DJ Hype, Roni Size and James Rand serve up a treat at the Masque but headliners 2manydjs frustrate at Chibuku’s Easter weekender. Getintothis’ Andy Kettle returns to the rave after ten years away.
Its ten years on since my raving days, but what could be a better way than to re-live them with a line-up like this.
Switched to the legendary Masque venue we find ourselves dotting between the two main rooms – the latter being upstairs in the Loft for the Hideout Festival Pre-Party.
The feeling was of entering familiar territory again, with pretty much the same line-up as we would have seen ten years ago down in London at The End for Ram Records, or Planet V at Fabric.
Shy FX delved into his own drum n bass flavour with a combined fusion of some great hip-hop remixes, funky beats, and cheeky breaks.
Following straight after was the pioneer that is Roni Size, who gave his usual journey through various drum n bass sounds, with tunes both old and new, and having been blown away by seeing Reprazent live in the past – he still holds his status as a true legend.
Sadly the crowd was slightly smaller than when Shy FX was on (due to clashing with 2manydjs) but those who were there, were dancing their right legs off.
Size closed with a couple of very dirty tunes, and of course his biggest hit Brown Paper Bag, which simply prepared the way for the man himself – DJ Hype. With complete ease, Hype pulled out tune after tune, both old and new, and had the whole crowd jumping to the rafters.
Earlier, the Theatre kicked off with a three-hour mammoth set from James Rand – which climaxed in thrilling style – our only regret that we couldn’t catch more.
Headliners 2manydjs, followed, and while their set was solid, it took a while for them to get going as their gradual build involved the usual great mixing but ultimately proved a frustrating experience.
Ultimately, despite the lower crowd numbers, it was great to be back at The Masque listening to such a high quality line-up.
Picture courtesy of Andy Kettle.
