Scaling the Empire stairs past the dull thud of the middle bar to reach the moon bar, it was interesting to compare the atmospheres. As we arrived, de la Haye hadn’t taken long to warm up and was already filling the floor in record time. When she supportedShapeshifter last year it was clear that she had a good eye for the crowd, and in turn a good ear for the music that would fit the mood of the room perfectly. Tonight’s set was very different from what I’d heard previously, but once again it fit the atmosphere perfectly.
De la Haye had the perceptive skill and sense to realise not to blast the crowd with hardcore DnB beats too early on, instead she excelled in spending her set gearing them up for what was to come. Unfortunately that set did not last as long as it should have, as de la Haye had to make way half an hour early. I always enjoy her sets so it was particularly disappointing to have it cut short, however it proved that she didn’t need the full hour and a half to get the night started as by the time D-Ron and Freddy Phumetook over the floor was full, the heat was hot and the room was ready to go.
Along with Lincoln and MC Plush, the aforementioned provided an immense warm up, to the point where some of the more uninitiated in a night dedicated to DnB looked like they might fade before Roni even showed. Luckily such blistering sets, that only had the occasional slippery moment, were so intense they had everyone upright and moving right up until the main act. Even the stalwarts of immovability at the back were nodding their heads. For everyone else, though, the air couldn’t have gotten any thicker with anticipation, and as soon as Roni Size stepped through the door – long before he had a chance to take to the turntables – a massive cheer went up and it was time for the night to hit fifth gear.
He came out with all smiles, only briefly pausing to drink the crowd in before getting down to it. He left the vocal proceedings to Reprazent cohort Dynamite MC, who had the task of whipping the crowd into a frenzy. While Roni’s focused but relaxed face could only be seen vaguely lit up by the blue glow of his Mac laptop, it was Dynamite who really defined the gig. His lyrical skills were soundly on display and rang out through moon bar to the delight of everyone in the room. There was, of course, the old Jamrock “murder” routine that’s popular with ragga MCs around the world, but it was used to good effect here, and not so much that it got tedious. Aside from that, Dynamite was on top form and always moved with the fast-paced beats that Size was doling out.
The art of good drum and bass is that even though you may be completely knackered and feel like you can’t go on, the next swell overrides your brain telling you to sit down and recuperate, and instead it forces you back out onto the floor. Indeed, as my other half said, “You go see dance when you want to pick up, you go see dnb when you want to dance.” Roni spent his two hour set working over some old favourites, some nice new tunes and some leftfield choices, such as an interesting bassy dubstep reworking of Seven Nation Army. The focus however was on the raw energy of lashing drum and bass tracks that never let up throughout the two hours.
It is easy to see why Roni is the best of the best when it comes not only to DnB in general, but more specifically his DJing, because it was extremely difficult to leave the floor even when the parched throat needed refreshment. With a new album coming, and another Reprazent release coming also, 2009 is going to quite a year for Roni Size, and if Saturday night was anything to go by it’s going to be massive.
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