Breakthru & Broken Minds
Presents ‘Valve meets Metalheadz’
Custard Factory
Birmingham
Friday 22nd August 2008

August bank holiday and that could mean only one thing the Valve sound system was in town. Breakthru and Broken Mindz brought the mighty Metalheadz to the Valve sound system with an all star line-up from the legendary drum and bass record label.

Drum and Bass legends Goldie, Doc Scott and DJ Lee headlined the bill alongside the hottest property currently in drum and bass, man of the moment DJ Friction. Tonight was also the launch of Metalheadz the Platinum series too which features a number of hard cutting edge tracks from the leading producers in drum and bass.

Doors had opened at 10 but we didn’t venture down to Digbeth till after 11pm which we were then greeted to quite a large queue. There were plenty of people out in force tonight making the most of the Bank Holiday sunshine.

Queuing didn’t take too long though with the structure of the venue you could clearly hear the tunes being dropped to keep you entertained and feel the windows vibrate !!! The queue was moving quite quick and smooth, once we was greeted by security and brisk search we was inside the venue.

Stepping into the pool and we was greeted by the Metalheadz Duo of Commix. The party was in full swing with pool populated with ravers out to party tonight. As expected the Valve system took a majority of the space inside the pool with plenty of stack situated at the front and along the sides to ensure that you couldn’t escape the power and intensity that is outputted by the Valve sound system!!

The pair from Cambridge rolled out with the deep rollers whilst Breakthru’s very own MC Manikular was hosting the set allowing the music to do the talking. There was quite a number of nice rollers which was working this power rig, being played including ‘Electric’, ‘Satellite type 2’ along with their monster hit from last year from their album Call to Mind ‘Be true’.

Following on from commix was the turn of the Shogun Assassin DJ Friction. The Shogun Assassin came in like a ninja and sliced through the crowd with an awesome set. Frcition Was using the mixer to its full potential whilst putting the Valve sound system through its paces dropping some nasty beats.

Friction was joined with his trusty partner SP MC who complimented his set throughout whilst keeping the crowd on there toes. As expected from Friction was teasing in numerous classics into his set with tracks such as ‘Titan’, ‘Talk to frank’ remix, ‘Disco Dodo’ and ‘Messiah’. What really stood out for me was when he played the classic from DJ Taktix ‘The way’ a timeless classic and personnel favourite track of mine too!

Near the end of Friction’s set I headed off to the Kitchen arena to get my oldskool fix. Glen Aston was on in here and was playing a dark 93 set dropping some nice gems such as ‘Darkage’, ‘Breaking free’ and ‘Ruff beats’

Back to the action and Metalheadz honcho and drum and bass celebrity superstar DJ Goldie was on. Goldie fresh from Maestro was conducting his own drum and bass orchestra with the help of MC Lowqui.

Goldie dropped a disgusting set with the nastiest drum and bass you could find as he ensured the Valve system was tested beyond its limits as the bass bins constantly rattled whilst he was on! Lowqui was here to compliment Goldie’s selection whilst hyping the crowd allowing the music to do a lot of the talking whilst Goldie dropped some nasty rollers from Metalheadz these included ‘ Age of empires’, ‘Special request’, ‘NHS’ before finishing with the timeless classic ‘ Pulp Fiction’.

Following on from Goldie was the turn of two inspirational figures from the drum and bass world Doc Scott and DJ Lee. These two are legends in their own right was good to see the pair back to back tonight. MC Lowqui continued to mc for the Metalheadz pair before Birmingham’s Fozz took control. Fozz held it down and kept crowd lively commanding the crowd with his stage presence.

There were quite a lot of dubs being played from the pair including a number of bits from both Metalheadz and 31 records, including ‘Extazzy’, ‘December’ and ‘Monkey boy’ remix. Both DJ Lee and Doc Scott were really pushing the Valve system to its limits with these deep rollers.

Midway through the set I ventured back to the Kitchen arena to check two other legends from the midlands Tango and Ratty. Ratty and Tango were playing a nice darkside set throwing in some J-Tek pieces in too. Quest duo Scarlett and Ranski were doing the mic duties in here a nice vibe inside the kitchen arena.

Ratty and Tango have joined the likes of Topbuzz, Randall, Modulr etc.. and have undertaken the J-Tek project with the emphasis of taking it back to go forward, making new beats with the oldskool vibe. The set featured not only classics from the ’93 era but a few tracks from J-Tek as they dropped ‘ Tales from the darkside’, ‘Made in a Basement’ and ‘Final conflict’ remixes which didn’t sound out of place throughout the set.

Co-founder of the Valve sound system was on in the pool and what a set this was from him. I really enjoyed the set from him his selection was spot on as he had everyone bouncing off the walls. He littered his set with party tunes including ‘Shining’, ‘Timewarp’ ‘Rah’ and ‘Who you (oi)’ remixes. Dillinja clearly had the party in full flow with these bangers!

Breakthru and Broken minds residents Dan B, Reaction and Phase 2 closed the night with a 3-way back to back special. The kept the last hour rolling with quite a diverse set of tunes such as ‘If we ever’, ‘ Is this real?’, ‘The drone’ and ‘Drop it down’. MC Biggie ensured the ravers were kept lively for the final 60minutes.

Well it’s been a good twelve months since the last visit from the Metalheadz crew in Birmingham and it was well worth the wait. The sets in the pool were awesome favourite sets of the night has to Goldie and Friction. The tune selection from both DJ’s was amazing and both DJ’s were taking full advantage of playing on the monster rig that is the Valve sound system, dropping plenty of tune that were made to make your body rumble from head to toe !

Valve always sound so better inside the Custard Factory pool with the way the venue is designed. The layout and with the way the speakers are strategically placed you will always feel the feel force and intensity that the Valve sound system can hurtle towards your insides!

The production was a little better than May’s visit though I do feel that there could be more done visually but nevertheless Valve parties are all about the music not the décor. Atmosphere from the people overall was spot on with everyone out to celebrate and take full advantage of the last bank holiday weekend of the year.

Masssive shout to Jo, Dan, Rick and the breakthrough / Broken minds crew, Friciton, Doc Scott, Dj Lee, SP MC, Glenn Aston, Ratty, DJ Energy, Manikular, Lowqui, Goldie, Dillinja, Fozz, Ranksi, Mike Energy, Scarlett, Vicki, Escape, Kiri, Gem (Happy Birthday), Sue, Julie, Vicky and John, Pete, Charlie, Emma, Shaun, DJ D, Jayeye, Ruthless, Munkeh, Witts, Nolige, Missy, Danielle, Reena, Stanza, Glitch, Mida, Chris, bone, Benny, Nick X, Pace, Gav, Lee Subdue, Freefall, Azonica, Hickyn, Cemtex and everyone else whose names I don't' know but faces I recognise