*t), All In One and up-and-coming move-maker Dollar Da Du$tman. An over eager Ghetto (just where does he get his energy from) was soon on the mic and let off a ‘Ha, I’ve got the mic now’ just before unpacking bars as if he had just got back from holiday. He and Lights went back to back and the mic was passed about, stopping briefly at Dollar, Murkston, Wiley, Demon and OT Recordings one to watch Devlin.
With RWD’s DJ Chewy upstairs in funky house mode, 333 was the place to be on Friday night. The night picked up downstairs as well and it was on call to be one of the biggest grime nights for tiiime… until a little bit of trouble involving a small amount of people killed the vibe. Skepta and others tried to resuscitate SOB but she flatlined worst than a crackhead who had just won the lottery.
Not before bouncing, we saw Cold Blooded’s Dollar Da Du$tman try to do what he’s does best and entertain the dwindling ‘crowd’ - to no avail. Not even his cries of, ‘Please come back,’ helped. A night with so much potential was so easily spoilt. I’ll be at the next one though. As Puffy once said, ‘No squabbles can hold me down, oh no, I’ve got to keep on blogging’… I think.

For more info visit…

www.chantellefiddy.blogspot.com
www.333mother.com
www.runtheroad.com

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