Articles

Gig Review - London Borderline

MTV Unplugged has a fair amount to answer for. for the last few years they've been subjecting us to hoary old bands with little or no career prospects, strumming it out in the name of real music (tony bennet? i ask you!). few bands can carry off the type of sans electricity performance that would make you want to listen more than once. however, should any mtv producers be reading, newport's dub war would be such a band.

Despite this being only a five song, earache showcase, the welsh wonders pulled off stylish performance. open with the impressive salvo of "Cry dignity" and "Enemy maker", this acoustic show was a perfect opportunity for the dubsters to show what they're made of. the familiar dub metal bluster of the band's recorded output is replaced by a more relaxed, looser and jazzier feel. singer benji's admirable pipes are given ample room to breathe, the dreadlocked vocalist giving his heart and soul (in the musicial sense of the word) and putting on a truly impassioned performance. further respect is due to guitarist jeff rose for his virtuoso display and bassist richie glover for turning up literally minutes before the performance began and laying down the groove with composite professionalism, not to mention a fair bit of style.

Continuing with "Silencer", "One Chill" and "Bassball Bat", the one thing that dub war truly demonstrated in this most difficult of lunchtime slots was their musicial proficiency. equally at home with raging polemic and laid-back noodlings, dub war are definitely a force to be reckoned with. If you've never convinced by their full metal jacket then this performance would've been enough to have you cartwheeling all the way to the record store. for the rest of us, It merely served to confirm what we already know. magic.