REVIEW: Benga Salutes The Skank @ Leeds Mint Club, European Tour

 

Skanking is cardiovascular exercise. There should be a Skanking Association, so shout out to Dubstep for appealing to this dance and keeping the movement alive. Back in February I was given the opportunity to attend one leg of Benga's tour and lapped it up. Two things about these nights: Maintain stamina, sobriety isn't optional.

Benga on deck: Fans up close and personal

Dubstep is simply the sound of chaos and panic. It is the aural version of a heart attack, that is it. Your typical Dubstep night usually includes an assembly line of “edgy” Topshop Belle Amie doppelgangers, lads clad in winter wear, sweat, dirty drops and the expectancy to be bitchslapped by a bingo wing from a roused skanker at some point. Since this was Benga, noted Dubstep pioneer, this idea of the scene was amplified. Though unfortunately, on this night, all that was amplified was the hype in a distinctly small venue, Leeds Mint Club. 

Energy: Leeds Uni & Leeds Met students upholding skankin' stamina

 The energy omitted from the dizzying electric blue lights, the steam room full of skankers that did not falter in giving rise to the gun finger as a signal of celebration – it was a furnace. Benga managed to capture the repetitive glitched sound of Dubstep to the joy of his disciples. With every seamless transition, everything was compositionally destroyed. The lights now ranged from red to Hulk green and there was a general influx of pyrotechnics. Even the security guards were skanking. Regrettably it ended there: smoke and mirrors, with a longing for the introducing set that remained experimental mixing both early UK Garage and modern Dubstep. 

Benga vibes with fans

On this day, the content was not there for Benga the DJ, with the night progressing into an anticlimax with MC Youngman on standby for vocal support. His latest track I Will Never Change may have induced a brief skank, but the set lacked diversity. Maybe it was because his afro was distinctively smaller, disallowing him from channelling the full-on Afro Warrior. Maybe it was the absence of the full trio of Magnetic Man. Still, the hype was amazing, ending on a festival feel with people propped up on shoulders and Benga’s ‘fro floating into the Dubstep masses.

* This review was meant to be in conjunction with an interview with Benga. Questions posed to him were: 

1. What sort of sound are you hoping to achieve with MC Youngman on side? 
2. Are there any key influences on your music? 
3. What about your 'fro? Is that an influence? 
4. What do you class as your best track to date? 
5. You do gun fingers a lot as your mode of skankin. Describe your best skanking experience. 
6. Perhaps for the remainder of your tour there should be more full body skanking? 
7. How is solo work going without Skream and Artwork [2/3 producers making up Magnetic Man]? 
8. I was at the gig in Leeds (Mint Club) which is a pretty small venue, but you still crowdsurfed. Do you prefer to perform in small or large venues? 
9. You're classed as one of dubstep's pioneers. Being around to witness its evolution, what do you think about the argument that it's now 'too mainstream'? 
10. Any music resolutions for this year?

He did not respond.