Big congratulations to Devizes DJ Greg Spencer this week, the creator of Palooza house nights at The Exchange nightclub, for he made the prestigious bill of Fatboy Slim’s All Back to Minehead festival in November at Butlins; we have to celebrate him, baby, and praise him like we should!
Palooza launched in March last year, to bring back regular house nights in Devizes, and fantastic they are too. A year later and Greg excitedly messaged us with the news he was potentially booked for Fatboy Slim’s annual shindig at the Butlins in Minehead, we just had to wait for confirmation, which he now has. “I’m a bit overwhelmed by it,” Greg told us at the time, describing the news as one of the best days of his life when he announced it last week.
Goldie, K-Klass and a DJ set from Leftfield are among the highlights of who will be largin’ it with Norm at this annual dance music extravaganza; we wish Greg all the best with it. But if you want to get Palooza’d closer to home, they’re back at the Exchange nightclub this Friday, 2nd May. And we’re leaking future dates for Palooza nights to put in your diary, the 27th June, 29th August and 19th December.
This Friday sees the crew playing house, old skool, techno and tech house with DJs Floormover, Leggy, Rodj, Eldridge and Grit. Pay on the door, Facebook event page is here; let them know if you’re going!
Every first Thursday of the month Muck & Dunder owner Shelly Field plans to get behind the wheels of steel and bring us some funky, laid-back, groovy, toe-tapping, head-bopping vibes, starting with this Thursday, 7th March!
From 7 until 9pm, The Muck & Dunder rum bar in Devizes invites you to join them for rum and records, and even bring some vinyl records for Shelly to spin, but you need to sign up on the night with a max of 3 tracks per person. “Think all genres,” they’ll say they’ll consider, “but we don’t want any face-melters or offensive stuff…you get the gist!”
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Got my groove thang on at the Muck & Dunder, Saturday, with help from The Allergies; yeah, I can still cut a rug, just!…….
It was the standout track on Bath’s premiere funky groovers, Stardust Collective’s 2014 Shindig ‘Afterhours’collection which alerted me to the wonders of Bristol DJ duo, The Allergies.
Drenched with a classic Stax undercurrent, “As we do our Thing,” acts as a go-between, teasing unnoticeable changeovers from archaic soul, which is favoured by my Boot Boy Radio show audience, to modern breaks, which perhaps is not so favoured, but I love to josher. I’ve blended it in with everything from Harvey Scales & The Seven Sounds’ Get Down, to Big Mama Thornton’s Hound Dog, and out into Skint’s big beat anthems from Cut La Roc, or Wall of Sounds’ Wiseguys. It’s a tune which also turned Craig Charles’ head at the time; nuff said.
Saturday night at Devizes’ one and only rum bar, the glitzy without being pretentious Muck and Dunder, and one half of the duo, Roy, aka, DJ Moneyshot had drawn the short straw, while Adam, or DJ Rackabeat, his partner in beats, browsed the exotic cocktails menu.
Lumbered with me waffling this in his ear, and expanding it into an Uncle Albert moment, Roy didn’t seem to mind, least humoured, my “when I was in the rave,” ramblings, on the grounds we had a mutual associate in Stardust organiser Slim Goodgroove, who I’ve not seen since art college.
If some in Devizes would shake negatively at a £15 ticket stub to watch two guys putting records on, when live music is the usual order of the day, they didn’t see what I and the punters of the Muck & Dunder saw. You know, here at Devizine we promote and celebrate live music, and I could go as far as suggesting for many in this area, DJ culture is somewhat alien. Yet hardly new-fangled, DJ Kool Herc delivered hip hop to NYC ghetto bloc parties the same year I was born, Grand-wizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash and a handful of others turned mixing records into an art form.
And it’s very much in this ethos and spirt which The Allergies base this show on. Their skills on the wheels of steel are as spellbinding as Miles Davis with a trumpet or Hendrix with a guitar. If it was an honour and privilege to witness this magic here in our humble town, it was nothing compared to the irresistible urge to shake our booties uncontrollably for an astounding two hours, of which these magical master-mixers shaped.
After being smoothed in with RnB jams from Bath’s Graham the DJ, The Allergies went off on one, cutting and scratching with such proficiency they made it look child’s play. I’ve not got my groove thang on like that since the heady days of largin’ it with Norm, Brighton style.
Though comparisons to Fatboy Slim perhaps too meek, if there’s a difference, the squidgy 808s have waned, and the Allergies favour blending seriously intoxicating 45s of classic funk and hip hop with contemporary reworks. The result was an off-the-scale funky jam, the like old Devizes has never seen before, as the duo swapped and changed positions, sometimes passively battling, other times complementing, weaving their enchanted sounds as they used two turntables as a musical instrument.
If crowd-pleasers like Ini Kamoze’s Here Comes The Hotstepper raised the roof, brassy adaptations of Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk captured the imagination, but the melting pot was vast, and wrapped in their unique funk revival ethos, ending on a peak with a mashup of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Shimmy Shimmy Ya to the beat of The Special’s cover of Message to you, Rudy; vinyl junkies would kill for a peek into their box of 45s.
Backward caps off to the Muck & Dunder for an excellent booking and most memorable evening’s entertainment, the like we’d usually need to trek to a city of cultural influence for. Here’s a comfy and hospitable lounge striving way beyond ramming a tacky nightclub concept and driving dance music events to Devizes with the matured and sophistication it by now deserves.
While it’s not so easy to review a DJ set as a band, I hope I captured the glorious moment. It needs mentioning, the Muck pulled off something I was interested to peruse the attraction of locally. It was adequately filled, and, as it was in the rave era, the crowd were there to party therefore left qualms and attitude at home. As it should be; dancing is about throwing ones cares aside for the moment, and if you witnessed me gyrating like Sonic the Hedgehog on a gyroscope, it’s because it was impossible not to!
They didn’t mind a joker rearranging letters on their menu board to spell out titillating alternatives, and for every tip you give bar staff comes the promise of giving Boris Johnson a wedgie! A quality night with the tastiest menu of cocktails; it’s a tropical holiday experience in your hometown! Yet while DJ culture will continue at the Muck, there’s a variety of events coming up, including live music Sunday sessions, the first on 19th December, with the brilliant Ben Borrill. Long live the Muck & Dunder, and all those who sail in her.
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This’ll make you repel; Red Dwarf first aired thirty-two years ago! Sci-fi comedy would never be the same again after Lister roamed his empty mining vessel asking the ship’s computer where the crew were and curiously licking piles of dust he randomly found. There was an irresistible contrast between Rob Grant and Doug Naylor’s protagonist and his antagonist, Arnold J Rimmer, elevated by the brilliance the two actors bought to the roles. Dave Lister was an endearing anti-hero, a cool but lovable ragamuffin.
Corrie aside, everything Craig Charles has done since is cool; undoubtedly, he’s not typecast, as his Funk & Soul Show surely proves; he really is this cool. A decade of broadcasting on BBC 6 Music with a primetime Saturday night show, I’d prey in the absence of a Radio 2 presenter, Craig would be the one drafted in as relief. The show frequently goes on the road, locally playing the Cheese & Grain, Meca Swindon, and some of that magic he brings to Salisbury City Hall on 11th October 2019.
“When BBC 6Music asked me to do a radio show I only had one condition,” Craig explained, “it has to be a funk and soul show, otherwise I wasn’t interested.” Live every Saturday night with an assortment of classic gems and emerging artists, Craig has garnered global support as one of the UK’s foremost Funk and Soul commentators, DJ’s and promoters of new music. The only quality soul classics he hasn’t played yet, are by Rastabilly Skank!
“Since its inception I have been interested in all varieties of soul and funk music, without imposing any barriers and I am just as enthusiastic about fresh new talent as I am about the classic artists from the golden age of the 60s and 70s,” he continued.
Guest-listed legends have been on The Funk and Soul Show; Gil-Scott Heron, James Brown, Roy Ayers, Cymande, Marlena Shaw, Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Terry Callier, Candi Staton, and Marva Whitney. Hip hops acts included, The Roots and the Jungle Brothers, as well as the leading players of the new school Kokolo, Cut Chemist, Sharon Jones, Osaka Monaurail, Amp Fiddler, Amy Winehouse, The New Mastersounds, Smoove and Turrell, Quantic, The Apples, The Grits, JTQ, and The Fusion Experience.
Craig Charles has captivated crowds throughout the UK, playing a plethora of festivals, and a monthly residency at Manchester’s Band on The Wall. Him, and his trunk of funk DJs, present a night of soul-hitting funk, ‘can-you-dig-it’ attitude and dance-floor jivin’. The monthly is currently one of the most anticipated nights in Manchester’s scene.
Winner of the 2018 Smirnoff Equalizing Music DJ competition, DJ Emma supports Craig at The City Hall, so arrive early to get the full flavour of the biggest funk & Soul party to hit Salisbury this Autumn!
One of the scene’s most best-known names for more than three decades, Judge Jules has never shied away from pushing the boundaries in dance music. And this year, for the first time ever, audiences will be able to experience the iconic tracks that have defined his career through a ten-piece live band with Judge Jules himself at the helm.
‘Judge Jules: Live’… will be coming to Swindon’s MECA venue on 25th Jan 2020.
Jules’s in-depth involvement in many of the recent wave of “classical” dance events, including Gatecrasher, Colours, Club Class and 2019’s Ministry of Sound tour, inspired the decision to take the impact and emotion of the classical shows, but refine the feeling with a wholly new take on live dance music.
With complete creative free rein, Jules curated every element of the performance. Each track has been bespoke reinvented and reworked in a style unique to this live show, featuring a full ten-piece band, with brass, percussion, drums, bass guitar, lead guitar, keyboard, singers, and of course Judge Jules himself. A 90-minute show from start to finish, the music has been selected to represent the breadth and scale of his career.
“There is something about music being played live that never fails to send shivers down your spine – it doesn’t matter what the genre is, hearing a track performed by live musicians on stage is something you cannot replicate in the studio, or even on the best nightclub environment. So, I decided to create my own bespoke versions of my all-time favourite records with a specially selected band. It’s taken a long time to put together, but finally we look forward to taking the “Judge Jules Live” tour on the road. This truly is a new take on the ‘live dance music’ phenomenon and the tour bus starts rolling shortly.” – Judge Jules
This is not a show to sit down for – combining the energy of specially-chosen outstanding musicians with his own inimitable presence behind the decks, Jules will take the audience on a tailor-made journey through dance music with vocals, hands-in-the-air moments and plenty of basslines that’ll take you right back to your very first rave.
With audiences demanding more from dance music and newfound focus on a visual as well as a sonic spectacle, Judge Jules Live is a chance for dance fans to lose themselves in the moment with the kind of experience that you just can’t replicate with a solitary DJ.
The Judge still won’t budge.
Judge Jules will play Swindon MECA – 25th January 2020
“When BBC 6Music asked me to do a radio show I only had one condition,” Craig explained, “it has to be a funk and soul show, otherwise I wasn’t interested.” Live every Saturday night with an assortment of classic gems and emerging artists, Craig has garnered global support as one of the UK’s foremost Funk and Soul commentators, DJ’s and promoters of new music. The only quality soul classics he hasn’t played yet, are by Rastabilly Skank!
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