True Jungle Rollers feat. Raiden @ Mercury Bar, Canberra (17/05/08)
There comes a time in a young man’s life when he… No, wait.
‘Twas a Saturday eve, when… Hmm…
Drum n’ Bass is like a loose woman, they both ha… No.
Confession #1: I know shite all about drum n’ bass. My only exposure has been the occasional High Contrast bootleg, the odd TV commercial and three liquid drum n’ bass tracks I bought from Beatport around 5 years ago. With this in mind, I wandered into the newly-established Mercury Bar on Saturday evening, my thoughts filled with visions of camo, that junglist dude from Human Traffic and those wallets with really, really long chains. On arrival, my eyes were greeted with a big wad of camo strewn around the front of the club (check). Out of my peripheral vision I saw some dude dancing, turning just enough for me to catch a glance of… a wallet with a long chain attached (check). Two down, one to go… This should be easy.
Having not been to this venue since it changed its name from Echo, I spent the first few minutes sussing it out. My first impressions were that it was cosy, with room for about 200 people at maximum capacity. Not a bad thing, except if it was full of… say… 200 beer-fuelled drum n’ bass fans. Ordering from the bar, I was impressed by the friendly professionalism of the staff, an unfortunately rare trait, particularly in smaller venues. Anyway, this review shouldn’t dwell on the personality of the employees nor on the interior décor, because last time I checked this was inthemix and not Decorating with Dora. This brings me to…
Confession #2: I missed the first few acts. Yup, sorry Miss Universe and Escha, I messed up and arrived late. That said, I can base my review on the exclusive interview I had with Miss Universe himself, who revealed that his set was:
a) ‘Totes’ awesome;
b) Sexy;
c) The best thing he had ever heard.
How’s that for some unbiased opinion ITM? Ahem…
When I did make it in, I was greeted by the sounds of Rookie One , who played a fantastic warm up set: tunes and mixing that were smooth, accessible and created the perfect atmosphere. Towards the end of Rookie’s set the place started to fill up and the air was noticeably thick with excitement (or at least I think that’s what it was). Next up, Karton took control and unleashed some orgasmic tracks (most of which I later found out were their own). Having only seen the duo in breaks and house mode, it was both refreshing and reassuring that they could translate their usual solid performance in these more accessible genres into something I hadn’t experienced before. There’s a very good reason labels like Vacation and Sound of Habib are lapping up these guys.
Confession #3: I enjoyed the next act more than the headliner. Maybe it was due to my complete lack of exposure to the mega-ultra-cool genre of dubstep before this moment, but Bec Paton’s set absolutely blew me away. Glitchy, bassy and just downright cool, I couldn’t help but get my ‘groove awn’ (sorry dancefloor) and was fixated for an hour in some kind of dubby, wacked-out hypnotic trance. All hail dubstep, the next genre to make you feel like the coolest mo-fo on the planet!
Then came Raiden. In a flurry of rapid beats and drunken cheers, I found myself in the middle of some of the craziest arm flailing I’ve seen since the Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man Convention of ‘96. At times pushing the tempo above 200BPM, I was genuinely surprised that I kept dancing. Not that the music was bad (quite the opposite), but that ‘usually’ if anything pushes the 200 barrier I tend to lose interest. The fact that Raiden kept me on the dancefloor is an absolute tribute to his production and DJing abilities. His set was a significant departure from those acts before him, infusing drum n’ bass with his unique brand of darker techno.
Fourthstate closed the night, proving that he had the skills to keep the crowd interested, despite finishing with dub-step after Raiden’s onslaught of mayhem. Dropping the tempo, I was informed earlier in the night by several punters, was a risky approach. The fact he kept the crowd interested is a testament to his abilities. His skills, track selection and passion meant that he had nothing to worry about, nice work!
Stumbling home, a slice of pizza in one hand and a big grin on my face, I realised that I should have done this earlier. It’s easy to find yourself stuck on the same track in this city. Dig a little deeper, go out of your comfort zone and give something a go and you’ll find plenty of hidden gems. Stereotypes aside, what I discovered on Saturday was a community full of passion and energy, some serious talent and a night of unpretentious, genuine fun.
