With the DJ playing classic reggae tunes to get the crowd in the mood there was no need for any live support act this evening, the likes of Junior Murvin and Bobby Womack sounding great through the Concorde 2 sound system.
On tour celebrating twenty years together the original members of Dreadzone took to the stage for an instrumental before being joined by MC Spee and Earl Sixteen, both of whom have spent a substantial number of years with the band.
The reaction MC Spee receives when getting the crowd jumping through tunes such as “Iron Shirt” and “Ali Baba”, show what a dedicated following Dreadzone still have at their shows after two decades on the road so it’s no wonder then, that alongside the classics a few new tunes are shared with us – a couple of which have already become slightly familiar from the 2012 tour in support of the fantastic album “Eye on the Horizon” although on record may become growers after a couple of listens.
It was great to see Earl Sixteen on stage once again too, especially given the newer material and that from the last album have tunes focussing on his soothing vocals – it was also nice to hear a sample of Mick Jones from the Clash on a new track, Jones having formed Big Audio Dynamite back in the eighties with Dreadzone’s very own Leo Williams… and Williams himself still isn’t short of a deep and groovy dub bass line or two all these years later.
So in an evening ending with the great dance floor tune “Little Britain” the set-list was filled with a perfect balance of tunes from over their whole career, Dreadzone cite themselves as believers in music coming straight from the heart and I personally couldn’t agree with them more…. here’s to the next twenty years of Life, Love and Unity.
Mr Keith Teeth
