Salmonella Dub at Starlight

Queues were backed up half a block to Vivian Street. The gig for Saturday night was sold out well in advance, but organisers managed to pack in hundreds keen to see the Salmonella Dub boys at the Starlight Ballroom

11 Sep 2002

SALMONELLA DUB
STARLIGHT BALLROOM
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7

Queues were backed up half a block to Vivian Street. The gig for Saturday night was sold out well in advance, but organisers managed to pack in hundreds keen to see the Salmonella Dub boys at the Starlight Ballroom.

Once in and out of the cold, the crowd was warmed up to the smooth grooves of Fat Freddys Drop. The locals performed a disappointingly short set with amazing stage performance from front man Dallas.

The brass boys , minus Warryn Maxwell from Trinity Roots - chimed in with an impeccable version of 'Midnight Marauders' proving the opening act, even with a half hour set, can pull off a stunning performance.

DJ Mu got the crowd grooving with drum n bass beats and those not already familiar with Fat Freddy's talent were asking 'Who are these guys?' There's no doubt they'll be listening out for them in the future.

After an excruciatingly long break, and even worse background music, the crowd was hungry to see the boys they were all there for. Tiki and his crew at last stepped up to face the packed out crowd with cries of 'At last!' ringing through the ballroom. With greetings from the crew, they got going with 'Killervision' classic 'Version' a mere taste of the jammed up sounds to come.

Sporadic lighting sent out the heat waves and gave the gig a concert feel with screens on either side of the stage projecting images of the boys as though they were performing at Westpac Trust Stadium. Numerous sound problems plagued both acts and disappointed the band intent on a night of smooth sailing.

This did not dishearten the crowd that had rarked up a mosh pit, usually reserved for international rock bands, showing just how big the Salmonella following has grown.

Tracks from 'Inside the Dub Plates' were performed tightly and faultlessly with barely a bar out of sync with the album versions of 'Problems', 'Tui Dub', 'Platetectonics' and 'Push on Thru' as well as 'Killervision's' 'Johnny', despite the crew looking tired and dehydrated from the heat and lack of fluids onstage.

DLT's skills were hardly excercised, opting to handle the electronics on the side and leave the show to the Salmonella crew.

Crowd favourite 'Love Your Ways' was jammed out intermittently, intensifying the excitement and amping up a tiring crowd.

Without much ado Dave, Andrew, Tiki, Mark and Conan retreated offstage , no doubt to grab some fluids , before coming back on for a largely anticipated encore including tracks not yet recorded, gearing followers up for more albums to come. The boys impressed locals by getting Dallas up onstage again to belt out more smooth vocals for their finale.

With big ups to contributors and mates as well as the customary appreciation for the crowd, the crew were off and an overheated Wellington massive were forced to brace themselves for the chill outside, after checking out the t-shirts, cd's and other merchandise on offer by the door that only internationals and the successful talent of Salmonella Dub could get away with.