Dreadzone make their first trip of the year into the land of song – and dub.
Rumours that the earthquake that shook wales on 17th February was caused by Dreadzone sound checking have not been confirmed, but tonight they made the globe vibrate and rattle with their basslines.
No support band tonight, but when you have Greg Dread DJing to warm you up, no one is going to complain.
The hall looks a little empty, but as soon as the Zone hit the stage the dancefloor fills up, as if everyone had just been hiding till the band arrived.
They kick things off with ‘Rootsman’ from the album ‘Dread Times’, which is a year old this week. Many bands can tread the boards for twenty years and still come up with half decent tunes. Not many can do what Dreadzone have don’t though. Twenty four years into their career casually knocked out one of the best albums of their career and can rival anything they have done in the past. And they have knocked out some mighty albums in the past.
Next up comes ‘Love Life and Unity’, from their third album, 1995’s ‘Second Light’. Not only was this one of Dreadzone’s best albums, it was one of the best albums of the 1990s – by anyone.
And so they proceed, weaving their way in and out of their back catalogue. The strength of the last album affords them the luxury of being able to dip heavily into new material without any complaints from the old heads. Everyone just gets on with the business of giving in to the bass and grooving.
On the subject of old heads, at one point McSpee asks if anyone in the audience has not seen them before. Not many hands go up. Not many ‘young uns’ in the crowd but the oldies are quite capable of cutting a rug don’t you know.
‘Little Britain’ marks the end of the set and if it were left at that everyone would have gone home happy, but everyone wanted to go home really happy, so ‘Music Army’ signals the encore and the mighty ‘Captain Dread’ finishes off the night.
Then everyone pours out into the cold Cardiff night, wishing it could have just kept going.
If you missed it, don’t panic, they will be back on 25th May to play Merthyr Rising and they will be playing with The Levellers and Sonic Boom Six in Caerphilly Castle
*Hi five to Merthyr Rising for sorting stuff out 😉