Benjamin Goode investigates what it's like to not be Andy C but follow him around all the time...
In silence, amidst the lights, the sweat and dust, a clarion call rings out over a thousand expectant heads: “Do you think the mic's too loud?!” The reply resounds in the deep. One more time it comes again, “Fire! Fire! Do you think the music is too loud?!!” Out of the abyss a “No” is flung back with the force of a bullet fired from a thousand upraised fingers. Appeased, the man says “Andy! Andy! run the f****n' track red!” And so begins Andy C's Innovation set.
This is Andy C, ladies and gentlemen. His reputation is such that while his earlier Metalheadz set at Cable was a slightly different proposition there is something that will always remain constant. Whether playing to a room of 200 or an arena of thousands, the second the man himself steps into the venue there is a palpable upsurge in the energy levels of the Drum and Bass faithful.
The We Fear Silence promotions team have forged a sterling reputation for themselves by putting on nights across a variety of genres that cater to a discerning public more interested in what the music is saying. This edition of Metalheadz at We Fear Silence is perhaps uncharacteristically a full pop-off affair of Moët et Chandon magnum proportions, showcasing the best in the renascent drum and bass scene in a very affable environment.
As Andy C mixes classic drops with new school basslines (the modulations of which challenge the most technically proficient of subs) the dance floor is transformed into an instantaneous mosh pit. There's a young man right at the front who, barely old enough to know what a piece of vinyl looks like, pogos up and down for the best part of half an hour, clambering all over booth with the energy of a budgie at feeding time. These displays of energetic devotion, prevalent throughout all corners of the dance, show no signs of abating for the hour plus that Andy C is behind the decks.
The last half hour is utterly magnificent; and at the end of his set he is given, like a matador collecting the ears, an honourable round of applause. Andy C is so fiercely attuned to the auditory desires of both the baying mob and the selective drum and bass consumers that wherever you're coming from – jungle or house, screw-face in the corner, or fresh-faced at the front – you leave footloose and carefree. Then onto Innovation at Fire for the kids' party... and you don't need me to tell you how that turned out.
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