Sub loaded indeed

enginepower
Originally uploaded by infinite.

Archived Photos: Subloaded Allnighter @ the Black Swan, Bristol. April 15 2005

From the exterior appearance of the Black Swan pub, it was obvious that Subloaded was to be a wickedly grimey, old school rave affair (my favourite nah mean) but by no means was I prepared for what was beyond. Accidentally walking into the dub and reggae filled front door, we were directed to the car park which as we walked through, introduced our bodies to what was in store by fueling our footsteps with bass. Having greeted Pinch- head honcho of the Subloaded organisation and promotional team, we bowled on in and 5 minutes later, found ourselves in the busy and slightly worse for wear bar with Red Bull (apparantly made with Bull's Balls) in our hands, served in plastic cups reminiscent of school disco days.

After some meetings and greetings (hello Appleblim, Engine Room (pictured), Gutterbreakz), I headed off into the main room, via a dark corridor which offered more trips than Thomas Cook (no relation of mine unfortunately). Laughing gas balloons and mushrooms are unseen at London dubstep events, neither in fact, are the bright young things flying high on the dancefloor some of whom appeared to be on their maiden voyage into the infinite skies of the sub low sound.

I walked onto the dancefloor just in time for the second half of Cyrus' (Random Trio) set in which he played a deep, dark and bassy mix of Loefah, D1, Mystikz and of course his own stunningly constructed tunes. Great to hear Lost City on a sound system as a huge, and truly agreeable Dissident sound system. I'd heard that the bass these bad boys produced was "fukkin crazy" but it really did take the piss, with the likes of Goat Stare blowing my ears drumz and contents of my half built Rizla (Loefah owes me one) into the dirty rave night air.

The shape and size of room itself suited the sound nicely, and gradually warmed up as the crowds flocked in to hear the wrath of the Mystikz b2b Loefah and Sgt Pokes unleash itself. The DMZoners played yet another incredible set- one which they obviously enjoyed as much as the crowd. This time, the wait for the dancefloor riddim Neverland was replaced with a wait for the drivin bass of 'that Coki riddim' aka Haunted which shocked all inside last months historic DMZ allnighter. The wait was a long but pleasurable one- dropped second to last with a whole lot of bass heavy beats in between that squeezed every drop of sound from the speakers. Tunes that particularly screamed out were Kode9's Blues, Skreamz Angry Envy; a new big, bad and cold killa from Loefah, reportedly produced the night before and Mala' Antiwar Dub, a warm and refreshing 4x4 beat and a nice note to end the set on.

Plasticman also played a huge set, despite struggling with the stressed right hand deck needle. Dammit, the night was so peachy, something had to test the DJ's. Cha Remix and Shallow Grave (now classics) were well received as was a new to me MC track which was quite simply fukking brilliant. The set in general was slightly dislocated and psychedelic and was consumed with vigour by the now mashed crowd.

By the time Vex'd hit the stage, I was ready to hit the road home via the M4 in an incredibly uncomfortable hired Ka. Kode9 humming driving bass lines and the most awe inspiring 5 in the morning ground fog gave the journey an other worldly vibe and added to the feeling that the sounds personified by the likes of Kode and the rest of the free bass thinking circle- Digital Mystikz, Loefah, Skreamz, Chef, Random Trio, Youngsta, D1 are making a huge and indelible impression on the current musical landscape.

Props really and truly have to go to Pinch and the Brizzle's team who have managed to build one helluva strong suspension bridge between Bristol and what is predominantly a London scene. It's wonderful to travel to a different part of the island and feel not just welcomed but honoured to be there, and even more satisfying to see a completely different crowd totally buzzing on the vibes. From the movements of the crowd and the artists, the word on the forum and my own experience, I have no doubt that what I witnessed was not just the merging of two cities united in sound and energy but a room full of people falling in love.