Last night was an exceptional display of great musicianship, and talented performers. Legends in their own right, and with an ever evolving line up. Transglobal still rock the house like they did 13 years ago.
I have the fortunate pleasure of djing all night, and while i made 3 bizarre choices (one right at the end, and two just before the band came on! ) , i loved every (other) minute til 2am.
I used Traktor for most of the night, which very usefully keeps your last played tracks automagically, so for those lovely people that came up, the tracklisting is below, and here is some footage of the end of the mighty Transglobal Underground.
Massive elephant noises to everyone who came down and filled the Adam & Eve with appreciative sounds to the great array of talent on show from our 3 special guests this month.
Flame of Fervour were dark, gritty, acoustic with a very cool sound and great musicianship, the flamenco & latin fusion of the Hidden Half ignited a huge response from the audience, and The Heels, once again, set the whole place on fire, with one hour of inspired musicianship, and plenty of crowd pleasing ska….literally a band so large the brass section wouldn’t fit on the stage!
Also very special shouts must also go out to Jack for coming to video, Tony the sound sound man for rockin the last two hours, and Tony from TheLab who came down all the way from Leicester to Vj all night long.
Not only did he perform with an unprepared selection of material (not that we knew til he said!), but he also used footage from the 2nd Birthday made in the kids animation workshop in his vj set!
…plus he also gave 2 workshops to our resident dj Marc Reck, and our guest Paulo Riddle, both of whom got to perform live as a vj on the night! Nice work Tea!
In what is deemed to be Birmingham Music Month, it was refreshing to see so many multi instrumentalists in one room, and experience so much diversity of music, all of which generated a real warm crowd response.
Our resident videographer Jack Brabant, will be posting his video of the evening and we also have more photos taken by Marc on his flickr page here. Marc also recorded some of the audio which will be featured on Mr Elephant radio in our new monday night residency next week on rhubarb radio – 6pm – 8pm, and check out his own set from the night, which was as wonderfully diverse and crowd pleasing as the live music.
For now we’ll leave you with a little footage of the Hidden Half. Our next Live & Free event is on Sat 25th July 2009, and as always it will feature great live music , a range of dancing music, and is free all night long til 4am.
Last night was a truly memorable Birmingham gig @ the Rainbow Warehouse supporting the Destroyers for the release of their debut single “Out of Babel”, and the night, as Rich Batsford quite rightly puts it, “was the most eloquent response to noise abatement you could want”..
The Rainbow Warehouse looked magnificent with it’s 1000 capacity space cut in half with a mid room stage, and a seated area with sofa’s at the back. The Destroyers collective and friends had gone to a lot of trouble and it really showed. With Syzygy’s ever impressive multi screen visuals, and a large array of hats adorning the ceiling, the venue had somewhat of a festival feel to it, especially when it was filled with people all bouncing in time to the music.
Doors opened at 9.30ish, and i got to warm up the room with the 1st of my 2 sets, playing a selection of world music, trip hop, reggae, and acoustic balkan, building the energy up to 360 who delivered a rocking ska set, with the transitions and hosting being beautifully handled by our hostess for the eve.
The place was brimming now with people and anticipation, and with energy like that bouncing around a room it was the perfect setting to drop some swing, and then some balkan music, which was a real joy to play, despite being unprepared.
Just 24 hours earlier, i had gone out to drop some posters off, and met a mate for a pint catch up before my planned practice session on the evening. A wine festival and some great conversation led to 3 pints and a whole bottle of rioja, which to be fair is far too much to be drinking any night of the week, not least a support gig like this!
Neverthless i was on a huge high after i’d finished my set, and worrying aside, it lead beautifully into the Destroyers set, which was the best i’d ever seen them perform.
It was a shame i didnt have enough memory on the card to capture the later parts of the set, but for anyone who missed it, here’s the start of the destroyers set from my view after finishing mine.
Just hours earlier Kent Davis & John Tigue had issued their response to the noise abatement order which was recently issued due to that recurring problem of just one complainer. Pete Ashton caught it on video, and its the same story as The Fiddle & Bone, Epic Skate Park, The Spotted Dog, and in my eyes, has been a complete contradiction of the Big City Plan.
Cinephonic was a really great experience, with a sumptuous av set from our residents, some tight rolling percussion from our guest percussionists, a great vj set from our guest Vj TheLab, and a crowd pleasing set from the legendary Quantic and B+.
We have video to come courtesy of Jack B, but for now check this out! Made by Tea from The Lab, this is the start of our residents Vj Blendstate & Dj Marc Reck’s AV set based around the theme of nature. Tony not only created this great little piece of video, he also captured the rest of the night, and along with Jack will be making more visual feasts from the footage of the night.
Please note the VERY nice touches, like the t.v, the elephant logo, and the smooth action of the video. Marc djed, Liam vjed, but Tony has bought it to us. Please check the credits for the source of the footage, and come back for more footage.
Our first professional produced video by super talented Jack Brabant. Along with Jules Hyland, we captured the footage, and he’s spent the last week creating the video below.
Suffice to say we are all somewhat blown away with the result!
A lot of hard work, but ultimately a great experience
Liam & i have been working on getting an a.v set together all week with 3 am finishes most nights. Hard work but necessary as we were both using new technologies, and obviously wanted the launch to be something special, not least because Quantic was also on the bill (after a chance call from Adam asking if we could fit him and his new film into the night)
What was interesting to learn on a personal note (once again) that pre planned sets aren’t suited to djing. Its was essential that Liam knew exactly what was played so he could create video clips and an av set to accompany (for our first one at least), but we both learnt that there is only so much planning that works in this environment.
After watching the Transition in Tradition filming, Paul our guest percussionist played an inspired solo set while we plugged the cd decks back in (as they were obscuring the screen) and then we launched into our 1st cinephonic set. The set was a real pleasure building up through all kinds of music, from the opening track (Bombay by A R Rahman) through Tipper, Thievery Corporation, Kruder & Dorfmeister, into some funk, swing, and then Quantic style rolling house tracks.
The response was just as i’d hoped up until one of the swing hop tracks. It was here when the dancefloor went from everyone up to some people getting a beer. Normally as a dj you wouldn’t think twice about switching it up or back, into something that works, but as we had a set plan, there was no way out. It was the first time i’d had this experience for a while, and is best accustomed to taking the wrong bag of records out. I’m always a bit overly critical if the floor doesn’t stay remain full/build up, and people said positive things afterwards, but iwas reminded that some styles of music just work better played end to end.
Reason i say that is because, Quantic and B+ plugged in, and just put on some great records. There was no mixing, just selecting, and the floor responded to the records it liked. For certain styles of music you need to be free to play, and the crowd will groove to the parts they like and that’s what they did. While it was a new experience for me and liam as a partnership, it reminded me that 5 days working out how to fit various genres of more difficult records together is not normally as productive as it can feel. That said there’s nothing that beats a proper dj set using the equipment and scratchig it up in terms of really setting a crowd off.
Nevertheless i have great memories of the night, and feel lucky to have been reminded of something i learnt so long ago. Paul’s Cole’s (free control) percussion was inspiring, and we were also joined by the equally inspiring Tony Coleman from The Lab who not only vjed with Quantic, but also recorded the whole set, and has even edited and uploaded a section while the rest flies its way over via carrier postmen.
I’ll be posting the full audio and hopefully sections of video as soon as it arrives, and i’ll leave you with the opening 10 minutes of our Av set courtesy of Tea.
I’ll post the audio once it arrives (or feature it as part of our new Mr Elephant Radio show every monday night from June 29th on www.rhubarbradio.com – plug plug : )) but for now here’s the tracklisting
Cinephonic Av Set #1 – Marc Reck & Vj Blendstate
1. Bombay – A.R Rahman
2. Biotech – Tabla Beat Science
3. Speechless – Count Basic
4. Cat People – Amon Tobin
5. Dead Pixels – Tipper
6. Bug Powder Dust (Kruder Mix) – Bomb The Bass
7. Lebonese Blond – Thievery Corporation.
8. The State of The Union – Thievery Corporation
9. Life In the Rain – Quantic
10. Bitte Drehn – Dublex Inc
11. Enter the Haggis – The Haggis Horns
12. Magic Afternoon – Parov Stellar
13. Wanna Go Home – Angry Rabbit Productions
14. 34 – Angry Rabbit Productions
15. Zuzukus People – Up Bustle & Out
16. Get A Move On – Mr Scruff
17. Belleville Rendevous – Ben Charest
18. Hip Hip Chin Chin (Maxim Illion Mix) – Club Del Belugas
For the past few months i’ve been trying to get on a provision which allows me to test trade for 3 months. Today i had my second meeting with a very nice man at the Birmingham Chamber called Barry Hudson, and i’m pleased to say that he seemed impressed with my final draft of the business plan, and we both geared up to getting things rolling.
I’ve had a lot of jobs over the years, but ultimately i’ve always wanted to create a sustainable income for the things i love doing (dont we all) and so after deciding i didnt want to work in a job just for money again, i’ve spent the remaining years building on what my dreams were. Very long hours, no money, but ultimately all connected with my dreams. I’ve been (and even managed) schemes that are setup to help people get into what they want to do, and have recently come to a stage where i think i can start to make a living from it.
I have a deep interest in this, not only from my own view, but also on a human level. After being involved with, and being on various schemes that are designed (and funded) to make things happen for people, i have found from personal experience that some of them are very helpful, and some are so tied up in red tape, that nothing happens no matter hard you work or what questions you ask.
As a result i feel we’ve come up with a project which has the potential to address these issues, though only time will tell for that. Its great to be in the process myself as i think sometimes its easier to connect with the people you are trying to help if you can empathise currently or recently, though i guess thats a personal thing too.
Anyway suffice to say a lot of stuff has been useful and a lot of stuff has been just there to tick boxes, and i’ll try and report the stuff which has been useful for anyone who might be looking to get out of jobs that aren’t what they are into.
It feels like an exciting time…or maybe thats just the lure of some income and less hours
Its was a very wet sunday, but despite the torrential rain, the festival was great to be part of. Dramask had been asked to host a tent at the annual Water for Life Festival run by the environment agency, and i was asked to provide a suitable audio backdrop to the mask making activities (i thought i’d take our mr elephant banner with us what with it being the bbc).
I asked dj, mate and custom made promoter Mark Smallman to come spin some world beats with me, who was most excited that Jelly was around.
As the day went on, we even got to offer a few drop in workshops ourselves, which seemed to make this budding dj really chuffed….
and despite claiming to have no rhythm or musical skill blended two of his favourite records together with ease.
Jenny Commins also was part of the Dramask tent, and helped participants make and decorate card masks, which seemed to brighten up the afternoon.
And then of course there was the main music stage, and a few other tents. My favourite other tent was most definitely the lets tent, and it was inspiring to meet people who had created sustainable livelihoods through sharing skills. The main stage had a range of music and performances all aimed at a family audience. My favourite that i saw was probably these guys who i wondered if they were part of the Young Zulu Warriors who i’d seen at the rootsville festi a couple of years back.
Here’s a little video i caught of their performance on my lunch break.
This month was a blinder for the party rockin mammal stable. Mark Smallman on those wheels of music was a treat, along side some nice juicy plump sets from our residents.
We only caught a few snaps before the camera ran out, but big props to all who bought the smiles and filled the floor.
Mark Smallman, one of the two legends behind award winning Custom Made events, was one of our first guests in the party rockin sessions who warmed the room up from trip hop, through to breaks with a load of house and 4/4 genres in the middle, all of which rolled out of the soundsystem with real nice bottom end!
Not limited to one style is why Mark is a choice guest for Mr Elephant events, and joined up with Marc for the big Drum and Bass & Jungle finale with ease.
Along with Liam Blendstate, it was fair to say that, T’other Marc of the evening rocked out with some massive new promo’s before launching into a crowd pleasing, wall shaking, drum and bass set, which was full of melody, and uplifting vibes, but extremely dirty!
The Party Rockin Mammal Sessions are seeming to bring back people who are into the wide range of music we try and get through. Our next event on the 1st friday of July will feature a local up and coming legend. He has many aliases, from 32dm, to Dr Pepperspray, from Captain Bluestain, to Iain Wainwright, whatever we call him, you can be sure he’s got one of the biggest record collections (hence his many pseudonyms) and an intense passion for underground dance music..and music in general.
Come check him out on July 3rd 2009 as part of moseley festival. We’ve just read we’re in the programme this year, which is really cool as we didnt know.
Its a shame it’s just down as Mr Elephant – breakbeat and drum and bass, as for all who have been before you will know that that, is but a portion of the large helping served to all party rockin mammals.
Neverthless we hope you can join us as part of your moseley festival adventures. It seems we are the only part of it geared towards dancing music on the friday, so if you like to dance, we’ll be in the bulls head from 9.30pm.
Its always free btw before 10.30 pm, and our special guest will be joined by our resident Vj and Dj, and our glamourous door host.
It was no surprise that our graphic designer Aart Tanner was so keen to get the 8 piece Paper Tiger Band down from Leeds! After seeing them at a festival in Croatia, he came back with one clear instruction…Book Paper Tiger for Mr Elephant. Our first available opportunity was our 2nd Live and Free event at the lovely Adam & Eve, and they were awesome.
We have more video on the way but unfortunately the audio didnt come out (the drums and a couple of other instruments werent miced up) but the video has come out real nice, so we will post clips as soon as poss.
For now i’ll leave you with a few pictures of the artists that played. You can check the whole set on Marc’s flickr account here, and feel free to subscribe to the rss feed or newsletter if you want automatic notification when the videos are up.
Huge thanks to Roy Roastbeef who came down and represented Funkbox and kept the dancers grooving til close at 4am! A seriously good dj, and top bloke, and watch out for August Party Rockin Mammal Sessions where he should be the summer headliner.
And of course our very own visual maestro – Liam Blendstate, who came down and made the place look good.
Next Live & Free @ The Adam & Eve is Sat 20th June with Very Special Guests – The Heels, Flame of Fervour, &
I always strive to make the show really eclectic, but with a lot of flow, so check out the tracklistings to get the vibes of various shows. Your comments and feedback are always welcome.
Night Times Breaks Reviewer
I review breakbeat for the monthly Night Times publication and play all sorts of music for my radio show so feel free to send yours via this drop box.
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) , i loved every (other) minute til 2am.
