It’s refreshing to see a DJ of Suv’s stature coming to Sydney and playing in a smaller venue where there isn’t a $40 ticket price, and with Stamina MC in tow, 20 bucks was money very well spent.
First up was local DnB representative Ritual, I only caught his last two tunes which were bass heavy and I guess followed a similar set. Next up was resident Shuey who blew up at the last Moving Through Air and once again didn’t disappoint. With quality mixing Shuey played a good selection of really fast paced tunes as well as 3am:MIST & the recent Heard It All Before:Greg Packer remix, Midnight:MIST remix & some Calibre business. I didn’t rate MC VIP who was a strange choice as warm up for Stamina, his style is more suited to a rave and didn’t fit with the music. Once again the massive appreciated Shueys set and by midnight our eardrums were ready for the sound of SUV.
The fourth member of Full Cycle’s Bristolian crew took his position behind the decks and the first plate down was a heavy Jill Scott remix which blew me away and seemed to play for about 10 minutes. Over the next hour Suv rinsed a few classic tracks and surprisingly Don’t Wanna Know:Shy FX along with Make It Funky:Unknown and a Dillinja style Sambasim remix with loads of snares & bass. After an hour of faultless mixing, bass heavy Salsa beats and sexy Latin rollers Suv had well and truly tuned into the crowds wavelength and was smashing the place up. By this time Stamina was in full flow on the Mic (after he’d raised volume up a little) and the roof was almost on fire. Each precise and carefully crafted mix was greeted with a cheer and Suv blatantly enjoyed every second he was behind the decks, passionately singing, dancing and bouncing around for the full two hour and 40 minute set. Suv also dropped some fresh dubs including Happy Hour & The Mexican:Danny C, So Tinha Que Ser Com Voce:Marky & Patife, I Wanna Get Down:Lemon D:, Summer Days:Marky, Inta Outa:Suv & Patife, Capueira:J-Majik (2nd to last tune) and a shit load of others which I tried to catch the names of but each time I looked at the plate Suv swiftly covered the label with his hand and with a smile shook his head at me, these tunes will understandingly be staying hush hush. At around 1:30 it was time for the inevitable but not exactly how we’d expected it…Suv dropped LK but it was the classy Jorge Benjor & Toquinho original from 1969, which he then mixed into an LK remix (which I can’t think who it’s by), Stamina was doing his thing on the Mic with the crowd singing along happily to the lyrics and grooving around. After a few more mixes The Lighter remix pounded out of the speakers and on Stamina’s command everone with a lighter was reaching high and sparking a flame, definitely one for the old skool. Suv smoothly mixed this into Snapshot and the dancefloor was in complete kaos, every DnB head in the club had a wide smile on their face. Suv also hit us with some Full Cycle dubs featuring the usual heavy wobbla basslines and thick solid beatz. There was also (I think I counted right) 3 different mixes of Do You Remember with Tali’s sweet vocals hitting every time, and towards the end of the night there was some messed up Bhangra style track with a beat that sounded like the loop in the Knight Rider theme tune.
Throughout Suv’s set Movement resident and all round badboy Stamina MC was laying down soulful lyrics, tuneful vocals and Ragga style chatting (including some old Snoop lyrics) which complimented every tune he rhymed over. Stamina has great presence and charisma and builds a rapport with the crowd by constantly chatting, dancing and joking with them. I think everyone who was there would say that his beatboxing at the end of the night was pretty special and demonstrated the supreme skills this guy possesses. It’s easy to see how he MC’d at a party in Brazil for 11 hours straight without the crowd getting bored. Stamina’s style is as diverse and varied as Suv’s vinyl collection and the two make a really formidable entertaining team: as I write this review I’m smiling and bouncing around remembering how wicked they were…
Big shouts to the Break & Enter/Concrete Jungle crews who not only put on a wicked party (it’s becoming a habit) but got a top DJ and MC in the place, another classic night for the Sydney Massive to remember.
The greatness continues with the legend that is Bryan G touching down on April 10 with MC Darrison (Movement resident #2). This will no doubt be another one to remember as Bryan’s been running around collecting dubplates (Vinyl & Cd’s) especially for this tour, the last set I heard him rinse at The End turned the place inside out. Fingers crossed he brings the Brian McKnight & LK dub with him as it’s a bad, bad tune.
