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Fun<da>Mental with Rizwan Muazzam Qawal / Rothko - London, Ocean 2 Sunday 5th August 2001
Hackney isn't first on the list of places you'd go to see a gig - but hidden away on the main street is Ocean. An imposing ex-squat made good with £23 million of grants and lottery money - 3 venues with superb sound and acoustics together with 6 bars scattered around, thought has definitely gone into this building. (It's also very easy to get lost backstage!)

Rothko had been approached by the Radio 3 'Mixing It' show, to play a set to be broadcast at a later date. Also appearing were Fun<da>Mental so how could they refuse?

Throughout the set the crowd were a little restless nearer the back, but just before they played 'Open' someone at the front shouted for people to be quiet or go out. "Here fucking here" backed up Crawford.

Gradually though as the set went on, more and more of the crowd were edging forwards to take in the music, and less and less chatter was being done. I think that most of the audience had never heard Rothko before, and, as with every new crowd, they needed time to adjust to the sonics to appreciate what was really going on.

Rothko ended the set with the longest version of Herbivore I have ever seen them play, with lots of silence and some really quiet parts, where the crowd stood motionless, or with eyes closed, letting the music soak-in.

The winners in the end were Rothko, as to a man, every one of the sound engineers from the BBC commented on how amazing it was, and it was nice to see Dave from FunMental getting into the waves of sound vibrating around the room.

Next up were Fun<da>Mental who were here to do a collaboration with the traditional and religious music of Pakistan performed by the Rizwan Muazzam Qawal group, a nine piece who played traditional Pakistani instruments, along with the loud wailing and singing associated with Pakistani music.

It started with the Rizwan Muazzam Qawal group doing a piece on their own before Aki Nawaz and Dave from Fun<da>Mental came on stage to add heavy beats and turntable tricks to compliment the sound. It worked really, really well. Traditional meets modern clashed and produced a truly unique sound.

skippy

Rothko set-list: Pulse Of An Artery / Breatharian / Us To Become Sound / Open / Seventyseven A / Herbivore

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