Reggae Spectacular, Friday 31 July 2009 @ San Fran Bath House, WGTN
I arrived to a reasonable-sized crowd at the San Fran and as the night progressed numbers picked up but there was still enough room to dance around, a nice change to Katchafire the other week, which was a wee bit packed for my liking. It was a bit of a shame that the Audio Mechanics monthly gig and Reggae Spectacular were on the same night but I caught up with the Audio Mechanics (wandering down Cuba at around 4 or 5am) and they were happy with their turnout as I'm sure the Vital crew were too.
The Reggae Spectacular started with Naram & Pranks warming up the dance with some very nice heavy roots selections. Ras Twig then got on the decks and the dance-floor started to fill up, while things got irie on the balcony. I was impressed with Daddy Mikey's beat juggling and in true dub style Manray was on the effects, echo's and dubbing duty using the Space Echo and Korg sampler before he jumped up on the 1 & 2's with Ras Stone on the mic welcoming everyone to another ital Vital Sounds session. It was nice to hear Hannah Howes sing, in her unique style on the Truth & Rights riddim.
It was well evident that Manray & Ras Stone have run many dances together, Stones toasting complimented Manrays selections, they seem to have found a good balance MCing & letting tunes run. I enjoyed Stones' tune Warrior Child. Tuffy Culture, who I had never seen perform before, got on the mic and stepped things up. Tuffy demonstrated his versatile MC styles ranging from ragga-bashment to hip-hop flows to classic singjay style (think Ranking Joe and Eek A Mouse).
Long-time selector Dubhead spun a diverse set including Toots & the Maytals, a dancehall version of P.I.M.P. and a sampled version of John Holts' Police In Helicopter, that sounded wicked on the mighty Vital soundsystem. Dubhead & Tuffy worked well together especially upon the Kingdom riddim (Chezidek - Call Pon Dem, Collie Buddz - Let Me Know) & Alborosie featuring Michael Rose, Waan The Ting instrumental. (anyone know the riddim?)
One of the most well received tunes of the night was Bob Marleys' Soul Shake Down Party with Manray pulling it up and also playing the dub. Reggae Spectacular proved once again that Vital Sounds Hi-Fi is NZ's heaviest sound - anyone that has witnessed the Vital vibrations can testify.
Respect to selectors Naram, Pranks, Daddy Mikey, Dubhead, Mc's Ras Stone, Tuffy Culture, Hannah Howes, Operator Manray, San Fran, Radio Active & Nice Up for the reggae vibes.
Bless Up
Hawk i
Comments
hey guys, I was at the gig last friday. I realy enjoy, specialy the MC with the suit... i would like to know is name and which album can be cool to buy from him ? Thanks
hi Fred, the MC was Tuffy Culture. He doesn't have an album (to the best of my knowledge) but you could email DJ Dubhead via www.myspace.com/djdubhead
Thanks for your comments
Add a comment