Dreadzone - SOLD OUT
Dreadzone + DJ Matty Dread
Entry Requirements: 16+
SOLD OUT - NO TICKETS ON THE DOOR
DREADZONE
One of the most energetic, exciting and powerful live bands to emerge from the post-rave scene, Dreadzone have steadily been releasing albums and progressively bettering, refining and perfecting their own unique and inimitable take on dub since their inception in 1993. Still going strong after 25 years in the game they have also long been and still are, one of the best live bands around.
In 2019, Dreadzone moved forward as a 5 piece, after parting ways with their guitarist after 10 years, and are focusing more on the electronic and dub elements of their stage show - a sound they developed in earlier years of Dreadzone. Their old skool dread sound comes bubbling to the surface on new album ‘Dread Times’ which digs deep into their dub and reggae roots whilst still keeping the beats fresh and the textures electronic. Their last album Dread Times was the band’s 8th studio album and the 3rd release on their own Dubwiser label. The album stormed into the Top 40 UK Official Album Charts on release in 2017 – the first time the band have charted in over 20 years. The album also made the Top 10 in the Indie and Dance Charts.
In August 2019, the band’s own label Dubwiser records released ‘Dreadzone presents: Dubwiser Volume One’, on which The Dread collective bring their own individual talents and skills to the label, with a record that steps back to explore Dreadzone’s very own DNA while stepping forward to expand the label. The Dreadzone family tree has grown new branches, with artists bearing new fruit that demand further exploration. Dreadzone Presents Dubwiser Volume One featuring Dreadzone, Submantra, Louchie Lou & Michie One, Earl 16, Bazil & Professor Skank is out now on CD, Double Black Vinyl, Coloured Vinyl and Digital.
Line Up
“One of the few acts to have truly explored the possibilities of Dub & Reggae” Rock Sound “Dreadzone’s is a joyous noise; bouncing beats with samples bashing into live vocals” Q
Dreadzone are still going strong after over 20 years with core members Greg Dread, Leo Williams, MC Spee and legendary reggae vocalist Earl 16 alongside Chris Compton on guitar and Bazil completing the current Dreadzone line up. They continue to tour extensively around the world and are currently in the studio writing and recording a new album for release in late 2016.
Dreadzone formed in 1993 when the former Big Audio Dynamite rhythm section; drummer Greg ‘Dread’ Roberts and bassist Leo Williams teamed up with musician, producer and mixer Tim Bran. Throughout the 1990’s Dreadzone had continually remixed itself; chopping and changing members and record labels (including stints on both Virgin and Alan McGhee’s Creation). Greg and Tim decided to approach the new millennium with a fresh idea in the form of the Dubwiser Club night at Notting Hill Arts Club. They channelled their energy into club nights that fused dub and reggae with contemporary beats to create the perfect soundtrack for people from different planets. This proved a fertile musical playground and it was in this climate (helped by their new ‘Dread Central’ studio complex) that the band would create Sound, released on Ruff Life in 2001.
Electro-dub pioneers Dreadzone re-issued their classic 2001 album ‘Sound’ on their own Dubwiser label in 2015. Written and evolved over a two-year period, Sound features contributions from Don Letts, Earl 16, Aswad’s Brinsley Forde and MC Det. As this re-issue demonstrates, the album as a whole sounds as fresh and vibrant today as it did upon release. Indeed, tracks such as Digital Mastermind and Dread’pon Sound have now reached ‘classic’ status, becoming entrenched favourites in the Dreadzone live show.
