Garage Nation | "We Gotta Get Thru This"- @ Albert Hall
The nostalgia creeps in with this one. I can clearly remember the day when I heard my first garage tune. out from the half cracked door of my sisters room it was what ignited my low key obsession for the next 2 decades - "My Love" by Kele Le Roc. When I saw the queen would be playing at Garage Nation, Albert hall, i just had to see it live.
Taking me back to the days where we would bluetooth or send songs via infra- red to each other that we got off limewire or piratebay, the tunes were just as I remembered blasting out of my shitty walkman speaker at the back of the bus. So cool... As we found our place for the night, the buzz was in your face as soon as your entered the main hall. The subs bouncing, the lights flashing, the dance floor was crammed full and people were ready to skank their way into the night.
Garage is life and this genre still gives off the same palpable energy as it was in the late 90's/ 00's. Garage Nation isn't a place for new UKG, its a space for OG tracks which we closely connect with Garage. The crowd in question were of the original ravers of day mixed with millennials and Gen x's and it made me think - We can all get behind Craig David regardless of age.
The tunes were back to back none-stop, we entered to "Flowers" by Sunship, a bit of bassline with T2 "Heartbroken" and then "What's It Gonna Be" by H "Two" O... This inevitably flew me into karaoke mode. The lady herself came on after, this was a biggie for me. Kele Le Roc stood centre, people cheered and an artist was then off my bucket list. Her voice powerful and strong, outfit sparkling she waved and noticed the crowd and transported us back to the good ol' days of garage. My Love... is so good.
When DJ Luck & MC Neat came on, Duo known for hits such as "A Little Bit Of Luck" and "Masterblaster2000" beats, the crowd went wild. A frenzy. They played the classics "Moovin' Too Fast" and "Re-wind" and it was great and the crowd certainly loved it, screaming the lyrics and grooving. A constant song was Daniel Bedingfield's classic, "Gotta' Get Thru This" which is always one on the 00's playlist, and EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. it was a hit for the folks who came.
From So Solid Crew tunes to Kele Roc giving "My Love" people were just having a blast, dancing and letting their inhibitions reign free. Was it cheesy? Hell yeah, but thats all part of the fun, the venue is iconic and so were the acts and the constant fall into the past was magnificent. We had choreography, confetti cannons and a great sound system, what else could you need in freezing cold, December Manchester?
If you want a good throwback night this would be it... simply put.
Will we see you there next time?
