It was part of Red Bull's Music Academy so there were some little twists on a normal Book Slam night, not least my position on the stage next to the performers, which gave me a bit of a start when I first saw it.
Thankfully though there was a strip light on top of my decks that was great for lighting the turntables (below), and had the added bonus of making sight beyond the decks virtually impossible. Hopefully the crowd liked the mix of funk, soul and reggae that I put on between the acts anyway though.
There were a ton of great acts, including author Dreda Say Mitchell, poet Kate Tempest, and grime MCs Wariko, Rinse and P Money (all of whom performed accapella, which allowed their rhymes to really stand out). Highlights for me though were rapper-turned-comedian Doc Brown, whose schtick about being a failed hip hop star was very good. And the night was closed by Sui Zhen, who is a solo performer (at least night anyway) and played an electric guitar while singing beautiful lyrics. And the whole lot was hosted by a top bloke called Charlie Dark.
And in between all that, here's what I played...
Baby Huey Long - Listen To Me
The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Conga
Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band - Bongolia
Shuggie Otis - Ice Cold Daydream
The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Brown Sugar
The Harmonettes - Shame Shame Shame
Byron Lee & The Dragonaires - Express Yourself
Ike & Tine Turner - Bold Soul Sister
Archie Bell & The Drells - Knock On Wood
Gil Scott-Heron - Lady Day & John Coltrane
Aretha Franklin - Rock Steady
The Mohawks - Pepsi
Otis Redding - Hard To Handle
Freddie Scott - You Got What I Need
24 Carat Black - Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth
Curtis Mayfield - Freddie's Dead
The Isley Brothers - It's Your Thing
Marvin Gaye - Got To Give It Up (Pt. 1)
The Detroit Spinners - The Rubberband Man (Pt. 1)
Little Sister - You're The One (Pt. 1)
Commodores - Machine Gun
John Kongos - He's Gonna Step On You Again
Jimmy Cliff - Thank You
Sly & The Family Stone - Everyday People
Dillinger - Cokane In My Brain
Toots & The Maytals - Funky Kingston
Ini Kamoze - World A Music
Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come
Marley Marl And The Juice Crew All-Stars - Symphony
There you go - hope to see you at another one soon.
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