Josh Taylor
By Josh Taylor
IF ever the expression ‘it does exactly what it says on the tin’ could be used more fittingly then I’d like to hear some suggestions please.
‘Terror’ and ‘bass’ just about summed up the theme for Wednesday’s proceedings at the festival venue-sized El Embrujo, just outside of Granada. The site was inundated with scarily-clad punters stumbling about the place, as though they were actual zombies as opposed to assumed ones. Some, presumably in observation of traditional Spanish custom (or lack thereof in this instance), didn’t bother with the Halloween pretense, though it has to be said that by the end of the night these cynics blended in with the rest of the crowd quite convincingly.
Musically, this event was always going to be nothing but no nonsense, hold-on-to-your-mate-style, watertight drum and bass, intended to deliver to its zealous revelers several hours of loud and undiluted fun.
And this, unsurprisingly, was exactly what happened. Fun was had by all- certainly by I and my fellow rave-ees in any case. Our only grumble of the night came before we even arrived, owing to the frustratingly slapdash transport system. The shuttle buses provided for the event were, as one would reasonably expect, included in the ticket’s hefty price-tag, but the first hour of our evening was spent shivering under a bridge waiting for a bus that was allegedly just five minutes behind the last one.
When we finally did arrive though, the good times came rolling in thick and fast; Congo Natty and MC Tenor Fly had already drawn a sizeable horde and ran riot with expertly fused old-school reggae and knee jerking jungle tracks throughout an impressive set. To follow were equally as polished performances from Million Like Us and Aphrodite, who ensured that the D&B mayhem continued to callously bash the eardrums of all present.
Meanwhile, Panacea and Audio cranked up the noise over at the indoor arena with an onslaught of more bass-laden beats to the delight of all those present, but it was undoubtedly headliners Pendulum who stole the show with a markedly professional set capped with a much appreciated rendition of legendary track ‘Tarantula’.
Many a bass-head will tell you that this Aussie outfit sold out on proper D&B a few years back when they took the genre into mainstream territory for the first time, but love em’ or hate em’, they definitely know how to put on a live show.
The event organisers, Substation, can be proud of their first crack at putting on a show on a festival stage, and according to the man at the helm, Lola, we can expect a few more over the year ahead. In the meantime, however, you can catch Lola (yes, he is a he) and his hard-working team at one of Substation’s regular events at Granada’s La Sala El Tren.
