Music / Review
Review: Mr Scruff’s Day Party, Motion – ‘How effortlessly the set traversed genres is a testament to his mixing ability’
Under the blistering summer sun, veteran DJ and producer Mr. Scruff served up a quenching concoction of globetrotting groovers to celebrate the 23rd year of his ‘Keep It Unreal’ party.
Bristol’s iteration of the event found its home on Motion’s sliver of industrial land adjacent to the main club, known as the Crane Yard, which despite accounting for just a tiny portion of Motion’s mammoth footprint provided the backdrop to an oversized amount of joy, sweat and questionable dance moves.
Of course Saturday was also the date of Bristol’s biggest and best-loved free festival, Harbour Fest, and a combination of glorious sunshine and a scaled-up event to celebrate its 50th anniversary meant that Motion looked uncharacteristically quiet on the approach from the railway tunnel.
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Although the magnetism of this year’s Harbour Fest threatened to steal the event’s thunder early on, local selector Angel Mel played on, and steadily but surely the fellow revellers trickled in.
By the time Mr. Scruff took to the decks the Crane Yard crowd had spilled into the overflow bar area next door and were primed for a catalogue of sun-drenched disco ditties. Accompanied on stage by long-time collaborator, compère and general nice guy MC Kwasi, the set kicked off to an understated and melodic start.
Famous for his marathon performances over several hours, Saturday’s show displayed a masterful control of tempo over the course of five hours that no doubt comes with the territory after so many years in the trade.
How effortlessly the set traversed from Bollywood to breakbeat, disco to dub, is a testament to Mr. Scruff’s mixing ability. Steering the wilful crowd on an intercontinental voyage through various exotic soundscapes. The Afrocentric drumbeat of Bristol-based producer Addison Groove on Changa blending faultlessly into the iconic maharaja drums of Bollywood.
The song most synonymous with Mr. Scruff is his seminal Get A Move On! from the 1999 album and namesake of the subsequent party, Keep It Unreal. The mere suggestion of the famous sax sample that is the driving motif of the song was met with elation from the crowd.
As the sun drew in the thick, hazy heat remained, and Mr Scruff corralled the crowd towards a jubilant crescendo of heavier dance tunes. For a day at risk of being overshadowed by far larger external events – some exceptional music and lovely people gave this party a distinctly warm glow of its own.
Main photo: Khali Ackford
Read more: Rave on Avon announces return to party at motion
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