3/6/11 - Didn't we promise you something special?
Damn.
There was a bit of drama leading up this one (band members off sick, band members locked out of their vans in faraway lands, problems making the giveaway CDs and temporary tattoos, shitty weather, etc, etc), but in the end the sun came out and all the elements came together beautifully to make one hell of a night for everyone.
After a couple of hours of musical how's-your-father from the 3 resident CIGAW? DJs (including a particularly good set from DJ MILSTER), the first live act up to the stage were PRESSPLAY; a small band with big, ambitious ideas and the talent to back them up. It's difficult to take in the vast scope of their sound in just one catchy soundbite, but here goes: "A deep, moody, cinematic build-up that slowly blossomed over the course of 40 minutes into a raw, stomping, electro-indy shake-down". How's that? Good and interesting stuff anyway - these guys will be one to watch in the future.
Plugging the gap between the bands was our special guest DJ GURNING CHIMP, who did an stunning job of carrying the mood from one musical style to the next with his wicked selection of tunes. Bloody good work fella! By 11pm the dancefloor was full, the witnesses were smashed and the whole pub was bubbling, ready to go off...
...which is when DUBBLEHEAD came on and blew the place up.
Live bands seriously don't come much better than this 5-piece from Devon; a fact reflected by the seething mass of bouncing bodies, raised arms and delighted faces on the dancefloor that night. Think: deep, melodic dub basslines; overlaid with soaring, psychedelic, euphoric, acid-house bleepery; sprinkled with chopped-up samples of classic dub vocals and then pebble-dashed with some truly insane percussion from a giant octopus on a stand-up drum kit... and this ridiculous description is still nowhere close to doing them justice. SO many witnesses came up throughout (and after) their incredible set to testify/shout/scream how amazing they thought the band were, and that's just the ones who could still speak. For an hour an 15 minutes, 'Can I Get A Witness?' at The Thunderbolt was THE best place to be on the planet, and if you weren't there you should wrap yourself in stinging nettles and throw yourself down the stairs.
As you might expect, DJing after that was a pretty daunting task, so CIGAW? residents VICARIOUS and WILEY LAD took it on Double-Dragon style, with a back-to-back set that banged out heavyweight funk, ska, breaks, D&B and an unusual amount of dubstep (a one-off; don't get used to it) until the (now customary) Motown finale at the end of the night, which sent everyone spilling out onto the street happy.
So that's us done for a while now, as we're taking a break for 4 months over the summer to recharge the batteries and whatnot, but hey, what a night to finish on! MASSIVE thanks go to: both bands; all the DJs; Dave The Landlord; Jess for the temporary tattoos and getting people signed up to the mailing list; Ginny for all the amazing photos she took for us, and of course to all you lovely witnesses who come out every time and make it all worth doing. You guys are all made entirely of win.
See you all on Friday 7th October 2011!
V x
- Check out our Photos from the night HERE.
- Did you have a good time at this night? If so, come and say hello on our Facebook Page.
- If you missed out on one of our giveaway CDs, you can download Vicarious' mix HERE.
- Sign up to our mailing list to be kept informed of future developments (and any cheeky DJ mixes we do over the summer) HERE
1/4/11 - Hell Yeah!
This one was a monster!
Our first guest band Land Of The Giants blew away all our expectations, bringing their unique brand of dancey, bouncy Plymouth ruckus up to Bristol for our little night, and kicked things off big time with an absolutely STORMING set that got the whole place reaching for the ceiling. Just superb. Keep an eye out for these guys in the future - they deserve to be massive.
Sealing the deal was a booming set from local heroes Waiting For Kate, who showed everyone in the crowd (most of whom they'd brought with them!) exactly why they are the absolute business. Tight performances, shitloads of energy and wicked tunes - they had the crowd eating out their hands. Oh, and their version of Groove Armada's 'Superstylin' made a little bit of wee come out of everyone. Excellent stuff.
And after that, when the even the most die-hard of Witnesses were starting to flag, our special guest DJ Mishima came in and mopped the floor with them; rinsing out the baddest party breaks and D&B until the very end, forcing people to dance through the knackeredness like the evil bastard he is. Great work fella.
Heartfelt thanks go out to:
Every single Witness who came out and shook their stuff (especially those that stayed all the way to the Tina Turner finale), to our guest bands Land Of The Giants and Waiting For Kate, to DJ's Mishima and Wily Lad, to the ever-lovely Landlords and bar staff, to the lady with the hula hoop (you know who you are), to those who always come out to support every CIGAW night, to those for whom this was the very first time, and of course to those that came back for the afterparty... You all helped made it an amazing night - our biggest and best CIGAW ever...
...that is, until the next one on Friday June 3rd. HaHA! This one is gonna be something really, REALLY special...
Our first guest band Land Of The Giants blew away all our expectations, bringing their unique brand of dancey, bouncy Plymouth ruckus up to Bristol for our little night, and kicked things off big time with an absolutely STORMING set that got the whole place reaching for the ceiling. Just superb. Keep an eye out for these guys in the future - they deserve to be massive.
Sealing the deal was a booming set from local heroes Waiting For Kate, who showed everyone in the crowd (most of whom they'd brought with them!) exactly why they are the absolute business. Tight performances, shitloads of energy and wicked tunes - they had the crowd eating out their hands. Oh, and their version of Groove Armada's 'Superstylin' made a little bit of wee come out of everyone. Excellent stuff.
And after that, when the even the most die-hard of Witnesses were starting to flag, our special guest DJ Mishima came in and mopped the floor with them; rinsing out the baddest party breaks and D&B until the very end, forcing people to dance through the knackeredness like the evil bastard he is. Great work fella.
Heartfelt thanks go out to:
Every single Witness who came out and shook their stuff (especially those that stayed all the way to the Tina Turner finale), to our guest bands Land Of The Giants and Waiting For Kate, to DJ's Mishima and Wily Lad, to the ever-lovely Landlords and bar staff, to the lady with the hula hoop (you know who you are), to those who always come out to support every CIGAW night, to those for whom this was the very first time, and of course to those that came back for the afterparty... You all helped made it an amazing night - our biggest and best CIGAW ever...
...that is, until the next one on Friday June 3rd. HaHA! This one is gonna be something really, REALLY special...
11/2/11 - Oof!
Damn... what a night! It's kinda hard to do a write-up of this one, since a good portion of it is a bit of a drunken blur, but here's some recollections that come slurping out of the brain fudge:
1. A SHITLOAD of people: The witnesses turned out in full effect for this, in numbers like we've never seen before! So many happy, dancing people - it warmed the cockles big time. You lot kick all kinds of ass.
2. Vibratronic: got things moving nicely with their dubby-breaky goodness, and despite the odd technical issue, performed admirably. Well done guys!
3. Sourmash: these guys really lived up to their reputation, getting the whole place moving to their jazzy funky house stylings. Great set!
4. (most of) The DJ sets: Milster and Wilsta played absolutely blinding sets. Vicarious played like a drunken twat with no hands. Or ears. Sorry about that folks - won't happen again.
Just wanna say a HUGE thank you to everyone who turned out in such massive numbers to come and get down with us. It was the biggest night we've had yet and your support really meant a lot, not only to us, but to the bands and of course our resident landlords Dave and Sophie.
We hope you all had a great time. Come give us a shout on our Facebook page if you did, and we'll see you all at the next one on Friday 1st April!
1. A SHITLOAD of people: The witnesses turned out in full effect for this, in numbers like we've never seen before! So many happy, dancing people - it warmed the cockles big time. You lot kick all kinds of ass.
2. Vibratronic: got things moving nicely with their dubby-breaky goodness, and despite the odd technical issue, performed admirably. Well done guys!
3. Sourmash: these guys really lived up to their reputation, getting the whole place moving to their jazzy funky house stylings. Great set!
4. (most of) The DJ sets: Milster and Wilsta played absolutely blinding sets. Vicarious played like a drunken twat with no hands. Or ears. Sorry about that folks - won't happen again.
Just wanna say a HUGE thank you to everyone who turned out in such massive numbers to come and get down with us. It was the biggest night we've had yet and your support really meant a lot, not only to us, but to the bands and of course our resident landlords Dave and Sophie.
We hope you all had a great time. Come give us a shout on our Facebook page if you did, and we'll see you all at the next one on Friday 1st April!
3/12/10 - Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!
Despite all the hoo-ha leading up to this one and the bloody awful weather, the Witnesses (that's you lot) did us proud by braving the elements, turning up and bringing the ruckus. A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who came - you all rock hard, and we hope you all had a good time.
THE FABULOUS BEAVER BROTHERS put on an absolutely blinding set while keeping everybody guessing; pin-balling between soul/funk goldies like 'Play That Funky Music Whiteboy', and tits-out mental renditions of tunes like 'On A Ragga Tip' and 'Rappers Delight', giving each tune their very own special 6-piece live band treatment. And by god it worked! Pretty much everyone in the place was jumping around on the dancefloor like nutters by the end of their set, and the band earned mad love from the organisers, the landlord and (most importantly) all the Witnesses in attendance. Well done guys - you absolutely demolished it!
The DJs did a sterling job on the night too, in particular resident DJs Wilsta and Milster, who dropped some of the best tunes I think we've ever heard at CIGAW? - excellent sets you guys.
Final thanks have to go to CIGAW? morale officer Marcus for the good vibes, and the landlady Sophie for letting us go on MUCH longer than we should have (obliging the repeated calls of "ONE MORE TUNE!" from the dancefloor). Oh, and to those who stayed dancing to my house and breaks set until the bitter end - good work dance-monkeys!
Well, that's us done for another year. Thanks for all your support at our recent nights, we hope you all have a brilliant Christmas and new year, and we'll see you at the next one on FRIDAY 4TH FEBRUARY 2011!
THE FABULOUS BEAVER BROTHERS put on an absolutely blinding set while keeping everybody guessing; pin-balling between soul/funk goldies like 'Play That Funky Music Whiteboy', and tits-out mental renditions of tunes like 'On A Ragga Tip' and 'Rappers Delight', giving each tune their very own special 6-piece live band treatment. And by god it worked! Pretty much everyone in the place was jumping around on the dancefloor like nutters by the end of their set, and the band earned mad love from the organisers, the landlord and (most importantly) all the Witnesses in attendance. Well done guys - you absolutely demolished it!
The DJs did a sterling job on the night too, in particular resident DJs Wilsta and Milster, who dropped some of the best tunes I think we've ever heard at CIGAW? - excellent sets you guys.
Final thanks have to go to CIGAW? morale officer Marcus for the good vibes, and the landlady Sophie for letting us go on MUCH longer than we should have (obliging the repeated calls of "ONE MORE TUNE!" from the dancefloor). Oh, and to those who stayed dancing to my house and breaks set until the bitter end - good work dance-monkeys!
Well, that's us done for another year. Thanks for all your support at our recent nights, we hope you all have a brilliant Christmas and new year, and we'll see you at the next one on FRIDAY 4TH FEBRUARY 2011!
15/10/10 - EPIC WIN!
(Not to jinx it, but I think we might be getting the hang of this...)
After the success of the last CIGAW? (mostly due to having the amazing Dr Meaker on the bill), the pressue was on for this one - big time. Having promoted this event with a near-religous fanatisism (postering half of south Bristol; flyering anyone who stopped to ask for directions, hassling the local press, creating a shitload of free mix CDs to give away on the door, etc), CIGAW? residents Wilsta, DJ Milster and Vicarious donned their game faces early and set about warming the old pub up for our honoured guests: Soul Dressing.
And they didn't let us down. By the end of Soul Dressing's brilliant live set the dancefloor was jumping and seriously getting it on (in some cases, a little too literally) to the breaky, funky, soulful classics, re-imagined to sound entirely fresh and original. Their re-fix of Jimi Hendrix near the end of their set was worth the price of admission alone. Having kicked all kinds of arse for 90 minutes, they left the stage to huge applause and a dancefloor full of beaming faces.
Now the bar had been raised considerably by the band's performance, the resident DJs returned for their second sets wearing their war faces, and kicked it up a notch or three. Slinging some spectacularly funky shit around, they slowly worked the floor all the way up to heavyweight breaks (via funk, jazz, broken beats and and even a little D&B) before finishing with a Primal Scream moment that saw everyone oozing out on to the street happy.
Big, BIG thanks go out to: all you lovely people who came and tore it up; the band for playing so well; Dave The Landlord for being a legend; and of course the after-party people for keeping it going till 9am. It's gonna be a while until all the brain cells grow back from this one...
See you at the next one on Friday 3rd December!
(Check out photos from the night here)
(For those who didn't manage to grab one of our giveaway mix CDs, you can download Vicarious' mix here)
After the success of the last CIGAW? (mostly due to having the amazing Dr Meaker on the bill), the pressue was on for this one - big time. Having promoted this event with a near-religous fanatisism (postering half of south Bristol; flyering anyone who stopped to ask for directions, hassling the local press, creating a shitload of free mix CDs to give away on the door, etc), CIGAW? residents Wilsta, DJ Milster and Vicarious donned their game faces early and set about warming the old pub up for our honoured guests: Soul Dressing.
And they didn't let us down. By the end of Soul Dressing's brilliant live set the dancefloor was jumping and seriously getting it on (in some cases, a little too literally) to the breaky, funky, soulful classics, re-imagined to sound entirely fresh and original. Their re-fix of Jimi Hendrix near the end of their set was worth the price of admission alone. Having kicked all kinds of arse for 90 minutes, they left the stage to huge applause and a dancefloor full of beaming faces.
Now the bar had been raised considerably by the band's performance, the resident DJs returned for their second sets wearing their war faces, and kicked it up a notch or three. Slinging some spectacularly funky shit around, they slowly worked the floor all the way up to heavyweight breaks (via funk, jazz, broken beats and and even a little D&B) before finishing with a Primal Scream moment that saw everyone oozing out on to the street happy.
Big, BIG thanks go out to: all you lovely people who came and tore it up; the band for playing so well; Dave The Landlord for being a legend; and of course the after-party people for keeping it going till 9am. It's gonna be a while until all the brain cells grow back from this one...
See you at the next one on Friday 3rd December!
(Check out photos from the night here)
(For those who didn't manage to grab one of our giveaway mix CDs, you can download Vicarious' mix here)
3/4/10 - The triumphant return...
What a night! Gulliver started heads nodding with some seriously decent dubstep, Milster got the crowd wiggling with some downright sexual funk and soul, and Vicarious played a few choice funky/breaky numbers to get the dancefloor full for the arrival of...
...Dr Meaker.
One word. Two syllables. DAMN.
They tore the fahkin roof off the place! The walls of The Thunderbolt have never dripped with as much condensated sweat as they did for that hour. Funky, soulful, rootsy, gloriously lively live drum and bass, with spine-tingling blasts from their amazing brass section, stunning beats and melodies coming from the synths of Meaker himself and a silky smooth performance from their spectacular singer Lorna King - what more could you ask? What's that? MCing from Meaker too? And a little bit of nasty dubstep? And a Star Wars mashup? Shiiiiiiiiiiit!
Vicarious then pretty much had no choice but to give the crowd what they wanted and continue the D&B, so rinsed out the biggest, nastiest jump-up that he possibly could in order to keep the temperature high and the floor bouncing.
By 1am it was all over, and everyone staggered out onto the Bath Road wondering what the hell had just happened.
A massive thank you to everyone who came and tore it up that night.
(Check out photos from the night here)
...Dr Meaker.
One word. Two syllables. DAMN.
They tore the fahkin roof off the place! The walls of The Thunderbolt have never dripped with as much condensated sweat as they did for that hour. Funky, soulful, rootsy, gloriously lively live drum and bass, with spine-tingling blasts from their amazing brass section, stunning beats and melodies coming from the synths of Meaker himself and a silky smooth performance from their spectacular singer Lorna King - what more could you ask? What's that? MCing from Meaker too? And a little bit of nasty dubstep? And a Star Wars mashup? Shiiiiiiiiiiit!
Vicarious then pretty much had no choice but to give the crowd what they wanted and continue the D&B, so rinsed out the biggest, nastiest jump-up that he possibly could in order to keep the temperature high and the floor bouncing.
By 1am it was all over, and everyone staggered out onto the Bath Road wondering what the hell had just happened.
A massive thank you to everyone who came and tore it up that night.
(Check out photos from the night here)