Travelling from Bath where I was staying with a mate’s brother, we arrived at Fiddlers Club, Bristol at 9.45pm. The club was situated down a derelict road with warehouses and garages surrounding it.

Orifice Vulgatron, dressed in long shorts, grey hooded top and Nike Airs stood next to, a giant in comparison, Stig of the Dump, who was an unannounced guest, both conversing and joking before the show. Once entering the club we ventured into the bar area where there was a seated section and further on there was a raised stage and dance area, which was a relatively good size, perfect for the size of the crowd to accumulate later on.

After a small wait and a sound check by beatbox supremo Schlomo, 2 DJ’s came to the stage which allowed us to analyse the crowd which had a good mix of different heads, most notably some butch lesbians and a certain attention-seeking bloke who thought he could dance, yet had the co-ordination of a blind elephant. One of the DJ’s was DJ Johnson, a Bristol local who exerted his turntable skills to the welcome of the waiting and newly arriving crowd. This warm-up was followed by Foreign Beggars vocal percussionist Schlomo and a local Bristol beatboxer, Monkey Moo, both showing off their skills with a medley of beatboxing, with Schlomo showing why he is considered to be one of the best in Britain. They topped it off with a double beatbox collaboration, which not only impressed the crowd but left them anticipating more.

The event was scheduled not only for Foreign Beggars, as the night was also host for the South West Heats for the British Beatboxing championship. With beatboxers coming from as north as Newcastle as well as many local heads representing. The level of beatboxing was pretty astounding with the crowd showing appreciation for the skills shown. The heats were hosted by big Stig, with his stage presence and lively persona making him a definite crowd favourite. The crowd weren’t the only judges, Schlomo and Monkey Moo were the judges with the final say. Through various rounds, the beatboxers were whittled down to 2 for the final, which was planned to occur after the support act had completed their set.

The support act, SE’ Fire, local Bristol heads comprising of 2 male MC’s, a female vocalist and a DJ, warmed the crowd up well with a selection of their tunes, which as an MC myself, I was pretty impressed with as the beats made the most of the sound system at the club, which were brilliantly balanced. The female vocalist, complimented the 2 MC’s well with a bit of light relief, with a nice voice plus good range and control. The DJ showed his cutting ability, nicely intertwined with the beats and the 2 MC’s, although not looking like you’re typical hip hop heads, managed to keep the crowd entertained and relatively hype. The group were supported by a couple of other MC’s, collaborating on tracks and varying the voices heard and added to an already good set. After the support act had finished and the crowd were itching for Foreign Beggars to grace the stage, but the final of the South West heats of the Beatboxing Championship had to be completed.

The 2 finalists, both locals, were; Hobbit, a young bloke who showed a range of styles throughout the heats, slowly building on his earlier performances. The other was a pleasant surprise, a young female going by the curious name of Spazmatron. She had defeated 2 males to reach the final, with her beatboxing style being shown with a selection of known tunes, animal sounds and her delectable version of Fever. This was not only a favourite with the crowd but also with Schlomo.

The final comprised of 2 1 minute rounds for each competitor with Hobbit going first. Hobbit dropped some really impressive tunes with the crowds reaction making him a hard act to follow and Spazmatron seemed to match him with her very entertaining style but the final round is where the winner was easily identified. Hobbit dropped some highly entertaining and complex beats with styles varying from slow grooves to hard hitting drum’n’bass flavours. Unfortunately, Spazmatron seemed to have run out of ideas and although she showed good skills, she couldn’t touch the performance of Hobbit who was duly awarded the win and the prize to go through to the National Finals and hopefully through to represent Britain at the World Championships held in Germany.

Finally, the main event, Orifice Vulgatron, Metropolis, DJ Nonames and Schlomo arrived on the stage to a rapturous applause from the crowd. Unfortunately the CD deck was acting up. Gutting considering the majority of the beats were going to be played on it. Therefore, Orifice used his initiative and made sure the crowd were entertained by spitting acapellas. This prompted Metropolis to join in and they both dropped some pre-written verses until Orifice decided to freestyle and ripped it with his off-the-top-of-the-head lyrics, impressing the high percentage of the crowd.

Once the CD deck was fixed, the show really started, with old and new tunes being performed and Orifice showing why he is considered to be one of the best live performers on the UK scene at the moment. His excitement, energy and enthusiasm rubbed off on the crowd and everyone in the audience were jumping and singing along to their well known tunes. The tune that went down best was ‘Hold On’, with a rewind further fuelling the crowd’s excitement. The taste of new Beggars tunes also varied the performance, with guest Dubbledge turning up and performing ‘Perfect Beatbox’ with Schlomo, a tune off his new mixtape ‘Fist Of Jah’ added to the hunger thrill of the crowd who were going absolutely frantic, jumping and dancing away to the tunes to the Beggars pleasure, and all this seemed to stimulate Orifice’s extreme energy with him prancing about the stage like a maniac!

Not only did the duo of Orifice and Metropolis perform songs but a beat battle between Schlomo and Nonames commenced, with each matching what the other did until they dropped in together and totally smashed it. To add to that, Schlomo asked for some jazz to be dropped and did a beat that Orifice put a verse to, to the amazement of the crowd.

As the night drew to the close and the highly intoxicated crowd were in full swing and the Beggars had been through their repertoire they were performing with the Mickey Finn drum‘n‘bass ’Hold On’ remix being revealed , Orifice made a request for Nonames to put on a mystery tune. Cue MOSH PIT! A heavy metal tune was played and the crowd went absolutely crazy, mosh pits forming everywhere in the crowd, glasses smashing under feet and voices screaming, fighting to get above the sound, the audience had turned into animals. Orifice and Stig moshed on stage, fortunately Stig did not stage dive to the crowd’s relief.

The pure energy shown in the whole building was amazing, the change from hip-hop heads to metalers was brilliant. The sweat drenched crowd were left breathless and shattered as the lights came up and vinyl’s of the Beggars new tune was thrown into the crowd. My mate caught and Orifice handed me one personally, Dubbledge also gave some CD’s away.

Overall, an absolutely amazing night, all performers were quality, no one letting the event down and the Beggars absolutely killed it, further augmenting their reputation as being the sickest show on road. I recommend anyone to go and watch and be prepared for something incredible. Best gig I’ve been to yet, thoroughly enjoyable and a pleasure to watch. Finally, thanks to Nic and Luc for their accommodation in Bath.

Words: Doctor Freud