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Rating: More than a live evening, it's a club night. That's how it's advertised on the posters.
"Clubbing." I don't know what to expect, or rather, since it starts quite late I expect a DJ session until dawn.
I've never seen this place so full, everyone is waiting for LTJ while the supporting DJ does his honest work. They're all facing the stage. So, a concert?
I step out for a moment just to return immediately drawn back by the crowd's screams. There's a good vibe, good vibrations, of an anticipation finally ended.
LTJ is one of those who invented drums and bass. The early nights at Charing Cross in London. However, his version is lounge, calm, not the Goldie who occasionally goes wild. The spatial arrangement of sounds and their relationship make the "d'n'b". I see them in the room.
The bass digs under your shoes in time with the heartbeat's relaxed pace. Slow. The drums and especially their super-fast hi-hats fly and refract high under the ceiling and never stop. In the middle, at eye level, the empty space is barely filled with a few notes or low-mixed voices.
The d'n'b is based entirely on this dichotomy. Fast and slow. The slow prevails. The anticipation generated by the introductions and the drums.
But there's also McConrad on stage, singing and reciting slogans on every track, sometimes almost ragga. Always restrained, truth be told, his seem like introductions. Indications to the audience. He goes back and forth on the stage, from a distance, you only see his black silhouette.
LTJ is behind in the dark. I never see him.
This concert seems to have started hours ago and probably could go on for hours and maybe it will, but I'm leaving. I'm tired and nothing's happening here, some people are dancing, some are standing still.
Neither concert nor club.
What's left is beautiful music but as background enjoyed best while doing something else, while having a drink at a bar. Music that decorates. Live and at home, it never grabs me in the same way, because of that empty space that can only be filled with empty thoughts. Strange. It's quarter past two and the room is still very full. I wonder what they're waiting for.
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