Issue 58 / August 2015

Channel One Sound System (Samantha Milligan / samanthamilligan.co.uk)
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Tonight is one of celebration for overworked
students, many of whom are looking for a sendoff
befitting their grateful, summery faces. The
benevolent presidency of CHANNEL ONE SOUND
SYSTEM might offer them a more natural high
than the type currently circulating round the
porta-loos. A modern relic of roots reggae’s
earliest attempts at global peace-keeping, the
outfit rests on the turntables of founder Mikey
Dread, supported by the Zionist mantras of
MC Ras Kayleb. The duo run through decades
of material and empowering gobbledegook.
“Where is Babylon?” Kayleb shouts, with the
bullishness of a preacher. “Babylon’s in your
phone! Babylon’s in your pocket!” All right, OK;
if this is a ploy to download a Channel One set
as an mp3, it doesn’t need to be so obscure.
That said, their abiding message is crystal clear
– love everyone, love yourself, stop whining
about anything that doesn’t involve bobbing
your shoulders (although this is already the
greatest pastime imaginable, from a quick
survey of young gents wobbling to an early
comedown). Mr Dread has been doing this
for 35 years and it’s only courteous to admire
him, playing to the same demographic that
launched him to prominence in the first place.
He must be entirely deaf by now, and although
the set goes on and on, he could go longer.
Down and dirty house carries on inside, but,
truth be told, by this point I’m seeing friends
old and new, each off into the next horizon
of their lives and it’s a fitting denouement to
our time in Liverpool. The music and the lights
coalesce and simmer, spiral around us, and I’m
elated. This may be a different sort of party to
yesteryear, but it’s most certainly not of the
Chelsea Flower Show variety.
Josh Potts / @joshpjpotts
BENJAMIN BOOKER
Carbon
O2 Academy
The blueish hue of the O2 Academy lights are
apt: an all-blue, bully-boy Conservative budget
has been announced and BENJAMIN BOOKER
is beginning his set by cutting the venue’s
between-set playlist short and running Bessie
Smith’s sombre blues classic Muddy Water (A
Mississippi Moan) through a disillusioned
crowd. All such misery is forgotten, if not
temporarily, as Booker opens with Always
Waiting, which begins slow, drawn-out and
grungy, only to trick us by picking up pace
at thirty seconds into an excellent energetic
boogie-punk quickie. A much needed pick-meup.
Earlier, support act CARBON tried to inject
their brand of angst-tinged, drum-heavy rock
‘n’ roll on to an indifferent crowd. Their first
few songs merge together, lost amongst
the conversational murmurs of a growing
audience, while more distinct and developed