As one of the biggest names in dubstep and quite possibly my favourite artist, Rusko at the Lab (formerly the Arc Bar), hosted by Shoestring, was always going to be a brilliant night out for Bristol’s dubstep fans. Rusko wasn’t the only big draw to the event; Chasing Shadows, Bristol’s local dubstep talent, supported the artist with an incredible warm-up set that certainly hyped up the headline act. Their combination of rap and dubstep beats was a draw to the crowd that packed the small space from the stage all the way back to bar and turned the club into gridlock for the middle stages of the night.
Lab’s impressive array of lights, an impression function 1 sound system and their newly decorated glowing walls, a bizarre fusion of glass and brick, were certainly the ideal setting for Rusko’s set, which saw him return to the UK for the first time in two and a half months. Clearly in his absence he’s been working on new material, which saw more commercial samples mixed with hard-edged dubstep beats. But if this didn’t please more underground dubstep fans, and some did seem slightly aggravated by this transition into a different sound, there was plenty of time for some classic Rusko tunes and a move into Drum and Bass for the final ten minutes that was, for me, the highlight of the set and really got the crowd raving. Certainly lab and Rusko have pulled it off again.
