Gig Review: SBTRKT

SBTRKT (pronounced 'subtract') as quirky as he sounds he is fantastic live! SBTRKT is an electronic/R&B/Dance/Dj act. Now it's hard to think of SBTRKT as just one person but turns out it really is just one man (Aaron Jerome). It is hard to place his music in just one genre and so to understand what I'm talking about feel free to have a listen to my favourite track from the self-titled album right here...

This is probably better described as a 'Venue Review within a Gig Review' because last Friday (05/10/12) I went to see SBTRKT at Shepherd's Bush Empire (SBE) in London. SBE is one of my favourite venues in London - although I still have a couple that I need to visit. SBE is one of the only venues I've been to that can make you feel like you're at an intimate gig even with it's 4000+ capacity and it still looks absolutely epic when inside. If you have the chance to go to a gig there, take it. Gigs at SBE are a complete experience.

Anyways, so to the main point of this post - SBTRKT were supported by DJ Oneman and Kwes on Friday. Now, having never really been to a DJ set I wasn't aware that the songs playing through the speakers at the beginning were actually part of Oneman's set! Nonetheless, I liked all the songs he played and would love to get my hands on his playlist. Kwes was fantastic - he had such a raw sound. His female drummer and bassist/keyboardist were such talented musicians. From the get-go I was mesmerised by the power and precision of the drummer, so safe to say I was impressed.

Then when SBTRKT came out, the place erupted as they opened with my second favourite track on the album "Never Never". You could tell the gig was sold out because almost everyone in the crowd was singing the words fluently straight from the first note and the room was filled. Turns out the gig was being filmed for a video of live performances he is looking to release, and so he played EVERY SONG ON THE ALBUM. I was in heaven. Each song was 10 times better live, than the album versions.

I had gone through a knee reconstruction surgery the week before and was still supposed to be on crutches at the time. However, despite the long walk through the rain to get to the arena, standing for performances for 3 hours without crutches, and having a very strange lady flicking her sweat on me - this gig turned out to be superb.

Overall Rating - 8.5/10.

Here are some pictures from the night...