- Having known about Mr Scruff's legendary DJ sets for quite some time, and having had a taster at the Reading Festival last July, I thought I should get myself down to one of his 'Keep it Unreal' nights at the Forum, London.
I had no idea what to expect of the venue itself, but it seemed to be catered brilliantly for this type of thing. Most people seemed to grab a cup of Scruff's own-brand tea or something a bit stronger and head up to the seating area at the top where the old cinema seats still are. It was surprisingly chilled sipping tea and listening to Scruff spinning dub/reggae for the first hour or so.
After an hour or so he started to get more into the groove and the previously empty dancefloor started to fill up as he spun some latin-jazz favourites. Latin Jazz soon turned into funk, and funk turned into house over the hours. Buy about 1am he peaked his set with about 20/30 minutes of Drum n Bass, which I had never heared in a Scruff set before. Of course, this was never going to be anything hardcore, and he managed to maintain his cheeky style even with the heaviest of basslines.
We were then treated to a host of heavy reggae and disco tracks, before his encore - Get a Move On, which was cut up and transformed with more clubbier beats on the hoof.
It really didnt seem like a 6 hour set and both Mr Scruff and the crowd could have easlily gone on much later, but it was a sublime mix of genres from the great man - reflecting his good natured, light hearted personality. He even stopped at the end, beer in hand, to speak to fans and sign autographs.
Great tunes, friendly people, amazing venue all add up to make a fantastic night out.