“Give a shout out for UK music,” says Flowdan, the greatest grime MC in the land, to a sold out Corsica Studios. Behind him is the silhouette of the man we’ve come to see ,The Bug, AKA Kevin Martin, backlit by a demonic red light, donning his signature snapback and hoodie. One of Martin’s many aliases, his other projects include King Midas Sound, Techno Animal and GOD, The Bug is a testament to his broad influences, blurring dub, dancehall, grime and industrial music into a glorious, bone-shuddering cacophony. His seminal album, 2008’s London Zoo, is a go-to for any serious dubstep enthusiast, containing a few of the genre’s standards, such as Skeng, a track Flowdan calls “our national anthem” on the night. This really is about as British, specifically as London, as it gets.
For my money, it's also the loudest gig I have ever been to. I shouldn't be suprised. The writing is quite literally on the wall, with the entire right side of Corsica’s Room 1 lined with an enormous stack of subs. When Bug spins the first track, and the bass comes in half way through, a man on my right turns to me and we start laughing, somewhat nervously, realising what we are in for: serious, unadulterated bass. Frequencies so low your ribcage shakes, your vision blurs and your brain scrambles as you’re subsumed by a wash of subterranean low-end.
