Dilinja, Valve Soundsystem, Sheffield Octagon
Saturday 7 March 2009
Roni Size, Dillinja, Noisia, Sub Focus, Lemon D, Caspa & Rusko.

Valve Soundsystem is a touring sound system unit which has been created by Drum and Bass artists Dillinja and Lemon D. It consists of a silly amount of sub woofers and has an output of 96kW. Dillinja, started DJ-ing in the early-mid 90's and was constantly frustrated by the poor quality of sound systems in the clubs he played in. That is what made him design his own. When witnessed, it becomes apparent why the system is so popular. The bass the system kicks out is colossal, and for those into D&B this is a very good sign. Valve Soundsystem has attracted some huge names in the past after making its debut in the legendary Fabric club in London back in 2001. After having narrowly missed out on seeing Roni Size in 2008, I was more then pleased to hear that he was back in Sheffield, especially with Valve Soundsystem as it meant that Dillinja, of whom I am a huge fan, would be attending.

The warm-up was left to N-Type and Breakage who played a decent set with some huge choones (Chase & Status' 'Eastern Jam' springs to mind) which got them some well-deserved praise. Throughout Lemon D's set the crowd grew and grew and it became apparent that a vast number were there solely for Roni Size. Nevertheless Lemon D showed his talent at mixing with some interference from Dillinja. I was fortunate enough to see Dillinja in Liverpool last month and was half expecting him to emulate the same set but I was presently surprised. It was similar but still had the Dillinja-like freshness to it and matched the awesome set he played in Liverpool. He even threw a couple more well known tracks in there like 'Twist 'Em Out' to get the crowd screaming before he handed over to Roni Size.

I have to admit that this part of the night seemed to blur together. I can only recall a few classics which made it into the hour-long masterpiece: 'Friends' and of course 'Dirty Beats'. Those who know these two tracks can appreciate what an effect they can have on a crowd, especially fans. What surprised me throughout the night was despite the loud, fast paced, ear-shattering bass, everyone was there for one reason. After Size came Dubstep pioneers Caspa & Rusko. I have seen Rusko live before and have been listening to him for about 18 months before he was so widely known. Rusko is good live and really does appear to love what he's doing.

All in all, a night packed with Drum & Bass and Dubstep masters. All under one roof. And all from good old Blightly (Bar the Dutch couple Noisia) which shows that the UK is still in fact producing some of the best music in the world.

Charles

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