So this was fun. Dublin never really had much of a garage scene. Abbey Discs used to stock a bit of the Satellite and Locked On stuff years ago, and Double 99 played a sell-out gig one new years eve to 2500+ people, but when it morphed into 2-step and away from 4/4, whatever interest was here evaporated. Grime is completely alien to the city.
So it was good to see a crowd down in Traffic last night. The club is roughly the same size as Plastic People, maybe with a slightly smaller dancefloor area and a longer, narrow bar/seating area. Its probably my favourite club in Dublin, but since Electric City (minimal techno + electro) left the venue, I hadnt been back there.
I arrived in around midnight to the sounds of 'Make Me' throbbing out of the system as Red Monk was on the decks. The sound system in Traffic can be touch and go sometimes, but it was doing a decent job last night. He played for another 20 mins or so, and it was a shame I didnt come in a bit earlier. He played some heavier grime in with 'Stagger' and maybe 'Mud'? Its all a bit hazy now. He was getting well into his set, mixing and chopping, and I maybe heard ten tunes in the 20 minutes, all glued together nicely with few fuck ups.
Don Rosco was up next, a veteran of the Dublin jungle scene, along with his Bassbin crew mates Naphta and Rohan. He's moved into dubstep, and started off with some strange beats, not quite sure how to categorise them, but definitely a change from the previous halfstep stuff. He spun a good few DMZ tunes like 'Bury Da Bwoy' and 'Left Leg Out', which got the crowd worked up. Towards the end of his set he was bringing in 'Spastik' by Plastikman worked in with some other non-halfstep tune, which worked really well.
Pinch took his place then around 1:30am or so (I think) and kept the crowd rocking with more upbeat stuff... unfortunately by this stage I was quite pissed so even though I recognised loads of tunes during his set, I cant remember any of them now. By the time closing time came around at 3am, the crowd were calling for more, no joy with that though. People were getting fully into it, rubbing up against the speakers and other messing.
Pleasantly and most surprising (to me) of all, the gender balance was roughly 50:50. Most other clubs I've been to in Dublin, even in the same venue, were dominated by blokes in hoodies with shaved heads. More power to the ladies skanking away hardcore up the front.
Afterwards I cycled home pissed out of my brain. Best way to do it - one minute you're leaving the venue, next minute you're home, with no memory of the long trip you've just made. Result!
Glad you liked the night! I had a fucking BLAST - we've been looking to do something for a while now, but this was the first opportunity we've had with the right club and the right sound system. It all worked out swimmingly Looks like we'll have another one on the June Bank Holiday Sunday. Not sure who we're booking yet though.
