Aperture Presents: Loadstar + MC Texas - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff - 20th January 2012 (Live Review)
Monday, 23 January 2012
Written by Elliott Batte
It’s been a while since I’ve written an Aperture review, but a night as big as Friday deserves to be documented on the internet for all to see – so those who went can look back and reminisce, and those who didn’t can find out just what they missed when they made the foolish decision to stay in.
Not only had Dan Aperture booked Ram Records’ powerful pair of producers Loadstar, he had also lined-up some of the strongest and most talented resident DJs that he had in his Arsenal. This meant the ticket-buyers and the 200 heads queuing in the cold outside were treated to non-stop tunes from ten o’clock at night to four in the morning – as usual.
Opening the night up were dynamic duo Locksem and Resonate, who had an hour and a half to show the crowd, who may not have been familiar with their faces before, what they had to offer. Room one soon filled up quickly, and as they switched between vinyl to CD with ease, they dropped one of my favourite tunes of the moment – S.P.Y’s remix of Delilah’s ‘Go’, a track which is tearing up sound systems in clubs across the country right now. Although I had to jump on the side of the stage to high-five them for playing that track, they deserve recognition for their whole set – they mixed solidly for 90 minutes and were one of the best opening acts Aperture could have given us.
Following on from those two was Aperture favourite Mikey-Ro, who, as usual, showcased his un-rivalled ability to use three turntables at once. His sets are always filled with huge double drops, sneaky teasing and sampling and absolute Clwb favourites, and he made sure that his hour of power was no different. Not much needs to be said about this DJ – whenever he’s on the bill, he performs, but even he described the night as ‘one of the top moments in my DJing history’ – and that definitely means something. You can check out one of his infamous 3-deck mixes here.
Warming-up for Loadstar in his biggest set yet was Aperture’s (yes Iwan, I’m going to say it) pint-sized DJ Screwy. He only made his debut a couple of months ago, but now, he’s playing before some of the biggest DJs in the UK at the moment – and he really repaid the faith Dan showed him by putting him on the 12:30-1:30am slot. Smoothly double-dropping some of the biggest tunes in the scene, he earned a rewind by dropping Dub Phizix and Strategy’s monster ’Marka’, and then flew straight back into bass-face inducing brilliance – all while sporting a lovely pink wig. While some find it hard to believe he’s old enough to be in the club, he showed some of the older guys how it’s done.
Loadstar don’t really need much of an introduction – their heavyweight track ’Link to the Past’ was one of the tracks of 2010 and it’s still destroying dance floors today. Alongside their guest MC Texas, they wasted no time in getting the rave in full swing, even managing to get a mosh-pit started by dropping some good old Prodigy inside the place. Using as many CDJs as the DJM-800 will allow, they teased in tracks like Chase and Status’ ’No Problem’ into S.P.Y’s colossal remix of Siren’s ’Snorkel’, as well as dropping Friction’s remix of Doctor P’s ‘Sweet Shop’. Though their sets are a far-cry in style from the days when they performed under the name Xample & Lomax, they tested the endurance of the crowd, and went in hard until three in the morning.
But, for those of you who maybe prefer that lovely, dark, jungle-y drum and bass over Loadstar’s more mainstream, ‘filthy’ sound, those who stayed until the end were treated to the return of Aperture’s long-serving Ransom, who put in another wicked hour of deep vibes. He’s been on the scene since day, so it was a brilliant sight to see one of Aperture’s other veteran DJs Kooley take over MCing duty. His mixing was, as always, flawless, and he dropped another one of my favourite tracks – Break’s heavyweight remix of Shy FX’s classic ’Bambaataa’. Ransom’s graveyard shift really separated the men from the boys, and when the lights turned on, there wasn’t a single person who wasn’t caked in sweat – a beautiful sight for any full-time raver, but not so much for the camera!
As always, big respect to Reuben MC for hosting the night with his unmatched charm and unique voice – there’s not many hosts like this one, and Aperture are lucky to have him in their array of talented MCs and DJs. Room two was sweet as well – it’s the perfect place to chill out and bust-a-move to something different. Jay-Z and Kanye West’s ’Niggas in Paris’ was, as usual, a favourite with the Droneboy Lounge DJs. Much love to Aperture regular Josh Ayres too, who managed to win himself some vinyl signed by the Loadstar pair themselves.
Dan Aperture was, like many times before, ecstatic at how much the night went off, and told Stereoboard: “There’s nothing more than I love to stand at the back and watch everyone enjoying themselves and see all the smiles on people’s faces. We’re going to continue to ride this wave and now we’re ready to move on to something deeper – as usual, expect big bookings, more talented locals and, of course, nothing but the best drum and bass has to offer.”
Were you at Clwb Ifor Bach last Friday? Leave a comment in the comments section below.
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