25th Sep - SUB CIRCUS @ The Ocean Rooms, Brighton– 9/5/06
SUB CIRCUS @ THE OCEAN ROOMS, BRIGHTON – 9/5/06
Although Sub Circus hasn’t been going for long, I’ve heard good things about the night and thought it was about time I went along to check it out for myself. So far Sub Circus have had first-rate line-ups, and tonight was no exception, with a DJ set from Alex Banks of EZ Rollers in the main arena, and live hip-hop upstairs from the Watchmen.
We arrived at the Ocean Rooms around 11pm, the venue was still quite empty, but we were assured things would start to get busier. Sub Circus had two arenas open, the basement and middle room. We started off in the middle room with DJ Cracky P, playing old and new hip-hop sounds. Upstairs is reminiscent of the Blackpool tower ballroom, with the glitter ball’s reflections all over the kitsch red velvet seating, but, I was loving the fact that there was a Playstation up and running on a projector for all to use. We sat down and chilled with a beer for a few moments before heading downstairs to the basement to check the Drum and Bass.
I had a pleasant surprise when I got downstairs, hearing the sounds of rolling liquid D’n’B vibes. I did not recognise the DJ, called Diversity, but was impressed with his skills. We took a seat at the back of the arena and took time to check out the setup. Don’t get me wrong, the Ocean Rooms is quite a nice venue, but maybe in some peoples opinions, the décor leaves a lot to be desired, with the snakeskin and wood venire combo in the basement…’trailer trash’ comes to mind. I also feel the sound system could be improved, as there is a speaker in each corner at the front of the arena, but none at the back, which doesn’t do the acoustics any favours. Saying all this, Diversity still had us shakin’ in our boots. He lived up to his name playing a varied set from liquid to jump-up including ‘Casino Royale’, ‘Burial’ Remix, ‘Feelings’ and ‘Return of Forever’.
Next it was time to check out the live set upstairs from the Watchmen, who I had never seen before, but again, was interested to check! The three of them had a wicked flow, the sound system however, did not do them justice. There seems to be way too much mid range on the sound system in this room. If you stand too near to the speaker, you have to pray your ears don’t start bleeding! I liked how the Watchmen hyped up the crowd and got them involved. DJ Dead Beat Ned did a good job supporting, playing a mixture of US and UK hip-hop. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for these guys in the future.
Downstairs Alex EZ Rollers was now playing. The crowd were lapping up the hard and fast beats. For me personally, the set was somewhat too jump up, but credit to him for his stage presence and the anthems he included in the set, ‘Ready or Not’ and ‘In Love’.
It was getting quite late by now, but then Diversity, Charlie Cutta and Redway all stepped up for an end of night rinse out, sending the crowd away truly sweating out! Big up Charlie Cutta for his scratching skills.
We left on a high, having our faith in Brighton weekday nightlife restored. Respect to the Sub Circus crew, we will definitely be returning!
Words : CARRIE NEDJIB
Images : ARTE MEEREIS
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