Stanton Warriors // Audio

It’s 12:30am and I arrive to a queue 20 feet long and its pouring rain. Anyone who knows a thing or two about breaks will no doubt agree, the Stanton Warriors are amongst the creme de la creme of breaks producers, and a spot of old fashioned English weather isn’t going to deter a crowd. A short while later and I am allowed in. The cloakroom queue is a mile long and by the looks of things the guy inside is having a busy night. I check my coat then get my stamp from the cashier. Booze, Beats and Breaks here I come!

I get in and notice straight away the club is near full capacity. Skool of Thought is on the decks and the crowd is loving it. A scotch and coke from the bar then I reccie the scene. I notice a few regulars straight away and say hi to my mate Ben whos dancing near by. “Not long now bro” he tells me as he can clearly see the look of anticipation on my face. And on that note I see Dominic B. of the Stantons step into the DJ Booth and greet Skool of Thought. Not long indeed.

Skool of Thought is one of Audios’ resident DJ’s and also the ‘Supercharged’ and ‘Against the Grain’ record label’s co-owner and manager, along with Krafty Kuts. Skool is the man behind the extremely popular ‘Heavy Weight Breaks’ albums and has recently collaborated with drum n bass legend ‘Ed Solo’ on a few hard hitting breaks tracks such as ‘When I was a yout’, ‘Feel the music’ and ‘Loud noise’. He’s a master of the scene and not a DJ you would battle on a light note. He’s releasing a debut album later this year.

So Skool is getting ready to hand over the controls to Dom B and for his last tune he drops a gem – ‘Stand By’, of hugely successful ‘Scratch Perverts’. Supercharged just signed the Scratch Perverts to their label and this is their new unreleased sure to be hit of the summer. The crowd loves it and without further adue, Dominic B of the Stanton Warriors takes the stage.

Now this is where my review turns a little uninformed. I’m not an encyclopedia of breatanica and DJ’s such as these tend to play alot of unreleased music. Dom mixes in a tune I’ve not heard before but no doubt I will find and relish in time to come.

The scotch is hitting the spot and I decide to get a plain old coke from the bar to pace myself. Although I love going out and getting smashed, I want to wake up tomorrow and still remember the great night I had. Coke in hand I have a wander around the club and Dom mixes in ‘Pop ya cork featuring Twista’, a tune recently released on the ‘Stanton Sessions Volume 2′. A few tracks later and here comes ‘Geht Noch (Mogwai Mix) Roman Rugel with Bucky Done Gun (Acapella) – M.I.A’. It looks like this set will be comprised of mainly tracks from the new ‘Stanton Sessions Vol 2′ and im really itching to hear ‘Blue’, my ALL TIME FAVOURITE track.

A bit of dancing gets my blood pumping and I bump into a breaks friend of mine who wants to know the name of a song just played. “Thats ‘Fatman D – The Beat Go (CTRL Z & Sunz of Mecha remix)’” I tell him. “Its on the new Breakspoll Volume 2 cd mixed by Freq Nasty, and if you liked that track then its a cd not to miss”. He’s so grateful that he buys me a beer and we have a chat about our favourite DJ’s and Producers.

I hear Stantons “Da Antidote” coming in and we head onto the floor for another dance. I really like this track because it uses a vocal sample from the movie ‘Fresh’, a story of a 12 your old boy in new york caught up dealing drugs and taking revenge on those who’ve done him wrong. A dark movie but well written and also stars Samuel L Jackson.

Halfway through another track, Dominic B throws in his signature CD rewind although this time there is no laughing madman to go with it (maybe he forgot that sample at home?). He drops in ‘Still Here’ and the crowd is loving it. The night is almost over and the crowd is still strong. I need to pee so bad I cant hold any longer so I do what romans do and head for the toilet. The queue inside is halfway down the stairs and someone is banging on a cubicle door yelling “Whatever you’re doing shouldnt have taken more than 5 minutes!”. Great! Luckily the other facilities free up quickly and im out of there just in time to hear ‘Coburn – We Interrupt This Program (Stanton Warriors Remix)’, TUUUUNE!!! I dance some more and break a sweat amongst the dedicated, monged crowd surrounding me. I watch as Dom mixes in an old ‘Prodigy’ track with the artful skill of a Maestro. For me, producers such as The Prodigy were what hooked me into the Dance music genre’s. I dont think anyone whos been to a breaks night has ever not heard a ‘Prodigy’ tune. I look at my phone to check how long to go and right on cue the house lights fade in. The ‘Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc. (Stanton Warriors Remix)’ is mixed in and the crowd goes wild. I think ‘Feel Good Inc. is a pretty good tune by itself, but this remix is even better. The music stops and the crowd cheer and applause Dom. He’s mixed an excellent, above par set and I’m already waiting for the next time he returns to Brighton. Im pretty tired by now so I head for the exit and the cloackroom queue is a mile long. I bet the cloakroom guy is tired and probably frustrated cause some drunk person cant find their ticket and won’t accept the ‘wait till everyones gone’ policy. But soon enough I’ve got my coat and I’m out into the cold rain plus a 30 minute walk home. Was it worth it? What do you think :)

…Just 2 things-

I didn’t hear ‘Blue’, but I wasnt as upset as I thought I’d be. Theres only so much you can fit into a 2 hour set and everything else was spot on.

Some people might be wondering ‘Stanton Warriors – Plural…’. The Stanton Warriors are made up of Dominic Butler and Mark Yardley. I’ve been told that Mark doesn’t tour anymore, instead he focuses more on the production side. The last two times I saw the ‘Warriors’ it was actually just a ‘Warrior’. I would like to see the duo play a set one day but for now I’m not really bothered. The music is always excellent and ultimately that’s what I’m there for.

Audio
http://www.audiobrighton.com

10 Marine Parade
Brighton
East Sussex
Tel: 01273-624343

info@audiobrighton.com

Words: Steve Cuthbert