Manchester Academy, 4 October 2004

Our freelance dance specialist couldn’t make it for reasons that seemed a little unconvincing (“Got Delhi belly mate, can’t keep anything down. Bloody Indian restaurants….” This was not entirely convincing because: 1) he hates Indian food with a vengeance 2) in my certain knowledge he spends so much time listening to dance music he can’t tie down a job, is virtually breadless, and a slap-up restaurant meal is well out of his reach 3) believe me, nobody would want to treat him. “OK” I said, “Not a Roni Size fan heh?” “Love him to death mate… dead cool” he replied. I gave up and decided to cover the gig myself after shouting sex with travel down the phone, and receiving insane giggles in return. Now I knew there must be another reason for my mate’s reluctance to cover what promised to be one of the dance gigs of 2004. I was to find out and I’ll give you a clue – he enjoys his sleep (another reason why he can’t keep a bread-paying job). I put down the phone with Yul Bryner’s immortal line from The King And I “It is a puzzlement” buzzing around in my brain.

In truth, I was attending anyway to take photos of the guy who created and recorded the most deserved Mercury Music Prize win in the last decade. REPRAZENT NEW FORMS was (and still is) a ground-breaking album. His latest effort RETURN TO V arrived the other day and it’s clear to me that while it doesn’t match the aforementioned album’s innovation, it takes drum and bass dance music to a more edgy, dramatic level.

I turned up at the Manchester Academy a few minutes before the complete show start at 8pm to find…, well, virtually nobody! I hastily checked to see whether the gig had been moved to one of the smaller adjacent university venues. Nope. So back to the big guy and with photo pass slapped onto my chest I wandered into the under-populated 2,000 plus capacity venue. As per usual I went straight down to the stage to check out the form for the night and noticed the night’s schedule pinned up by the stage. In the dim light I couldn’t see it and so smirked at the security guard while taking out my mini torch to shine on the piece of paper.

Oh shit! Roni Size was scheduled to appear at midnight and finish at 2am! It then dawned on me why exactly my former friend wouldn’t be covering… After thinking for a few moments about what, who and where to kill in the next four hours, I decided I would practice photography techniques in the dark, and just waited for photo opportunities on the dance-floor. The lack of punters had me first shooting patterns formed by the venue’s lighting, and then a few people as they started to assemble for the first DJ on the bill, DJ Die.

It was the first of two sessions by Bristol based drum ‘n’ bass bad boy Die, a close associate of the Size who worked on both REPRAZENT and BREAKBEAT ERA albums. It took a little while for people to respond to a nicely varied range of vicious breaks which arrived in a series of crashing crescendos right through the sessions.

As the crowd grew the vibe and atmosphere became more frenetic, the music seemed to respond in kind. In fact, it became a feeding frenzy that reached its peak during Die’s second late session. Die seemed a calm and business-like deliverer of breaks as he stood erect at the back of the stage almost unseen behind a mass of stage paraphernalia and his kit. Like all the best DJ’s he had a tight grip on the audience pulse and knew precisely how to squeeze every ounce of response from the punters. Music would come in fairly innocuously and then suddenly explode during choruses that were mind-blowing.

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In between the two Die sessions appeared another Size amigo (or amiga) in New Zealander Tali a.k.a. Natalie Scott. In an action-packed live performance Tali was accompanied by two female backing vocalists, drummer, guitarist and deck-hand. She has also worked closely with the Size for a few years and moved to Bristol to be with the clan. She also appears on Size’s new album. Tali brings to the table her skills as a lyricist and singer, and on the night she proved to be pretty competent at both.

With a mix of drum ‘n’ bass rhythms, some decent melodies, and an underlying soulful vibe she delivered a set which included several songs from her 2004 album LYRIC ON MY LIP. Vocally, she sounded youthful and vibrant as she delivered songs that the audience seemed to know only too well.

The set was nicely diverse and included the urban pop of Blazin’, the excellent soulful vibe of Don’t Blame Me, and the drum ‘n’ bass ballad Airport Lounge.

Audience reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic, with many punters mouthing lyrics and punching the air during ‘the catchy bits.’ Tali also proved to be an astute rapper during songs that combined both rap and conventional singing. I was moderately impressed despite the fact that the venue’s acoustic proved not to be friendly to the high octave vocalist.

Another session by and it was time for the main course. The MC made the appropriate announcement to thunderous cheers from the near-capacity crowd. The Size smiled as he surveyed the crowd from his central position at the back of the stage. To his left the excellent drummer who had added so much vitriol to Tali’s performance. To his immediate right was a deck-hand, and on the far right flank a keyboardist. At stage-front another MC, whom I suspect was Dynamite, introduced the maestro and began to declare the war strategy while inducing the crowd to respond.

This was the first time I had witnessed the Size live and so it was interesting to watch his modus operandi. He was like a ship’s captain anchored firmly at the tiller communicating via furtive glances, nods and smiles, and with a steady eye on the equipment and music sheets on front of him. In fact he was almost invisible and therefore difficult to photograph.

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The action was focused on stage-front with Dynamite (?) stalking the stage like a caged animal, throwing out lyrics and demanding a response. The drum ‘n’ bass backdrop was awesome, violent even. It was straight-for-the-throat stuff and the audience lapped it up big-time.

A couple of tunes in and one of Tali’s backing singers joined the fray to underline the family spirit that pervaded the night’s show. Did I recognise the songs? Did I fuck! After just one listen to the new album I suspected that Bump ‘N’ Grind, Shoulder To Shoulder, and Fassyhole were in the opening segment but could not be sure.

Not that it mattered much since it all sounded great and did the job it was designed to do. A new player was then introduced and on came a towel-waving warrior from the States I think… He was joined by Tali in what was to be one of the best chapters on the night. Again I’m guessing but I think Rise Up and On And On from the new album were performed.

At one point the big black MC pulled out a lighter and demanded that the audience do the same. The audience duly obliged and it was an interesting site, especially the clown in the front row who turned his lighter up so much it looked like a blow torch.

When the keyboardist abandoned his instrument and moved to a very tall double bass, it signalled time for some older material in a set that was masterful, cunning and all-encompassing. This was an impressive performance where all the players contributed enthusiastically and skilfully to the dynamic whole. The music proved to be a mix of soul, rock, jazz and rap underpinned by killer breaks and a heady dance vibe.

At 1.30am I had to leave for the long trek home and the next day I played the new album several times. So, the show worked on several levels, not least in promoting the new album, and it was a live dance feast that we all enjoyed.