After the success of their second London festival on September 24th, the Hospitality gang were back in town on the 14th of October. Though this time it wasn’t London that was getting the Hospitality treatment, instead it was Bristol, and where better to conduct an all night DnB rave than the mighty Motion. Yep, things were exciting indeed.

Hospitality In:Motion

We kicked things off at the Invaderz tunnel, to get our nightly dose of dirty Jump Up. Upgrade was spinning, and serving up some DnB that induced a screw face from every raver. The tunnel was small with a low ceiling, the perfect setting to bounce the sound around. Screechy and scratchy, the best way to describe the sound of the tunes is like two pieces of metal being scraped over each other. Lovely stuff, and it was the perfect starter to lead into the main course.

We made our way into the main room just before 2 to get a prime spot for High Contrast. It was a sardine affair upon entering, as we clawed our way through sweaty ravers, reaching the front just as the man from Wales took the floor. The start was slow, not from High Contrast himself, but simply due to the speakers cutting out. Looking back we’re actually quite grateful for this, because the wait only made it that much better, so when he spun the first track the vibe was outrageous. ‘The Beat Don’t Feel The Same’ did damage, before his remix of Duke Dumont’s ‘I Got U’ had everyone in a frenzy. It was a quality set from the Welshman, and left us nicely prepared for Keeno.

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We walked quickly to the Med School stage, to catch a familiar face coming on just after 3. We’d caught up with Keeno at Hospitality in the Park a few weeks back, so were excited to see what he’d be bringing to the table behind the decks. Needless to say he didn’t disappoint, serving up an hour of rollers and liquid to please all DnB fans. The standout moment had to be when rolled out S.P.Y’s unreleased remix of Congo Natty’s ‘Junglist’. It’s been a dub for nearly a year now, and it’s not hard to see why. This minimal dark roller is a work of art, and it absolutely leveled the crowd. And it sounds so good because you don’t hear it often. But when will it be getting a release? Well that for S.P.Y to decide.

Time flew as usual, and before we knew it, Keeno had taken a step back and Med School regular Etherwood had now taken the floor. This man knows liquid like the back of his hand, providing an hour of soft, soothing beats to make your hairs stand on end. The vibes were golden, smiles on all the ravers faces summed it up, with plenty of vocal samples in the tunes to make you lean back and think “Now this is a good day”. Worries and woes were forgotten, as we were led on a soothing journey into the lighter side of drum and bass.

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It came to the end of the set, and it was then we decided to head home. Krakota was still to play, but we felt comfortably full by the time we left. We chatted whilst walking, and came to the conclusion that there’s something different about these Hospitality events. Drum and bass is a wide spectrum, and Hospitality manage to cater for all the different tastes out there. From jump up to liquid, and liquid to neuro, they break down the barriers, forming a hodgepodge of like-minded DnB followers all under one roof. And everyone’s on a vibe, a vibe that embraces everyone and everything, for a pure appreciation of the music.

Hats off to Hospitality, you put on a wicked spread once again.

Hospitality take over Engine Rooms in Southampton on the 17th November. Tickets here

Photo credit: Alastair Brookes