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Supercharged @ Digital, Brighton

Annie Mac Presents Tour @ Digital, Newcastle

Dance-offs and wobble bass on Brighton beach

n “We just like bass music,” a bespectacled student says, as we huddle together for warmth in Brighton’s biting sea air. the stag party dressed in Where’s Wally? outfits passing the smoking area/pen don’t seem so sure. the throbbing sounds leaking from the club act as a deterrent to all but the most open-minded of seaside tourists.

D’n’b, dubstep, breaks… supercharged provides nourishment to a loyal, studenty crowd nurtured on a diet of twisted sounds and bowel- bothering basslines. tonight is their monthly big-name blowout at Digital, a venue that manages to balance underground respectability with flawless production levels. nearby, audio provides an eclectic testing ground for the club every Wednesday, too.

ninety minutes into the night people pour into the main room from all sides. By the time jack Beats are visible the stage and dancefloor may as well be cordoned off. inexplicably, the crowd by the stage suddenly turn to face the rest, all pulling the kind of

warped facial expressions that this wobble-bassed music was made for.

the punters stay put for d’n’b duo Friction and mC Dynamite, giving kudos to the club’s faith in their broad but bassy music policy. again, it’s a mixture of old and new as the open- minded punters show respect for the genre’s musical heritage. of course, no d’n’b nostalgia night would be complete without topless sweaty men, but on this occasion only one can be seen pulling a screwface on the podium amid a room full of trendy but casually dressed ravers.

With so many events, labels and artists calling the town home, Brighton is far from an easy place to

music’s biggest acts. tonight he is revelling being back in Dj mode. “thirty to forty minutes of what i played tonight was new,” he says afterwards. “to see people get into it the way they did tonight – that’s the buzz. that’s the reason why i came back to Djing.”

annie mac arrives to a sea of mobile phone camera flashes. no wonder she is establishing herself as one of the best in the business – her seamless, eclectic set fully justifies the hype, and a 20-minute encore shows why she is one of the most prominent figures in dance music. “What an amazing crowd – that was the most fun i’ve had a a gig for ages!” annie says afterwards, as 1500 elated geordies spill out onto the streets singing ‘you got the love’. if any track can sum up tonight, that’s it. Mark Lindores

n 11pm anD the heavens have opened. outside Digital, hundreds are queuing in the downpour, barely a coat in sight, and have started the party before the venue has even opened its doors. Welcome to Friday night in newcastle.

inside, local lads people get real live up to their reputation as newcastle’s finest. their Wax:on residency has taught them how to read a crowd, and they really pack out the dancefloor.

in the seven years since jacques lu Cont’s last appearance in newcastle, he has been moonlighting as über-producer stuart price and reinventing some of

coming up

brighton2

newcastle

31/12 annie mac presents… @ the Warehouse project, manchesterwww.anniemacpresents.com

11/1 spy @ audio 18/1 scratch perverts @ audio 25/1 joker @ audiowww.yesyoudo.co.uk

coming up

Brighton: home of gurnstep

wheRe Digital, King’s Road arches and audio, marine Parade, Brightonwhen every wednesday at audio, monthly at Digitalmusic D’n’b, dubstep, breaks

annie marks the return of the Jacques

maintain a brand. But by balancing a keen ear for current trends with a passion for the sounds that preceded them, supercharged is sure to remain a staple of the town’s clubbing culture for years to come. Gordon stribLinG

wheRe Digital, newcastlewhen 11 november 2011music Quality house, drum ’n’ bass, electro, r’n’b

3

n gooD neWs! the bass bins of Brixton are banging again. you can hear them from the bottom of town hall parade, a clubbing ghost town for so long, now bustling with club kids, students and last-minute stragglers desperate for spare tickets to join the ‘sell out’ crowd for kissy and friends, as the big man brings his 26-leg uk

‘turn it on’ tour to a rapturous finale. inside the venue formally known as

the palladium picture playhouse, the ace and most recently the Fridge, the scenario is a long way from chilled. the wide dancefloor is packed from the bar to the stage. Well before kissy’s main- stage appearance the air is being whipped into a frenzy by friendly four- deck mash-up merchants alex powell and oliver portamento, aka the squatters. then ed Banger’s Feadz lets loose a tornado of twisted electro.

Bare-legged and backlit by leD strips and flashing blue and white strobes, kissy soon raises the recently refurbished

Kissy ’s Turn It On tour finale @ Electric Brixton

causes widespread destruction. yet before anyone can take cover, rusko hollers, “yo Brixton, how you feelin?” before annihilating the soundsystem with incendiary drums, bass and fun- step. the 5am spectacle of an 18-person human centipede crawling across the stage to lionel richie’s ‘all night long’ marks the return of good times to sW2 as a new dawn breaks for one of club- land’s sleeping giants. PhiL dudMan

roof. he is energy personified, like the huge confetti cannon that sends ravers into near hysteria. Bass bombs abound, and a snippet of so solid’s ‘21 seconds’

london1

wheRe electric Brixton, town hall Parade, south London when gigs and club nights on Fridays and saturdaysmusic electro, d’n’b, dubstep, house and more

tempo slaying bass bangers from the big guns in Brixton

15/12 professor green (live)17/12 kele (live) 31/12 spectrum nye partywww.electricbrixton.com

coming up

Digital: magpie army

Rusko: incendiary

electric Brixton: no narcoleptics

allowed

THE BiG3

the Best parties oF the last month

Jack Beats