So pleased I only paid £4 to see Rusko (21st Oct 09, Audio, Brighton)
on Tue 27 Oct 2009 by Hannah Markham
I left 20 minutes after the big guy came on stage. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Rusko, I think he is a spectacular DJ and I love his recent press pictures.
But I had to leave because of a number of flaws I was unable to avoid or ignore;
1. Horrible crowd I would like to kill
2. Awful awful awful sound system
3. Moronic MC who was no more than a sparrow with a mic
Last.fm have this to say about Rusko - “veering away from the dark, serious side of the sound, Rusko brought a highly driven energy and fun approach to the dubstep massive and quickly coined his own take on the genre and turned the scene upside down” (http://www.last.fm/music/Rusko).
This energy and what can only be described as “bounciness” has split the dubstep community straight down the middle; dubstep purists would no longer call Rusko a dubstep artist, this is not a new take on dubstep, but an entirely new genre all together.
New fans are now jumping on what is known as the “dubstep bandwagon” and I can’t help fearing that Rusko will turn dubstep into a fad. If we look back to the beginnings of Hadouken! in early 2007, the fate of dubstep is painfully clear. An artist becomes mainstream with their own take on an underground genre, and all of a sudden, those checkered shirt wearing, ridiculously hairstyled, fixed gear riding, turn up jeaned and boat shoed sockless wankers fill up your favourite venues and wax lyrical about the one song they know by name – Rusko’s appears to be ‘Cockney Thug’ – to anyone that will listen and think they’re cooler than they are for it...until, the day comes when they’ve rinsed the act so much that even they’re bored of it, and turn to another poor defenceless genre and ruin its entire future.
Rusko’s act was also not helped by the appalling sound system Audio have; at one point, I had my back to the speakers and almost cried when I did not feel that beautiful pulsating spread through my limbs and rise up to fill my heart to bursting, a feeling I always get in Digital, or Volks, where my nostrils often itch with the vibrations. On the other hand this could be due to Rusko’s recent neglect for the bass in his songs...which is unfortunate, bass is the heart of a good club; a great sound system can turn any old rubbish into an instant club banger.
The MC was also terrible; Rusko should feel comfortable enough to allow his music to speak for itself without the fear that no-one will know how to dance – someone shouting “bounce! bounce! bounce!” at me will just get my back up. I suppose the aforementioned new crowd Rusko is attracting now need someone to tell them what to do, as they don’t understand how to dance to dubstep; skanking is not head-shoulders-knees-and-toes, skanking is feeling the music in your knees and letting it take control.
The only way that Rusko could bring himself back out of the hole he’s fallen into and back into the hearts of dubstep lovers would be to play under a pseudonym; that way there would be no faddy cool kids, no expectations, and a chance for Christopher Mercer to show us what he can really do outside the boundaries of genres.
Oh, and lose the MC?
Luckily the night was saved by support act 2 Bit Thugs, 2 DJs who were surprisingly first-rate, despite declaring themselves a worrying mix of “electronic / hip hop / ambient” on their Myspace page. There is something fascinating in watching two very good DJs work together; the fluidity and ease with which 2 Bit Thugs completed their set was much like a dance routine, reminiscent of Simian Mobile Disco. Easily the highlight of the night for me.
