Amid the downpour we saw over the weekend, those not made of sugar traversed the hazardous floodlands for a night of premium drum n’ bass with Break and Fierce. So from the very beginning it was very unlikely they would be disappointed.

With Luka, Dauntless and Whitey kicking things off, the patrons walked in to a wall of sound courtesy of the Hijack System, a relentless barrage of bass waves and snare snaps. Music to the ears indeed, although they’re still dancing some three days later. Either that, or I’m being followed by an alarm clock.

It was a surprisingly busy venue, with lithe bar-wenches and open plan layout; a rollicking good time had by all I’m sure, though it was so very, very loud. My companion was forced to travel home to collect some ear plugs before returning again to get her groove on.

Break and Fierce went back to back, taking the decks by storm. Their styles contrasted and complimented each other: Fierce bought a more technical edge, driving drum beats and the ilk while Break’s oeuvre seemed darker, more industrial and certainly more bassy. There was none of this treble nonsense, no soul warblers crowding the air, no more than a sprinkling of anthem hi-jacked in a cover’s cover with new meat. Drum. Bass. That is all.

We saw tight mixing of course from these two UK aces, both I’m sure who were thinking “you call this rain?”. Fierce leapt around the stage, acting out his mixes in something akin to performance art. Break kept his head down, hat on and focussed, pumping the volume up. You can’t really fault this philosophy but maybe a decent mc or two would have been good, but then again maybe that’s a frill. I’ve never really considered MCs as a frill before. Quite an integral part of drum and bass really. Mo’ Fire.

Outside things were hotting up rapidly underneath the heaters and the tarps, with unexpected flurries of water arriving off walls and floor, shocking the unwary smoker. There’s only so long you can laugh at people getting wet though.

It was a good night for dancing, a good night of dancing and there was some good dancing on show too. To the giddy heights! I got to try out my new super-sonic robot I’ve been practicing in the shower for the last three weeks. It went down well. Okay anyhow. Maybe no one else noticed but I was feeling it.

The No Frills crew put on a decent enough night, especially sound wise. However if they’re looking to do these things more regularly they should probably turn the sound down a notch lest their entire clientele go mutt’n’jeff. Coming up – another midweek rock out at Hermanns come the 20th. Worth keeping your eyes wide open for that.