Drop and Brighton Boulevard Productions, the Baggsmen’s own production company, organised a bang-up night at the Petersham RSL on Friday night, posting a hit-list of new talents on the label. What stood out was the quality and ingenuity of the different artists, and the unusual live components of the performances – sultry vocals here, bit of flute there… On arrival, Andy B and his band were in full swing. Dude was crooning his smooth jazz vocals into the mike and tinkering on the keyboard, while the pace was kept up by drummer and bass player. With masterful showmanship, Andy amped the crowd and talked up the evening’s musicians, without fudging a single note. The most praise was naturally reserved for big brother Deepchild, who looked on a little anxiously from the sidelines. The crowd was kicking back at this stage with not a sole on the dancefloor.

A brief but funky interlude from Bentley preceded the next live music act – MC duo Lordz of the Fly. They burst onto the stage, marking a real change in pace for the evening. They rapped and sang over raw broken beat and 2-step from DJ Cut Price . The beats were loud and struck me as a little erratic, but Rudy and Big Buxx managed to stick to them like glue. I love Big Buxx’s technique because he always sounds so chuffed to be on the mike, which comes through in his tone. He’s a real musician. MC Rudy Jackson was divine, vocally, visually, verily. She mainly provided melodic relief to partner-in-rhyme’s upbeat rapping. Their lyrics were punchy and a little bit cheeky, featuring refrains like “Shake Your Butt Cheeks”, and it must be said that the knot of people dancing did their best to oblige. They probably took their cue from the ‘Breakbeat’ DVD which was projected against one wall.

Cut Price stayed on after Lordz of the Fly to keep us in the groove, which he did by dropping fat beats with sexy vocals from the likes of Ms. Dynamite, among others. In no time, the Baggsmen had taken over, opening with the rhetorical track ‘Did You Like That?’. Psychedelic moog from the synthisiser plus twangy live bass came together to form a sound like tripped-out lounge music, before resonating electronic effects and reggae rhythms took over. The Baggsmen had plenty of goodies in their sack, sometimes flirting with rock, occasionally with trance. They embarked on a couple of old favourites, packed with jazz-inspired breakdowns in which each musician got to show off his skill, none more so than bassist Tony Buchen. Lordz of the Fly were called back up on stage to perform the funky classic ‘Hi-Top Days’, and with the warmth of the Baggsmen’s live instruments behind them, their raps came over even better than before. To round off the set, MC Jake Stone came to throw his unpredictable energy around the stage and into the mix. The crowd just descended on the dancefloor at this stage, and didn’t depart until Stone emitted his final animalistic yelp.

Deepchild took centre stage, soothing my jangled nerves with his deep booty house. Soft muted pulses and glitchy melodies rippled out of the terminals and kept people moving at a slow groove. Inkeeping with the collaborative spirit of the evening, Tony Buchen came on stage provided a nice angular flute improvisation over Deepchild’s blissed-out beats. Later, too, Andy B gave some filial support, joining in with some politically charged MCing and soulful singing.

Bentley returned to the stage for another micro-set before the night came to an end as sudden as it was unwelcome. But then, having spent quality time in the bosom of The Family, it was bound to be hard to leave.