Slam on the Breaks @ the Basement Lounge (26/03/2005)

Upon entering the lower limestone lounge which is the Swan Basement, I was pleasantly surprised to find the décor and the atmosphere so classy but relaxed. After apparently undergoing some interior and exterior developments (though I’m not sure when), the place seemed perfect for a gig such as this. That is, having a ­having a decent sized bar with places to sit and play pool in the back, but also a large enough dance floor for the DJs to work. And work it they did.

To start the night we caught some original and innovative music from Sounds of Sam, who was later joined by T-Mac on the turntables. Together these two played some seriously funked up breaks which got the dance floor started.

From here I ventured to the second stage, located in front of the beer garden, to catch the last half of Canasta’s set. He kept the vibe funky with a great mix of old and nu tracks which flowed nicely into the mixed bag of music provided by DJ Adz. Ranging from breaks to dub and finishing with some drum n’ bass, Adz got the crowd ready and set, just in time for Sistamassive to come through and spike them with an awesome display of gnarly bass line breaks. Consisting of DJ Missile, with vocal accompaniment from Aysha Amani, Sistamassive managed to draw most of the crowd outdoors and then proceeded to work them into a dancing frenzy. After dropping a few Cyberfunk bombs, followed by a cheeky Madonna bootleg, the crowd was going wild, so much so that one punter ended up dancing in just his underwear. Sistamassive definitely seems like a duo to keep your eyes (and ears) on.

With so much action taking place at the smaller of the two stages, I decided to check out the happenings on the inside, only to be surprised to see another group of people shakin’ their moneymakers. It seemed everyone was into it tonight, the only problem was deciding where to get your groove on. This wasn’t a dilemma for long as come 11pm the outside stage was shutdown to avoid noise complaints and the main room filled up to catch T-Mac finishing up his set with some vocal assistance from MC MisGevious.

To finish off the night, local legends Micah and Lo Key Fu stepped up to the stage. Bringing with him his trademark sound of driving yet funky breaks, with ad-libbed bleeps and effects from Lo Key, Micah had the whole room to his attention. For the first time all night the pool tables were empty, as was much of the back half of the venue. After mixing up some older classics with some soon to be anthems, such as Nick Thayer and Basskleph’s brand new ‘F*cking the Groove’ the night was (too) soon coming to a close.

To end proceedings there was a raffle (going to some lucky punter who wasn’t me), and then with one final track the night was finished, but the vibe stayed on and will definitely be back (like this reviewer) at any future Slam on the Breaks nights.