
Heading down to the D&B Arena Awards at Ministry last week, I must admit to fearing the usual predictable back slapping exercise that these types of events seem to bring, with vastly over-inflated egos strutting about the place, accompanied by hordes of goggle eyed fans in tow. It was a pleasant surprise, then, to see the great and the good of the scene rubbing shoulders with the d&b consuming public, all intent on celebrating the positive aspects of the world of drums & bass.
Ok, so there were no real surprises on the winners list, but when artists such as Chase & Status are achieving mainstream crossover success with considerable ease, how can we not pay tribute to those who are leading our scene to greater public exposure via Radio 1 and the like? And the newcomers' awards for the likes of Dirtyphonics and Sigma show that there is life in the old d&b dog yet.
Co-hosted by the Arena's own Risky alongside Nihal from Radio 1, the awards ceremony actually ran more smoothly than the organised chaos I was expecting. The ceremony itself was punctuated by live performances from the likes of Lynx & Kemo, Beardyman and J Majik & Wickaman and the vast majority of the winners were present to collect their awards, with the exception of Chase & Status. The after party saw sets from Andy C, Goldie and Dirtyphonics amongst others. The full winners list as follows:
Best DJ: Andy C
Best MC: Skibadee
Best Producer: High Contrast
Best Single: Chase & Status 'Pieces' (Ram Records)
Best Album: Chase & Status 'More Than Alot' (Ram Records)
Best Label: Ram Records
Best Newcomer DJ: Sigma
Best Newcomer MC: Harry Shotta
Best Newcomer Producer: Dirtyphonics
Best Promoter: Hospitality
Best Event: Hospitality @ Matter
Hall Of Fame: Kemistry (Inducted By D&BA), Stevie Hyper D (Inducted By D&BA), Andy C (inducted by votes), Goldie (inducted by votes)
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