After negotiating the surly Revolver door staff (seriously, is it a part of the job description that they have to be assholes?), I joined the already sizeable crowd that soon swelled to bursting point. The punters were there to see the master of the musical mixed bag, Mr Scruff, throw down one of his legendary 5 hour sets, where anything goes. As the crowd waited patiently, we were entertained by visuals of Scruff’s own cartoons of ‘Potato Men’ (as seen on the cover of his last studio album Keep It Unreal). Scruff’s abstract doodlings made it clear that there are three things he loves in this world: music, tea and pies. With no pies and very little tea in sight, however, it was the music that would hold centre stage on this fine Sunday night, as Scruff rocked the crowd ‘til the wee smalls with his self-titled “wibbly-wobbly” brand of beats.
Hitting the stage early (as promised), Scruff quickly began to move the capacity crowd with a quality selection of burning dub, reggae, funk and soul. As his set progressed, he began to open up, with Latin, hip-hop and jazz being thrown into the mix with ease. It’s certainly been a while since I’ve seen a dance floor rocking to traditional jazz standards, but the crowd seemed to love every minute of it. It didn’t seem to matter what he played, be it old Lewis Ramsey jazz cuts or classic hip-hop joints by Gangstarr and a Tribe Called Quest – Mr Scruff exhibited an uncanny ability at maintaining a consistently funky groove through his selections, keeping the party moving from start to finish.
Crowd favourites included a number of selections from Scruff’s recent Keep It Solid Steel Pt.1 mix CD, while a well-timed bunch of Brazilian and Latin influenced stormers provided a timely energy boost. The real crowd pleasers, however, came in the form of Scruff’s own cuts, with tracks such as “Ug” and an as-yet unreleased Quantic Soul Orchestra remix of the infamous “Get A Move On” setting the dance floor on fire.
As I crept out the door at 1am, Scruff was still holding it down for a big crowd, showing amazing staying power in comparison to the average DJs who play for two hours and jet. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the night was simply being able to watch Scruff do his thing. It was refreshing to see a man who was obviously having the time of his life on stage, as he danced the night away behind the decks with a smile beaming from ear to ear. He even looked happy when confronted by a random stage dancer trying to make requests (although I’m sure he didn’t have a clue what she was on about), bless his soul. Big ups must be given to the Sjooshi crew for bringing through yet another fresh act, with extra credit being awarded for sticking to the gig’s advertised early start. Taking into account the fact that Sunday is a school night for most people, early start times are a great idea – promoters take note! I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday.
