On Friday night I checked out the Global Dub Festival at Royal Oak Music Theatre and today I think my ears are finally recovering. As far as I'm concerned it was worth it, as the sights and sounds of the show were a maddeningly delight with a mixture of throbbing bass, dayglo fashion and seizure inducing strobes. Add to that the fact that I am probably twice the age of most the other attendees and most people would be questioning my sanity. My answer is I'm open minded to experiencing just about anything that looks and sounds like fun which GDF definitely was. Ishe started the show early around 8:30pm but there were already spurts of dancing on the floor as the crowd made their way in. Ishe played his DJ set off CDs which seemed a bit old fashioned to me, but his set was a steady blast of heavy dub step. Ana Sia followed, boosting the volume and the intensity, dosing her set with hip hop and more frequent bass throbs. Mimosa was a crowd favorite as his set contained a heavy urban influence and I think he broke some frequency records for Royal Oak Music Theatre as the place was literally shaking during his set. Zeds Dead came up next and quickly became my favorite act of the night with their original set of electronic music that mixed in some classic rock and pop with their faster and energetic set. Benga capped off the night with an emcee in tow that kept the audience in heavy dance and participation with shouts and cheers. The video below is my review of the show from video and pictures I took throughout the night.
