Live Review

Asian Dub Foundation – ULU, London

• 9th Feb 2011

Asian Dub Foundation are hard to categorise and pigeon hole, with a fusion of electronica, bhangra samples and drums, with a mixture of bassy dub and indie-rock, often with a gritty political edge. The band have been gigging together for nearly 20 years now but played with the tenacity of an angry, politicised youth, only now with a few wrinkles here and there. With an audience crammed full of students from nearby colleges ready to shake their dreadlocks and forget about their reading for the rest of the week, ADF fired up the audience who raved away merrily the whole evening. This is a proper student union venue, though perhaps not quite like the days of olde, and getting a few in at a nearby Sammy Smiths pub (London’s best kept secret – you can get a decent beer in them for about £2!) would be advisable.

Nihal, one side of the British Asian duo Bobby Friction & Nihal, offered a mix of old Michael Jackson, Lee Scratch and bits and bobs of RnB with a masala twist, a good sound to the start of the gig. Though my friend did feel as if the act was merely playing a playlist of pre-compiled songs and dancing a bit.

ADF, next on stage, seemed a slightly aging band with Indian drums and DJ at the back of the stage with guitarists either side of the two lead singers, but as the old adage goes, never judge a band by its cover sleeve. The set started slowly with a flutist whistling on top of the rhythmic DJ and band. The foot stomping and jumping began in earnest as the gig went on, with some more of the most popular songs, ‘Flyover’ being a particular crowd pleaser.

The sound was amplified by a band of Indian drummers on stage showing their skills, the lead showing off his freestyling ability on the skins to a crowd of appreciative head nodders. The band was on form and roared, bringing down the place with funky and playful samples mixed expertly. The sound is their own really, a mix of dub and dancehall-esque vocals with powerful drums, a sound born out of a multicultural London were sounds melt and fuse into each other. The room and floor seemed to breathe, the crowd going for it, jumping to the drum and bass with an ecstatic delight. The whole room began to get involved in the music, not just the fringe sweaties at the front, with no middle class circle of non-committal blazer wearers in sight. The place was so packed out that toilet-goers had to be guided back into the venue when there was space.

With the band now racking up the albums, it seems like that they will continue to make audiences hold on for the toilet that bit longer to see what pops up next on stage. A fun night out if you want to rave with the best of them and raise your right fist with revolutionary zeal. However, the only issue with the gig was that with more than an hour and a half on stage, some of the trailing songs felt indistinct and unindividual. The development and style of the sound is strong, but occasionally, though great the style is, you feel that some of their newer material feels like recycled versions of the old.

(photo by Mark Anderson)