Reviews

Bambi Legs
The Black Swan, Bristol

What it lacked in attendance, it made up for in enthusiasm. It’s true, at no one point were any of the three rooms full as Bambi Legs had been overlooked for the first of summer’s free party’s on the outskirts of the city, but nevertheless every room had a handful of committed junglists tearing up the floor at all times. It was a credit to the Bristol jungle scene and welcome support for the DJ’s who, due to incessant bouncer interference, battled with the sound levels and threats of shut down.

As always the most sociable area turned out to be the garden; never underestimate the power of a big fire and lots of places to sit. The atmosphere was jovial; there were no fights, no scuffles, no bad feelings or clique segregation, that I noticed, which makes a nice change. No, it was a pleasant place to be on Saturday night and at the end, even I didn't regret my choice (also a nice change.)

The drinks were reasonable, a round of three for a tenner. The toilets were, as always, questionable but on the whole and to the credit of The Black Swan, each cubicle did had toilet paper (even if only one actually had a lock) and there was no piss or sick on the floor. This is toilet success and I think everybody appreciated it. I know I did.

Bands played first in the main room and they sounded on point, if a little slow. But then again, I've never been sure about having a mixture of bands and DJ’s, one or the other always seems out of place (With the exception of weddings, obviously.) But, despite my prejudice, the crowd seemed to be enjoying it and the dance floor bopped along accordingly throughout.

Switching up to the DJ’s, the atmosphere on the dance floor brightened somewhat and the dancing got messy. In the main room there was a selection of tasty dancers strutting their stuff on stage, scantily clad I may add, for the pleasure of the audience which was nice. It’s always nice to have something provocative to look at, but I wasn't convinced. The dancing didn’t seem to fit. It was the type you find in house clubs and it seemed too stylised for the messy and free nature of jungle and The Black Swan. They were mesmerising though.

There was a mixture of good music; albeit hit and miss, but it seemed that any room you wandered or stumbled into had a steady jungle beat. If you love jungle, it was bliss. If you like diversity in your beats and melody, it may have become tiresome by four in the morning. Sharkman at 2-3 in the corridor was a welcome change though, playing a mash up that sounded like electro-house with added bass (for that extra oomph) and Amentality (http://soundcloud.com/amentality) at 4-5 threw some curve-balls at the crowd with his future jungle set. 

The best set came at the end of the night from J-man and Stivs in the main room. (http://soundcloud.com/j-man-1/stivs-watch-dis-j-man-rmx-clip) And I may have lied before; the room was packed. Not uncomfortably, but full. The old school jungle beats dominated the speakers and the swamp of bodies dripped with contented sweat. It’s a shame we had to wait until five for things to really hot up.