Dreadzone - Get the party started in the Bristol sunshine!

June 23rd 2024

Bristol, Lloyds Amphitheatre, Bristol Sounds, UK

****

Thirty years of experience coming to the fore, to get everyone bouncing

(Bristol Sounds)

Dreadzone **** - Bristol Sounds was back for 2024, the Saturday having an amazing line of joint headliners the Gentleman’s Dub Club and The Skints, very ably supported by Dreadzone who are still bringing their Electronic Dub based sounds thirty years after forming. It the perfect backdrop for a summer festival, right by the river in central Bristol, the Reggae based day has brought out the crowds in Bristol, famed for it’s m multicultural society. I think we all now a few Dreadzone songs, especially 'Little Britain'... which was played on the radio at the time of release non stop.

Dreadzone took the stage in the mid-afternoon slot, just before the headline acts really got going. They already attracted a large crowd ready for a ‘bounce’ as main vocalist Spee often encourages his audiences and they often oblige. The band have always had a well crafted sound, having coming out the ashes of Big Audio Dynamite, so a number of them have now been playing together for nearer forty five years.

Being a shorter festival set, they certainly bounce through it themselves. Tracks like ‘Music Army’ getting a good response from a crowd evidently familiar with their material. ‘Rise Up’ again see more of the crowd join the dancing. All orchestrated by Spee, not just a lead singer but more of a conductor with his walking stick flailing in the air and dancing on his stool. The biggest cheer and bounce is saved for their top forty hit (how have they only had one) ‘Little Britain’ that really burst them into the scene in 1996.

Which they haven’t looked back from, being a live favourite around the country. At the end of the song the crowd think it’s all over, but they treat us to ‘Captain Dread’ too for one last bounce and sadly it is now the end of their set. But with some quality acts still to come in this first Sunday of Bristol Sounds.

Review by Jon Cooper and Steve Owen (Icarus Photography)