Archive for 11 November, 2007
serendipity and the beatbox champions
So a gang off us went off into Leeds last Saturday night and headed for The Elbow Rooms ‘pool hall by day, club by night’. Its normally a fun night out with a laid back vibe.
We were a bit surprised to find a full-scale breakdancing/beatbox type competition in full swing. Just a little out of my comfort zone – but it turned out to be on if the best nights out I’ve had in ages.
Sugarbeatclub hosted the night. They’re about ‘hip hop, breaks, drum& base and old 
school funk’, which translated means that one of the DJs managed the incredible feat of mashing up Dolly Parton’s ‘9 to 5’ and Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect’ into well recieved hip hop tracks while still giving us civilians something to dance round our handbags to.
And everyone was so nice. If someone bumped into you they apologised profusely. No-one was drunk or obnoxious. There wasn’t even a queue at the bar. It was fine to watch the experts dance, but no-one minded if you had a go at beatboxing yourself or just boogied around in your own style. Even the bouncers were laid back – probably because no-one was giving them any hassle.
Turns out (after a bit of detective work on google today), the night coincided with a massive breakdance event hosted in Leeds, and the Elbow Rooms were hosting the pre-party so there were some world champion breakdancers/b-boyers/whatever knocking about.
Whoever they were, they were all class acts. And the cost for all this? Just a fiver.
