September 2006
Jurassic 5, 26th Sept
At the end of the set Jurassic 5 finally give in to their egos and do some freestyling. There must have been some fun in the dressing room when they discussed who would go first, because the only rhyme these guys have for Bristol is... I hate to say it - Pistol.
To get us in the mood, the DJ plays Easy Star All-Stars' Radiodread, a dub version of OK Computer, which is fantastic and the crowd is insanely happy that they remember playing Thekla all those years ago and very willing to scream a lot every time our fair city gets a mention.
J5 have been on stage for two hours now and there is no sign that anyone's going to let them leave the building. We have had all the hits, probably the entirety of their first three albums and a few choice numbers from the latest, Feedback.
DJ Nu-Mark has a great break on some toy fisher-price style samplers to show off his skills while the rest of the group sneak off for a crafty bifta (or something). There is also a sampler break where they all sit at schoolroom-type desks, each equipped with its own sampler and give us a lesson on beat formation.
The songs are as funky and head-nodding as ever, augmented with the usual 'we should all love each other, raise your fist for peace, fsck Bush' malarkey that goes down so well with this sort of crowd. Of course as soon as we all leave the idea of revolution is somewhat dampened by the need to go home and eat and work in the morning but it all seems like a good idea at the time.
On the way out I buy two homemade CD's from a hip-hop artist from St Werburgs for three pounds. He's not bad at all, MC Yeshua...
Goatlab, 29th Sep
It's 9:40 pm and I'm a little early for the Goatlab. Starts at Ten apparently, I suppose since it's Friday night this is probably acceptable. I get myself a pint of BOB at the White Lion and sit outside watching the City Centre traffic and breathing in the lovely fumes.
A few games of Virtua Tennis on the old n80 later I wander over to find the place filling up already. It's ten twenty. In the first cavern there is a DJ playing awesome ragga drum and bass to the empty floor but the back caves are pretty packed.
Parasite takes over the laptops from DJ Floorclearer (?) and plays some great drum and bass influenced beats with monstrous basslines and jumpup rhythms (ouch - writing about dance music is haard). People are drunk and happy. The boys from Dragnet are here, resplendent in goat outfits and a bit creepy. I hope there will be no virgin sacrifices and giant snakes later, although there isn't really room in this catacombe of a club. Parasite is superceded by Gusset who has a special move in which certain messed up beats clear all the girls off the dancefloor. The boys stay and enjoy themselves but there's a hint of desperation as I'm sure they really want to go off chasing the girls. I don't know, maybe it's too subtle and complex for girls. Maybe it's the opposite, but they are all jiggling their bottoms to the drum and bass next door I notice as I try to claw my way to the toilets. So Gusset: played by John Peel but not for the Faint Hearted!
The late night crowd starts arriveing and by 2330 the place is rammed. I struggle to the front for Big Joan and find a nice bit of shelf to sit on. With all the electronicky music going on you'd think that a guitar band would seem out of place, but Big Joan have the rhythms and big synthy sounding basslines to pull it off. The audience certainly think so and it's one of the better Big Joan sets I've seen. Annette shouts and sings well and the whole band have a battle with the drumkit for a bit which is great.
Back to the laptop corner and My Ambulance Is On Fire (aka Anton Maiof) slams out some harsh beats with severe bass and lots and lots of screaming. It is even more danceable and endorphin-inducing than his noise set in the Blackout tent at Ashton Court, which made the GF breathe a big sigh of relief and say thank God that's over, even though she was wearing earplugs. She was also wrong (although I'm sure I'll get a thick ear for saying so). It's like techno in an industrial slaughterhouse on a building site. Or something.
The "Servants of the Apocalyptic Goatrave" (aka Bong Ra and Sickboy) move in a little too soon and Anton gets relegated to the back while they tinker with their machines in sinister cowls as if he isn't there. When they kick off the music is pretty good, slightly more 'straightforward' - by which I mean they play their insanely complicated loops for long enough for you to get into the beats - than some of the other acts but I am drunk and tired and home beckons.