When MischiefMaker arrives at annual Example Birthday Bash, held once again in dark & familiar cellar-club surroundings, the Roadhouse, our magazine editor Merny Werny has finished his warm-up DJ set and Hit-&-Runs’ resident MC Chunky is ripping into his DJ selection, doubling-up as his own MC! You know it’s a Family Affair already.
Another face from Hit-&-Runs’ recent history, often hosting the upstairs room at Factory, MC Sparks comes with his own hip-hop flavoured material. He is joined up atop the stage-front speakers by Ellis, another regular face everywhere on the Manchester scene, who is greeted with much noise. Our crowd are nicely primed for our favourite MCR ADHD MC: Skittles live! He takes to the stage with a jug of rum & coke and you know that this time he’s not messing about!
First tune is summery sing-a-long ‘Murdering People’, and instantly all our birthday party guests are hooked! Struggling with his vocals but that not mattering to anyone but him, he has the crowd in the palm of his hand from the get go. We expect great things to come from Skittles. Joined on-stage (but not astride the monitors) was Bricktop, responsible for much of the recent Skittles productions, but happier to let Skitz take centre stage. Reggae-lite (and soon to be released) ‘Tip-I-Cal-LY’ has been around in MCR club-nights already but is a great sing-a-long too and generates two rewinds!
Big man with the biggest tunes takes over from Chunky. UKHH hero MC Fallacy turns up for his garage set with Chimpo. UKG classics roll out. I dip outside. When I come back Falz is holding it down, single-handedly selecting tunes, hyping them up, rewinding a fair few, MCing, DJing, madly flinging himself around, left to his own devices! Man was sweating up there! Props for steering a suddenly abandoned ship!
Dubphizix takes control & steers us into bass-heavier territory. His is joined by sometime collaborator Skeptical for some back-to-back D&B business. Veteran host MC Fox is on duty with ceremonial atmospherics, his distinctive Jamaican twang cutting through some heavy reverberation. Our Ed Merny Werny dashes on stage, overcome with adrenaline & alcohol, (a lethal combo!), grabs the mic & delivers indecipherable gabba while wily Fox shouts out encouragement. Bad man!
Venue management suggested that we end our party earlier than advertised (since a bunch of our guests left after Skittles live performance; we hope not out ‘murdering people’), but we came to partaay so point-blank refused. Besides, our final guest DJs of the evening had just arrived & had come a long way! The show must go on! With very little of the equipment functioning properly, one by one the options surrendered to gremlins. DJs Wachs Lyrical and Lung make the best of their time & bring to conclusion a riotous evening.
Broke’n’English MC Strategy unwillingly agrees to give poor Chunky (who promptly disappears sharpish!) a well-earned break, but that leaves a slightly drunk Strats as host, to occasionally to break into spontaneous Soul-Train serenades! You thought no-one was paying attention Reverend Wheeler!
The Roadhouse shut down. Our Birthday Party was over. People disappeared into the night, to collapse, to sleep. Others stayed awake & fell into tomorrow. Three o’clock on a Friday morning. Weekend starts here
MischiefMaker February 2011
(Thank
Skeptical Interview 
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