Review
Publication date : Monday, March 10th 2008 - 8 049 views
United Kingz Festival @ Nice
It was one of the first big dub events of the year: the Nikaia hall in Nice hosted the United Kings of Dub Festival. Two days devoted to dub, steppers or drum n' bass, with a common denominator: pride of place to the sub-bass. The night of Friday 7 March was the main course of the festival, with English outfit Iration Steppas, the headliners, in attendance. And as the opener, Lion Roots Sound System, who play almost at home.
It was one of the first big dub events of the year: the Nikaia hall in Nice hosted the United Kings of Dub Festival. Two days devoted to dub, steppers or drum n' bass, with a common denominator: pride of place to the sub-bass. The night of Friday 7 March was the main course of the festival, with English outfit Iration Steppas, the headliners, in attendance. And as the opener, Lion Roots Sound System, who play almost at home.
When we arrive, Cannes-based Stef Lion of Lion Roots is already at the controls of the control tower. On a perfectly tuned sound (and in charge of one of the most powerful sound systems in France (18kW), he starts gently with oldies before moving on to a more recent selection, interspersed with dubplates that are nearly always faultless. Delayed (a story only the SNCF has the secret of), Humble I, who was to handle the mic duties for Lion Roots, arrives only very late in the night. Stepping in at short notice, Ludo from Ital Sound holds his own, and his energetic MCing matches Stef Lion's selection.
It is only around 11.30pm that Iration Steppas get on the decks for a selection made up almost exclusively of dubplates in a rather dark, futuristic dub steppers style, interspersed with a few classics such as the Hotmilk riddim, for example, or a very well received Singer Blue dubplate on the WorldJam riddim. On the mic, Dan Man and Mark Iration take turns over in-house productions and dubplates. The crowd wants more. It has become a habit for Iration Steppas: Mark Iration's selection inevitably ends with a dub stepper, the dominant trend at the moment across the Channel. The conclusion of a very fine night, a good omen for the future, in the hope of having more opportunities to enjoy this hall, quite well suited to sound system nights, in a département that badly lacks them.
Report written by Nicolas Swartebroekx
Photos : DBgrafiks
Tags : Dub (192)
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