Dub Colossus, Bloomsbury Ballroom | reviews, news & interviews
Dub Colossus, Bloomsbury Ballroom
Dub Colossus, Bloomsbury Ballroom
A triumphant return for this British and Ethiopian collective
Thursday, 11 November 2010
The core members of Dub Colossus pose with a messenqo (a one-string fiddle) Abate Damte
I’d not been to the Bloomsbury Ballroom before, but over the past five years or so the likes of Amy Winehouse and Martha Reeves have played this plush Art Deco space. Somewhat disconcertingly, apart from the stage, the rest of the hall was in virtual darkness which suited Dub Colossus perfectly: this intriguing collective of British and Ethiopian musicians are purveyors of intense, atmospheric dance music who actually benefited from this dramatic lack of lighting which made the stage appear to glow like a coal furnace.
I’d not been to the Bloomsbury Ballroom before, but over the past five years or so the likes of Amy Winehouse and Martha Reeves have played this plush Art Deco space. Somewhat disconcertingly, apart from the stage, the rest of the hall was in virtual darkness which suited Dub Colossus perfectly: this intriguing collective of British and Ethiopian musicians are purveyors of intense, atmospheric dance music who actually benefited from this dramatic lack of lighting which made the stage appear to glow like a coal furnace.
It’s simply circling brass motif created an ascending tension from which there was no escape until the track self-imploded at the end
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