I unfortunately didn’t catch the name of the DJ before Krush but the brilliant warm up set included some old Detroit vibes, wicked scratching and dark Hip Hop beats. The decks he was mixing on were placed halfway up the stalls in the crowd, the reason I guess is that Krush had set up the main decks on the stage for his own purposes and didn’t want anybody messing with his equipment.
After some impressive dancing on stage from the DanceCool crew MC Dragon introduced the man from Japan. The lights on the stage lit up brightly and Krush jumped up from behind the decks; the reaction was huge! Most of the people in the room must have checked him out at Vibes all those years ago and new what was coming, I on the other hand was still to be enlightened.
Over the next hour and a half we were taken on a musical journey which incorporated many different styles but all centred around Hip Hop and Jazz with Ghostly vocals and haunting dark beats. The way Krush generates tracks with the decks is something unique, he uses the vinyl and a sampling mixer to create masterpieces with his (very gifted) hands. There was one endless beat from start to finish with a host of random and sometimes delusional, mesmerising sounds thrown in with perfect and masterful timing. Sometimes the music lost the crowd and at other times everyone in the venue was tuned in… including Krush. The few times he broke away from his musical masterpiece to look up at the crowd he was greeted with a massive cheer and applause, but he was swiftly back into the mixing.
The most impressive mix from Krush was the last one of the night with a thick dark hip hop beat on one deck and an old, old crackling Jazz Trumpet tune on the other deck. He switched the sides of the Jazz tune to find the right pitch of the trumpet around four times with each different segment of the tune mixed in melting into the last.
Time flew by during Krush’s set and it was the end of his set that Krush got a huge response from the crowd. DJ Krush seemed genuinely enthused and grateful with the love he got from the Metro crowd and rightfully so as he’d put on a truly memorable performance to last me for the next five years. Everyone was desperate for at least one more mix but after the amount of effort and creativity he’d put into the last 90 minutes he obviously needed a beer and a smoke.
Although I can’t really explain musically exactly what went on in the Metro, I know I’ll be at the next gig he plays…..big ups to the Japan Turntable master.
