Dirty Canvas

PICT0242, originally uploaded by chantelle.

Whoever would have thought it, a grime night at the ICA. Dirty Canvas took over the bar for the first time and as you can see from James' pic, (he writes for Hooker mag, check his forthcoming review too), it was ramo in the main room. Well it was the only room, but you get the point. Collins started off on the cd decks, we forgot to wear our one off Kesh designs which state 'we don't mix', but as per usual I was just keeping her company shouting things like 'what's this tune' or 'yeah, Kano next'. Every little helps I guess. It was a no show from Cameo so Magic was up next with a little help from Purple and G Double. Seemed to have come along a bit since I last heard them. Following that Plastician licked down the dance with his garage selection. He really exemplifies the difference between a dj and a DJ. His selection was firing, tight mixing and not a bead of sweat! How this was possible I do not know. That was the main downer - no air con. As you can see in this pic, sweat patches doesn't even come close to what was going down perspiration wise. I was wedged by the back door next to the decks most of the night, incase the engineer needed to be called. It also turned out to be the perfect excuse to nip out the back and actually breathe for a minute. You couldn't even bust a good gun finger for fear a. you might knock someone out it was that rammed b. you'd deodrant wasn't as effective as you'd hoped. Anyone who'd remained dry soon got dripping once Boy Better Know landed. Skepta and JME were joined by Jammer and his DJ who'd come straight from Westwood's show. The murkle man got a lot of reloads, as did Skippy and Jamie but the swinging dreads had the youngers towards the front (and the man from Holland) going nuts. Ruff Sqwad arrived late so did a 20 min slot which was good but my energy was getting low. I had to go and wring my dress out. Why I chose to wear jeans underneath instead of shorts i don't know. Blame Collins. She said it might look weird with shorts. I looked ever bloody weirder with my hair stuck to my face and jeans half rolled up. I thought I might have lost some weight but the scales suggest not. I shouldn't have wasted my time crimping either, not only did it wilt in the heat but during my DIY salon session, I stood on the crimper and burnt my toe. It's killy off killy to look at mate. Oh well, you can't have everything. Overall a great night, met a lot of myspacers and blog readers, always great to put a face to a name. No trouble either. Bar staff were cool as were the sound guys. One other gripe though, or take it as a final thought... I know it's great capturing moments but am I the only one who's had enough of getting a camera shoved in their face everytime they go out? The front circle around the decks, as you can also see, was all bright lights and flashes. I kept having to bury my head in Zezi's new hair-do to avoid appearing on whatever waste DVD/picture that's being shot. I don't know whether that makes me vain but it's more about killing the moment. Give us some privacy and let's feel like we're in a party. Where did 'what happens at the rave, stays at the rave' go? Or did it never exist? www.myspace.com/dirtycanvas