Roni Size’s Reprazent and William Goodchild with The Emerald Ensemble Review
Colston Hall Friday September 25th
And on the eighth day, God gave us Roni Size.
Day eight in Colston Hall’s ten day launch programme for its new multi-million pound foyer sees the world premiere of the collaboration between drum ‘n’ bass maestro Roni Size and orchestrator William Goodchild. Over several months, the pair have mined their creative muses and built on common influences to create the original compositions debuted tonight.
The recently reformed Reprazent are joined on stage by Bristol’s Emerald Ensemble chamber orchestra along with a choir to perform what Size has termed ‘Future: Retro’ music. The concert is impeccable, the sound gargantuan. Size’s intelligent take on jungle is bolstered with a percussive fullness from the orchestra; the break-beats made all the more dramatic with the addition of sweeping strings. The soul and jazz facets of drum ‘n’ bass are drawn out in the compositions; the classical element ultimately affording them more emotional and sonic depth. With Goodchild and Size at the helm, the two disparate musical genres grow into a fully formed organic entity.
In a mid-concert sojourner, Size breaks from the lush orchestration to pay homage to his jungle routes with a DJ set of sharp jump-up cuts. Then Reprazent prove once again why they are one of the best live acts around as they showcase with passion and focus the elements of the genre that are too frenetic and dirty for the orchestra. The thirty plus musicians then come together for Brown Paper Bag from 1997’s New Forms album. The track sounds as fresh and deliciously complex as ever; the taught bass line and strings negotiating the musical layers with exhilarating results. Onallee’s vocals, incredible all night, peak here with her impassioned call that simultaneously makes hairs stand on end and ignites the dance floor. Realising his role as a true Master of Ceremonies, Dynamite MC excels throughout; he hypes the crowd and adds further dynamism to the music with his immaculate flow.
Tonight’s encore of Share the Fall with its refrain of ‘together we can change it all’ encapsulates the positivity of the collaboration and goes some way to repositioning Colston Hall in a positive schema for the people of Bristol. Although all that glisters is not gold, there is no doubt that the management has shown an unerring and admirable commitment to diversity and local talent in its celebratory opening programme. Drawing a line under the hall’s contemptible origins in the slave trade, Size and Goodchild have propelled the venue into the future with the spirit of unity.
