Live Review: Gentleman’s Dub Club at Manchester Academy 2

Gentleman’s Dub Club have been touring for over 10 years yet the high energy brought to their shows has only intensified – this gig being no exception.

Dressed in their iconic suits, the nine members of Gentleman’s Dub Club bounded about stage with electric, infectious energy that had the whole crowd lost in dance. With no one holding back, we skanked and jumped up to the beats for well over an hour.

I’ve always been astounded by the way dub can make me feel, I’ve never connected to a type of music quite in the same way. I lose myself to the vibrations, which take over my body and feet. I could tell by the vibe of the crowd that they felt the same way. My mate turning to me dazed at the fact they were making this synthetic, magical sound with a couple of instruments.

Playing all their best tracks like ‘Rudeboy’, ‘Earthquake’ and ‘Highs and Lows’, they missed none of my favourites. They then played their track ‘Fire’. Lead singer Jonathon Scratchley screamed at the crowd to bring “more fire”, bouncing around the stage with manic energy. We answered the call shouting and dancing with more intensity and vigour than even I knew I had. And then, like that they were gone. My friend turned to me asking if we should leave but I was sure they’d be back; they couldn’t leave us like this. The crowd waited in anticipation for an encore and they didn’t let us down. The members filed back on stage and we went mental. Then I heard, the two beats that made up the start of ‘High Grade’, my favourite song. They played it as the crowd sung along with them and shouted “pull up”, wheeling up the track when they reached the verse which got us even more hyped. Scratchley then asked the crowd to get as low as they could to the floor, and I was flooded with emotion and delight when everyone joined in. There were grey haired men and women 50 and above, full on squatting and connecting with the music. My legs ached but with the solidarity of the crowd I waited for the beat to drop before we exploded up and skanked out.

The energy and vibes that Gentleman’s Dub Club bring to their shows is like nothing I’ve ever seen before and astounds me every time, leaving me with a sense of love and unity. They finished the gig with the song and message to “let a little love in your life”. Something I think we could all afford to do a little more of.

4.5/5.