- Just Jam at The Barbican has quite the backstory. The event was originally scheduled for February 2014 but was cancelled last-minute by the police on the grounds of "public safety concerns." Further explanation was never offered but many guessed it was the grime-heavy bill that worried the authorities. Fast forward ten months and Just Jam returned, vindicated, to The Barbican. It's been a rocky journey for Tim & Barry, the promoters, but one that ended on a high.
Novelist, who opened proceedings with Mumdance, showed exactly what grime should be about. The 17-year-old's dextrous flows and clever wordplay made sense of Mumdance's strange productions, displaying a confidence that belies his young age. He seemed totally unfazed by the size of the room or the fact he was performing to a seated audience (something that must feel odd for any dance act). Novelist, as with all the best artists at Just Jam, made a serene arts venue his own.
D Double E and General Levy were also excellent, respectively delivering two of the best moments of the night with "Streetfighter Riddim" and the always fun jungle anthem "Incredible." Likewise Jersey club DJ UNiiQU3, who played an irresistible blend of rap, rough house and trap. Traxman and the headliner, Omar Souleymann, brought very different but no less engrossing sounds to the stage. Big Narstie and JME were predictably on point and the surprise appearance of Skepta, who unsurprisingly dropped "That's Not Me," may have been the highlight of the show.
But as good as Just Jam was in parts, not everything worked. Alexis Taylor and Brian DeGraw's experimental synth jam conspired to create something that felt completely out of step with the rest of the event. The visual elements of Just Jam were also notably divisive. Many acts performed to a camera in front of a blue screen instead of to the crowd. Wacky visuals—Windows 95 screen-savers, random cat videos—were then overlaid and projected into the theatre. It was all too knowingly ironic for my tastes, and when the acts performed to camera you couldn't help feel somewhat disconnected in the audience. That said, one video of a bike rider getting hit in the nuts had me guffawing like Homer Simpson, so it clearly wasn't all bad.
A couple of the DJ sets also missed the mark, offering the crowd little incentive to get up from their seats. I appreciate the event was not meant to be a rave, so wouldn't it have been better suited to a nightclub or concert venue? Sure, finding a venue in London to host this kind of lineup is anything but easy: the authorities are just one of myriad issues. But does grime need to be put in arts venues and placed alongside experimental music to be valid? I'd argue not. Anyway, maybe these are churlish questions to be asking. Taken at face value, this was a celebration of great music in novel surroundings. For supporting music that challenges conformity, and for putting on a pretty damned good show, Just Jam deserves our respect.