F.R.E.S.H. & Dpercussion Manchester Late Summer, and once again Mancunians are descending in droves on Manchester’s revamped canal-side. It’s time for Dpercussion, their very own free music festival, representing the city’s rich and diverse musical scene from Electro and Hip Hop to Folk, Drum and Bass and even Samba. I checked out some of the local talent on the festival’s Urban Stage before heading over to the all-new F.R.E.S.H. breakdancing event. Dpercussion The Urban Stage was a mixed bag of goodies, showcasing established performers and stalwarts of the Manchester underground music scene alongside debut performances for breaking talent, and playing host to competitions for emerging vocalists and DJs. It was good to see that Dpercussion is not just feting the known successes but also looking to promote Manchester’s future talents, teaming up with projects like GMMAZ who provide a platform for young artists to develop musically. I was seriously impressed by the standard of new vocalists on show, and this type of opportunity for exposure coupled with the sense of pride in Manchester’s musical heritage that suffuses this event, and the massive range of music on show at this year’s festival can hopefully encourage the hopefuls to develop their own styles and identities and move away from sounding like their favourite American superstars. RAW-T, apparently the ‘most exciting and original act to emerge out of Manchester in a long time’, proved to be the performers with the biggest gap between the level of hype and level of talent. I was having serious difficulty deciphering the lyrical content which I could put down to ‘technical issues’ if I was feeling generous; alteratively I could blame it on the fact that they were gabbling over one another in voices too similar to be distinguishable. I am not writing them off on the strength of this one performance, but only a management unfamiliar with the UK Hip Hop and Grime scenes could consider them groundbreakers. They were gracing not just the Urban but also the Main stage in a primetime early evening slot; I would like to think that if the slot had to go to a ‘groundbreaking’ local urban act this should have been The Daywalkers, Manchester’s own metal/rap crossover band. Fronted by esteemed Drum and Bass MC Tonn Piper, they opened the day’s proceedings with a strong performance to only a spattering of early morning attendees and I would have loved to see their powerful performance rock the packed arena later on in the day. They may not have the magic dust of fresh faced youth but got my tip for the top. Back on the Urban Stage I was impressed as ever by local favourites Broke ‘n’ £nglish who, with an ease of delivery and clarity on the mic, blew all former performers out of the frame. Their freestyling was funny and easy (UKHH’s very own event photographer was even got on rhyme!), drawing a reticent crowd firmly into the event. F.R.E.S.H. For this first event, F.R.E.S.H. took over Manchester’s Contact Theatre. Although initially seeming a somewhat formal venue for a B-Boy event, what this meant in reality was an excellent view of proceedings without the neck strain, and although it may have felt less intimate for the breakers themselves it quickly became clear that the extra distance did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the audience, and the event’s atmosphere and energy properly commandeered the usually formal space. From the wisecracking vaudeville style of Compere Crystallize, to DJ Timber’s impromptu Breaking/DJing combo party piece this was an entertaining show. It quickly became apparent that F.R.E.S.H. is in fact two things – on the one hand Manchester’s very own breakdancing competition and on the other a valuable showcase providing a focus for those with music and dance aspirations. With Breaks supplied nice’n’loud from Timber and added entertainment from the F.R.E.S.H. dance troupe, explosive beatboxing duo Folded Remedies and some complex Socrates-Newton historical rhyming from Frisco the range of acts easily covered the breakers late arrival, and once the battling started it was focused and closely fought. In the pairs competition, I was especially taken with the red-socked Beans and Flo who folded themselves in and out of yogic postures like greased transformers, but did not quite make it to the fiercely competitive and closely fought final. Local boys Chuck and Diziac pipped their opponents (hailing all the way from Martinique, no less) to the post to lift the trophy in a one move decider - not bad work, considering both of em were nearly ruled out due to injury. With the same crews represented in the pairs competition now facing one another again in the crews final, the round off battle of the evening promised to be exciting. Both crews raised their game and we saw some impressive , but it was the liquid movements and tighter formations of the Martinique crew that led them to a crowd-pleasing victory. With a successful first event under their belts, F.R.E.S.H. are one to watch in Manchester with more in the pipeline. ‘Bigger and Better’ is what we’ve been promised and with the energy, entertainment value and total lack of pretension of this event to build upon, I’m looking forward to the next one. It was good to see that Dpercussion is not just feting the known successes but also looking to promote Manchester’s future talents - Skittles © ukhh.com 1999 - 2005