03/11/18,
Printworks London
I think anyone who has me on social media knew how excited I was for this day! However, when the day actually came I was so drained I didn’t even know if I would make it. As a journalist, it’s your job like any other job to go to what you’ve committed to and provide good content. I also have been attending therapy and one of my goals is to attend events and fully participate. So with that being said, your gal did get up and sort herself out with a banging outfit.
Canada Water Station had loads of stewards helping us get to the venue. However, I’d just like to make a comment about one who was actually really rude when I asked where the nearest cashpoint was, f*** you. It’s interesting, as press sometimes they can find your name straight away and other times they can’t, this time it was the latter. But that turned out good as we (Jords & Myself) were actually on Chase & Status’ (C&S) personal guestlist! Although, the excitement took over and we didn’t realise we had backstage wristbands till almost the end. Ive been to Printworks London once before for Afropunk but was surprised that the security measures had changed (not for the best) and the way they’d laid out the event (also not for the best). The level of search we went through was invasive and ridiculous. I mean taking peoples chewing gum and smelling roll on deodorant is a step too far. Just install metal detectors and provide on site drug testing so people remain safe. I also think they should’ve made use of the downstairs space but I’ll get to that later.
After eventually managing to locate Tobz again, we grabbed a drink which I must say was one of the most affordable drink prices that I’ve seen recently. Unfortunately due to arrival and queue lengths we did miss Rage (who played a reggae and dancehall set before joining C&S later); I didn’t know he DJ’d as well, I’ve only seen him MC myself. We also missed Saxon Soundsystem and Reggae Roast & Natty (we have seen them numerous times tbh) but it was still annoying but it is what it is. We did manage to catch half of Seani B’s set which was amazing. Every song he dropped was a jungle classic and just put me in the best mood. He was really bigging up C&S with their ‘RTRN II Jungle‘ which we couldn’t help but shout “we never left!” Loved him dropping ‘Retreat’ to get us ready for the main event.
Photo belongs to Luke Dyson
We did venture briefly into the Dark Room but it just wasn’t for us really. Wookie was on at the tim playing house music but that’s not our portion. It was an even smaller room than the other one, so was a more intimate affair. Special shoutout to DJ Ron who I’ve not seen before but dropped tune after tune. We all went mad when he dropped the High Contrast ‘If We Ever‘ Unglued Remix. Everyone was dancing with everyone, whether they know them or not. Also shoutout to the lovely couple that spent time finding us, after we’d seen them outside, to share THE CABBAGE (If you know you know). We did catch sets from: Benny L, Brockie (we all can MC along with MC Det & Skibadee by now as we’ve seen them so many times – maybe one day I’ll show you all my skills haha) and Randall. It never gets boring seeing any of these lot, like, never EVER!
Photo belongs to Luke Dyson
It was a manic rush to get back in to see C&S while bumping into Sean AKA Londonboy Tattooer, grabbing a drink and trying to find a good spot. Unfortunately, whoever laid out the event decided to situate it upstairs rather than downstairs which meant we were all crammed in to a pretty small space which took away from the experience because we all just wanted a bit of space to have a wiggle. It was intriguing as we don’t know most of the songs that are going to be on their album, so it was a new experience. Obviously, we’d all already heard ‘Retreat‘ and ‘Heater‘ as they were released in summer. I think my favourite song from the album at the moment has to be ‘Delete‘ ft Burro Banton which I first heard at Hospitality in the Park but had no idea it was their song; I can’t wait for it to be released. We went onto the balcony for a little bit where i met Kate whose sound as f*** where we had a wiggle and talked about mental health. While up there, they dropped Shy FX’s ‘Feelings‘ and the light shows were insane; it was a sight you’d definitely have to have been there to get.
Photo belongs to Luke Dyson
This is the happiest I’ve been at an event in a long time. You know its a good rave when you’re only just recovering now! I’d like to thank all the lovely people that came up to me and complimented me, the old friends I saw, Jords &n Tobz and WIRED PR for sorting us out. I’m so excited for RTRN II Jungle to be released, and I’m glad they’ve come back to their roots.
For an exclusive listen to some of the songs on the album and some classics, click the link below.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0000z2z