Since their small parties in the sweaty climes of Bristol’s Basement 45, No Scrubs have come a very long way. Starting as a night solely aimed at the unfilled niche of 90’s music, they expanded to Nottingham and Oxford while also increasing in size in their home town. In a nice transition, teaming up with Cirque De Soul for their latest party, they ventured more towards the house end of the scale, heralded by the bookings of Maurice Fulton and Roy Davis Jr. who have both been making waves in the industry for a generation.
On entering, the party atmosphere was immediately apparent. The crowd, although unnerved after a stressful queueing experience, had really taken to the huge size of the venue that sprawled across both Lakota and the Coroner’s Court. Decoration consisted of some slinkies hanging from the ceiling in the entrance and Asian-style lanterns in the main room. In the smoking area, circus vibes were in full force with several fire-breathers, performers and a bouncy castle keeping revellers suitably mesmerised.
Inside the Coroners’, Roy Davis Jr was moved away from the awkwardly-shaped space traditionally used as the main room and into the long, thin second room. Acoustically, it worked well, but made the Lakota-Coroners’ thoroughfare one of the night’s big bottlenecks. In room two, Desert Island Disco dished out house and disco favourites like Bicep’s Vision of Love, while RDJ kept it more inline with the house and garage that he’d been so instrumental in directing over the last decade. The real climax came for the final track with a rendition of his own track, Gabriel, mixed by Yanis Koudj into Just Jack’s first release and certified Bristol anthem, How I Wish by Beesmunt Soundsystem.
A testament to the strength of a party concept like No Scrubs is that people are there more for the night itself than the lineup, something which has been a big factor in its rapid growth. The difficulty comes when introducing regulars to a different music agenda and this was probably most noticeable as Maurice Fulton took to the main stage after RDJr had finished. As we watched and danced unrelentingly from the wings, we caught a few confused looks at the front row as Fulton reached for tracks that dated back a little further than the 90s No Scrubs regular selections. Admittedly the dancing nuances between TLC and Talking Heads are difficult to get your head around, but their uncertainty was our gain as we jived and shaked our way through a set we hoped would never end. Twice, that eventuality was threatened to arrive prematurely, as Fulton cut the music to ward off an encroaching photographer. The poor guy got a bit of a shock as a camera-shy DJ and club full of impatient dancers were waiting for him to clear the stage, but things soon returned to pleasurable normality. After Fulton’s exit, the music went back to that familiar No Scrubs sound. The mixing was tight and the tunes were exactly what the crowd wanted to hear to see out the evening.
For a night which takes its name from a TLC song, people inevitably go for music along those lines. It was therefore a brave move to venture into the uncharted territory of booking DJs, but this transition was smoothed by the inclusion of Cirque Du Soul. They’ve made a success of such activity in Bristol, London and beyond so brought some extra clout to an ambitious undertaking, even for the final week of term. With a debut London outing for No Scrubs this month, in the company of Terrance Parker and Late Nite Tuff Guy, it seems that the move away from the format which brought them so much popularity, is in full effect. The first step in Bristol certainly brought the crowds. The real test will be in convincing those lovers of the nineties, to come along for a ride into the noughties and beyond.
