Plug in London Elektricity for 50,000 Watts of pure funk!

London Elektricity live @ fabric, 9/01/04
Tony Coleman – Keyboards and Sample
Landslide - Keyboards and Sample
Jungle Drummer – Drums!
Lianne Carrol – Vocals and Wurlitzer
Andy Waterworth – Bass
MC Wrec – Vocals

I had a conversation once about how an orchestra playing DnB would sound amazing and how you could recreate this essentially electronic music using live instruments… And then one day London Elektricity’s new album ‘Billion Dollar Gravy’ came out and following its release Tony Coleman (the man behind L.E) put together a seven piece band that would tour the album and bring some serious funk and energy to live DnB.

Which leads us to a rainy and gloomy Friday night in London, a week after new year’s, the hustle and bustle of life in the big city was back in full mode and so were fabriclive’s Friday sessions in Farringdon. Alongside dancefloor heavyweights Shy FX, Adam F, Bryan Gee and Grooverider in room two, L.E were doing their first live show of 2004 in room one (their 36th show since their impromptu session for Fabio on Radio 1), made that little bit more special as it was Jungle Drummer’s birthday. Not knowing what to expect, apart from a damn good live show and something that would rival if not exceed other live DnB outfits, we waited for the Herbaliser to finish their DJ set as Jungle Drummer and the rest of the live band came on stage. Now I must admit I thought it would be amazing, and I was really looking forward to it, but what followed was beyond even my wildest dreams. Things started off slowly as Jungle drummer played a nice laid back beat for MC Wrec to flow over. And then little by little each member entered the equation and things really started to heat up. Lianne’s soulful vocals were added to Wrec’s rhyming and the bass and samples started to come in from all angles, all held together by the human breakbeat glue that is Jungle drummer. They rolled out a fine selection of tried and tested crowd pleasers, and only 15 minutes into the show, the room was bouncing like mad and the atmosphere was just incredible. Room 2 might have had some of the most devastating dancefloor anthems being rolled out, but for the one hour L.E took control of room one, frankly room 2 lost its appeal.

When Lianne starting singing the first words of ‘Different Drum’ the crowd went bananas and L.E pulled off an amazing rendition of one of the most beautiful tracks on the new album. One thing that really struck me that night was the interaction between all the members. After touring so extensively (over 6 months), you can tell that the live band has become an awesome, well-oiled machine and the way in which the members all feed off each other is just stunning to witness. Tony Coleman does a very good job of directing the whole thing, and each artist comes together to form what has to be the finest live band I have seen in a very, very long time. It’s not just that it is good DnB, which it is, it’s the fact that for an hour you almost forget that it is DnB, it’s just strikingly good music. Lianne’s vocals are perfectly married to the MC’s flow, her beautiful voice adding the perfect soulful ingredient to the whole thing. Tony and Landslide control the samples and keyboard elements with such mastery it’s scary, and the deadly combination of the human ‘Amen’ break that is Jungle with Andy’s amazing bass becomes the backbone of the whole thing. The speed of Jungle’s drums are equalled by the speed and strength of Andy’s bass playing. The final touches of Lianne’s Wurlitzer and MC Wrec’s vocals just make this an irresistible combination that you wish would last forever…

The whole show was amazing, the choice of songs and alternation between soulful rollers and frenzied breakbeat extravaganzas is perfect. The way they bring certain pieces up from a slow tempo to reach dizzying heights and speed, just cannot be compared to anything similar. They also performed ‘Spread Love’, with their rendition of the classic tune (recently released on hospital) as irresistible as the recently released Nu-tone remix. As Lianne’s vocals sucked you in and the breaks came flying out of Jungle’s drums, the energy was so tremendous that the whole room was bouncing with them as they pushed the crowd to join them into singing the chorus. And they spread a lot of love that night. They ended the show with ‘the Great Drum and Bass Swindle’, one of the most energetic tracks from the album. As the track dropped and the whole room exploded with them once more, MC Wrec got carried away and started calling for a rewind! Jungle broke down the drums and they reloaded the tune. I couldn’t believe it, a live drum and bass act that just did a rewind on their tune. It was great, the way in which they incorporate the founding elements of DnB into their live pieces really speaks volume about how much work has gone into the show and how much love they have for the music. And so the night finished and my dream came true. Live DnB is a beautiful thing, the way in which it manages to transcend its musical label, and just be damn good live music shows the inherent musicality of the genre, something that is often too easily dismissed by the press and detractors who refuse to see beyond men pushing buttons on a sampler or computer. As Jonny L recently said with regards to producers adding their own vocals to tracks, it is high time that people in the DnB scene started considering themselves as musicians, not just producers or DJs and be considered as such too by the public. And L.E are helping a great deal towards that, as well as showcasing all that is good and musical about DnB, I hope they keep on doing their thing for a long time, and spread more love and good music to the world. Everyone needs to be jolted by them!

Check hospital records for more info on L.E, the label and the music. And be sure to look out for them at a show near you, they are not to be missed! You can also cop a copy of the LE live DVD, Live Gravy, from the Hospital shop. The next best thing if you haven't been able to catch them!

All photos by Ella Cooper.