As we all know, drum & bass hasn't had an easy ride of things over the last few years. Spurned by the media, ignored by the music industry, and caught up in it's own technical obsessions for a while, many music critics have prophesised the collapse of the genre, and many fans have decamped to seek less virulent sounds.
In this climate the Knowledge Awards are exactly what drum & bass needs. Organised by the Bristol based underground magazine Knowledge, the awards not only provide some support and cohesion but also illustrate the diversity of the music at it's core by bringing together in one places the many faces and sounds of the scene.
Held in the newly revamped confines of the Hammersmith Palais (now called Po Na Na's and correspondingly bedecked in the garish faux Moroccan garb that identifies the chain), the evening got off to a suitably relaxed start.
As people filed in and took their places at the tables in front of the stage and in the cloisters, a blend of old school and new school d & b filled the air.
After a slight delay - inevitable at any hip hop or junglist event - the show got underway as the 'face of drum and bass' (as well as, these days, the big screen) Goldie stepped on stage and wasted no time in getting the first set of nominees up on the screen.
Instead of actually giving the awards himself, special guests luminaries ranging from Roni Size and Dynamite to Brazil's DJ Marky and V Record's Bryan Gee were ushered up on stage. The first award was for Best Newcomer and was won by Kosheen, who beat Calibre and Cause For Concern to take first place. A not unsurprising result, given the bands immense impact on the drum & bass scene over the last few months.
For Best Venue, Fabric managed to beat off competition from the Que Club and The End, while Best Small Venue Promoter (under 1000 capacity) and Best Large Venue Promoter (over 1000 capacity) were won by Movement and One Nation respectively. Again, no surprises there.
At this point, Goldie and the presenters took a break for a drink and turntablist don DJ Craze took to the stage for a 20 minute showcase. Mixing, blending and chopping rhythms, he scratched, cut and juggled his way through hip hop and d & b riddims with not a single error. So precise were his moves and so comprehensive and coherent was the overall set, that the whole venue stood up to give the diminutive DJ an ovation at the end.
The next set of awards were sponsored by Acupuncture, and were for Best Live Act and Best MC. For the former, there could really have been no competition; Roni Size's Reprazent beat down fellow Bristolians Breakbeat Era and Kosheen and the whole crew took the stage to proudly pocket their trophy. Veteran verbalist Skibadee managed to ward off close runs from Dynamite and GQ to pick up Best MC.
For Best Label and Best International Label (these prizes were backed by AtRecordings.com), the bidding was tight; Virus, Renegade Hardware and Ram were nominated for the first award, and it was Andy C's revered imprint that stole the trophy. On an international level, Canada's Vinyl Syndicate gave a humbling speech about their debt to the UK for originating the music, as they saw off competition from Germany's Porition Chrome and America's Higher Education.
After another live PA (this time from Kosheen, who proved their skills on a live footing by delivering killer cuts like 'Hide U' and 'Suicide' with aplomb), it was time for another awards session. Best Album went to Bad Company for their 'Inside The Machine' opus. The Best Producers accolade went deservedly to Ed Rush and Optical. Best Single went to Kosheen for 'Hide U'. Best International Producer went to Norway's Teebee and Best International DJ went to the ever animated DJ Marky. For the final offering of Best DJ, the inimitable Andy C took the stage for the second time that night.
All in all, there were few surprise in the prizes, but the most reassuring thing about the awards was the general sense of unity and the undoubted calibre of the labels, producers, DJ's and live acts present. Ending what was a very smoothly run ceremony, Pressure Rise dropped an impressive live set as the tables are taken away and the slightly formal atmosphere began to give way to a party vibe.
As Andy C, Goldie and Craze took over on turntable duties for the last couple of hours, the once reserved crowd were fully transformed into a sweating, writhing mass of jump up junglists. Anyone attending would have been forgiven for thinking that not only is drum & bass alive and well, but that the newly emerging sounds in the scene might just be enough to make it flavour of the month again very soon.
