John B - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff - 17th Sept 2010 (Live Review)
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Written by Elliott Batte
English born producer and DJ John B had recently been voted #1 DJ by ‘DJMAG’s top 100 DJs, and it was somewhat evident why at this packed night at the Welsh Club last Friday.
But before we were treated to an hour of superstar DJ John himself, Cardiff’s biggest weekly drum and bass night ‘Aperture’ gave us a few energy filled sets from its loyal, loud and local deejay family.
Undersound kicked off the night with one of his first sets for Aperture. He didn’t disappoint with a few good tracks getting the early birds in the mood for the hectic night about to ensue. Roath based up and coming act Lung worked the dance floor with a back to back set with fellow DJ Maxx Roach. Lung is building a big name for himself as a dubstep, drum and bass and even as a house producer. He is one of few Aperture and Neuropol (Cardiff’s weekly dubstep night) acts to have signed to a label (Kokeshi), and has released his Afterlife EP as well as a few other tasty tracks on the itunes store.
Interestingly named DJ Speedo was given the job of warming up the decks for John B, slamming some skanky sounds out to get the crowd prepared for the eccentric icon that is John Bryn Williams. With the bass rolling deep and vibes up to their maximum high, Speedo gave way for the hugely anticipated guest.
Apple Mac laptop in place, CDJs primed and dust plucked from the needles of the decks, the make-up’d DJ began his set with an automated robotic voice telling us of his previous endeavours in lovely Estonia, and how much he’d rather be here than there. Teasing the crowd with a long build up, he eventually dropped into the kind of dance inducing, electro influenced drum and bass he is loved for and the whole crowd went increasingly wild. He managed to manoeuvre the quick paced synth anthems into his own selection of dance-y electro tracks, slowing down the tempo for a 10 minute trance break.
He soon switched back to the amen breaks though, mixing in a personal favourite of mine ‘Polygon’ (ft Reijia Lee on vocals) by Shock One, a great track with a pumping bassline, and it got the crowd going well. The last track for John was definitely the one who got the army of audiophiles raving hardest though, playing his own ‘Blandwagon Poo’, a track with more genres and styles than most raves put together. The amen-break entwined track was requested by many, including the organiser of Aperture Dave himself so it’s fair to say this tune was a certainty. The extravagant DJ (the only I have seen sipping wine at the decks) finished to ‘rave reviews’ and this night is sure to go down in many a clubbers memory.
Capping the night off with the graveyard shift was Ransom, and although not having the best set time of the show, he had was the perfect end to an epic night at the Welsh Club. The DJ, known for his mixing skills among the locals, dropped some heavy and dance inducing tracks including 'Infrasonic' by Ulterior Motive and Juddah, and DJ Fresh’s tune 'Heavyweight'. The crowd kept two stepping till the lights finally came on (and a little while after too!) at 3am, and the whole place caught a simultaneous breather.
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Interestingly named DJ Speedo was given the job of warming up the decks for John B, slamming some skanky sounds out to get the crowd prepared for the eccentric icon that is John Bryn Williams. With the bass rolling deep and vibes up to their maximum high, Speedo gave way for the hugely anticipated guest.
