Live Review

Dreadzone – Cargo, London

• 30th Apr 2010

Picture this: an atmospherically dingy bar, full to the brim with hip young socialites lounging on sofas sipping wine and bizzare fruit coctails. Over the soundsystem drifts modern reggae remixes of classic tunes, and everone is really very relaxed. Hackney’s renowned Cargo is the perfect setting for the album launch gig of Reggae-Beat Masters Extraordinaire Dreadzone’s ‘Eye On The Horizon’, released on 26th April.

Everything about this gig is relaxed and personal, from the casual, no-frills staging (the band members simply play their instrumnets, the only ornamentation being a simple graphic projected behind them) to the sound of the music itself. The crowd is buzzing with excitement, twitching to burst into dance in anticipation of what they know will be an evening of solid tunes solidly played.

For many audience members, this gig is their first taste of the new album, so the band kick off with an older track to get everyone in the mood. It doesn’t take long before we’re uncontrollably bopping away and the energy is only heightened when first next track from their new album, ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’, oozes off the stage in a symphony of bassy brilliance.

It’s all going very well so far, with not a criticism to be made. The sound is faultless, with the perfect balance of crisp clarity and atmospheric echo to create an all-encompassing noise, which positively absorbs the audience with each passing second. The new tracks go down a storm, particularly ‘Changes’, the live version of which is ever so slightly more heavy on the beat than the album version; this is one of many examples of Dreadzone really considering their audience and adapting and evolving their music to give the most they can give during each performance.

They could have played solidly for two days and I don’t think anyone would have complained, such is the genius of this music which just doesn’t stop giving. After the success of it’s debut performance, there is no doubt that ‘Eye on The Horizon’ will be hitting the mainland before too long.