Review: Deep Medi Musik live showcase @ Bristol’s Motion, February 5th 2016

On Friday 5th February, the hugely respected and well loved dubstep label Deep Medi Musik showcased some of their best talent at Bristol’s notorious club, Motion.

Mala, dubstep heavyweight and founder of Deep Medi, headlined a huge line-up including Compa, Gantz, Silkie, Tunnidge, Kromestar and Kaiju. Skeptical headlined in the Tunnel Room for Exit records, alongside Loxy, Kid Drama, Double U and TS2W. The event was busy, (too busy to move in the Tunnel Room when Skeptical was on) and the crowd was good; the huge line up seemed to have pulled in fans from all over the country. The atmosphere was positive and not too dampened by the horrendous weather which kept people inside, away from the smoking area. The party was good, the music was quality and the main sound system was on point; the night certainly didn’t disappoint.

It’s really no surprise Deep Medi put on such a good show. Soon to celebrate its 10th Birthday, the discerning label consistently releases music of the highest quality from only the most talented producers, and has a reputation for throwing insane parties. Arguably one of the biggest and best labels on the dubstep scene, the Deep Medi crew have a dedicated following of clued-up fans. People who come to their parties generally know the music well and recognise the tunes that get dropped, giving the nights an intimate feel. Their show at Motion was no different, with huge crowd response to classics like ‘Changes’ by Mala (dropped by Compa) and ‘Kalawanji’ by Kromestar, the first ever Deep Medi release, (dropped by Kromestar himself).

In the run up to the event there was some speculation on Facebook and other social media that the crew were going to use the lacking in-house Motion sound system rather than bringing in their own, which would have been a huge let down. However when we turned up we were relieved and delighted to hear that Motion had made the effort to enhance theirs, which all the DJs utilised perfectly, maintaining the integrity of the Deep Medi sound. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Tunnel Room, which in my experience usually has a crisp sound but this time was seriously lacking. It was a real shame to hear the Exit Records crew on this set up, and when I saw an audience member point the fact out to Skeptical, he responded with a ‘there’s nothing I can do’ type shrug. My only guess is that Motion seriously turned down the speakers facing the audience, due to the premises’ noise restrictions.

When we first arrived we had unfortunately missed Tunnidge and Kaiju’s sets, although I was told by many fans that they were both incredible, which I really don’t doubt. We entered the main room for the first time just as Compa was dropping his refix of ‘Dem A Talk’ by Mavado, which I was delighted we’d managed to catch. Compa’s set was silky smooth, a lot of really tight mixes and expertly blended basslines. My personal highlight was his mix of Coki and Underground Ice’s remix of ‘Weh Dem a Do’. He was spinning Vinyl, and incurred a few technical difficulties with this towards the end of his set, but this was nicely talked out by the MC and was the only glitch in an otherwise flawless performance. As the artist I’d been most excited to see, Compa certainly satisfied.

Next up was the Turkish prouder Gantz, who dropped a very technical and absolutely insane set, with a noticeable sprinkling of Commodo tunes and remixes, which really excited me. One tune that seemed to leave the crowd particularly breathless with excitement was his own ‘Spry Sinister’. His was probably my favourite performance of the night, as it was so deep and immersive, a quality typical to his sets. The atmosphere in the room was particularly meditative at this time, and this was really great to be a part of.

After seeing Gantz we spent some time in the smoking area, and came back inside to find Silkie playing an incredibly heavy and bassy set. He spun a lot of dub plates, nodding to the resurgence of the much missed label Antisocial.

After Silkie, Mala came on, and the sense of anticipation in the room was at an all-night high. By this point the sound system had been noticeably turned up from when we first arrived, and Mala really showed the crowd what it could do, leaving those of us at the front with vibrating chests and rattling ears. His set was full of the very dub-influenced sounds typical to his production, and his consistent dropping of classic bangers sent fans into disarray. Nobody could control their excitement when tunes like ‘Sunbeam’ VIP by Goth-Trad were played and it was hard not to lose friends in amongst all the pushing and jumping around, but it was great fun and perfectly reflected the crowd’s love for the father of Deep Medi and member of Digital Mystikz. He put on a quality performance just as we all expected, and received real love from the crowd as he came off.

Last up was Kromestar, who again played an incredibly bassy set. It seemed as though the room was waiting for him to drop ‘Kalawanji’, and when he did the reaction was insane, leading to an instant reload. Kromestar held down the room until close, but we left about half an hour before he finished, with ringing ears, tired legs and smiles on our faces.

Because of the limitation on sound in the tunnel room, we chose to spend most of our night in the main room with Deep Medi, and so I cannot comment too much on the performances of the Exit Records crew, although the small part of Skeptical’s set that we did catch was very enjoyable. Other than this let down, the night was truly quality and stands out as one of the best dubstep nights I’ve attended in a while. Deep Medi certainly did not disappoint, and despite Motion’s issues projecting the sound in room two, I could not help but be in awe of the light show they put on in the main room, and I feel it’s only fair to say thanks to them for hosting such a great night.

Deep Medi are holding an event in Leeds on the 13th of February, are playing in the Netherlands in March and are celebrating their 10th birthday with an anniversary tour in America from March 30th – April 10th. If you love dubstep and want to attend a great party with quality music and an intimate atmosphere, you should definitely try and catch one of their shows soon.