Andy C at Ruby Skye

This Thursday I caught the BART into San Francisco, unaware that I would experience a drum and bass show for the first time of my life. When I got into the city I met up with some friends and we quickly decided that we would be going to Ruby Skye, I looked up who was playing that night and I found it to be none other than Andy C from the UK. Andy C is a world renowned Drum and Bass producer and DJ, he has won countless awards, labeling him as one of the worlds best DnB DJ’s, if not the best. His record label “Ram Records” has also won numerous awards. This year, Andy won the Best DJ title in the Drum and Bass awards arena and his record label won best label. So needless to say, 2012 seems as though it will only catapult his career only further into success. He is playing at EDC in Las Vegas and will continuing his tour afterwards, stopping in destinations around the world. Walking into the venue, I had no idea what to expect. Ruby Skye is a big place, a big bottom floor and a top floor with a surrounding balcony. At electronic shows in the past on the east coast, it has been a mixed crowd, some people buzzing, some people vibing, a good amount with their hands in the air and enjoying the music, and an even fewer amount of people dancing. This show was unlike any other I had experienced in the past, every single person in the crowd was going absolutely off! Not a single person was standing still, everyone was moving, grooving, jumping and dancing their faces off. Even the girls were going nuts. The great mixing and barrage of tracks Andy C unleashed, along with the lights, fog cannons (So big I could barely see my hands in front of my face) and blasting a/c at the front of the venue made it impossible to stop from dancing. At the end of the night, I asked Andy C if we could talk after the show and I ended up enjoying breakfast at a nearby diner with him, his Emcee Armanni Reign, and local Drum and bass artist Kozee.

Andy explained to me that he DJ’s with vinyl still as he always has and uses Traktor. That night he spun with three decks, he is internationally known for his quick and impeccable mixing skills and this night displayed just that. After asking him why he thought the drum and bass scene wasn’t as large in the U.S. he explained his view that much of the U.S. is too spread out, and people are always on to the next thing. How people in the UK are much more established in their tastes, have loyalty and are much more densely populated, this provides for a loyal community and scene. In all, Andy and Armanii were incredibly nice, they sat down with me, told me how they felt on the various topics I asked them about and were never short of words. A pleasant experience on both fronts, from the music, to the interaction with them personally. Drum and bass… my new favorite genre live – No other genre has provided the same energy in the crowd or has made every single person in the audience dance like they did that night – or maybe that was Andy’s doing, needless to say, I’ll be keeping my calendar clear for the next time he’s in town.

Below is the trailer for a documentary coming out about Andy C and our video of him dropping his “Get Free” remix at Ruby Skye. Check out our YouTube channel for more videos from the night!

Dan (137 Posts)

I like music.