The British bandDub Pistols are coming on the 16th of April to the LMB in Prague! Festival favourites and party-rockers, the Dub Pistols – led by main man Barry Ashworth – are a national treasure. The London-based ska-dub- punk-hoppers have been active for 15 years, causing dancefloor uproar wherever they go, and head into 2014 with their sixth album ‘White Lines’ ready to go. The Dub Pistols formed in the mid-90s out of the chaos and energy erupting from the Heavenly Social-spawned big beat scene. Barry Ashworth had been in indie-dance outfit Deja Vu, who scored with their cover of the Woodentops’ ‘Why Why Why’, and initially hooked up with Jason O’Bryan who was half of Wall Of Sound duo Ceasefire with noted reprobate Derek Dahlarge. The pair appreciated the vast musical earthquakes going back to the late 50s when ska was born, determined to mirror their wildly-diverse tastes in similar fashion to heroes like The Clash and Specials, who spectacularly broke out of punk’s confines to embrace other musical forms like reggae. The first Dub Pistols singles appeared on Deconstruction offshoot Concrete, roof-raising outings like ‘…Riot’, ‘Cyclone’ and ‘Westway’. Soon their live shows were turning into much more than decks, DATs and the odd cheerleader. A full Dub Pistols live band booted off, swiftly blowing up in the US while back home in the UK they sometimes had trouble detaching themselves from the big beat aftermath. 1998’s debut album, ‘Point Blank’, helped, hoisting Barry and Jason into remix work which included Moby, Ian Brown and Crystal Method [most recently Lily Allen] plus video games and soundtrack work, including a track for Blade 2 with Busta Rhymes. Second album, ‘Six Million Ways To Live’, stomped on any remaining big beat associations as former Specials singer Terry Hall repaid the endless homaging by appearing on the ‘Problem Is’ single, dubbed “the best Specials ska single the Specials never wrote”. Terry all but joined the group, going on to appear on several tracks on third album ‘Speakers & Tweeters, including his own ‘Gangsters’ and an audacious version of Blondie’s ‘Rapture’. Job done, they then took a different tack on ‘Rum & Coke’, their most chart-friendly album to date. With a startling array of guests, including cool ruler Gregory Isaacs, Beats International’s Lindy Layton, acid house pioneer Justin Robertson and Ashley Slater of Freak Power, they refined the multi-hued excursions of previous album ‘Speakers & Tweeters’ and emerged as a cutting-edge modern pop group without losing the danger, humour and mania. Album No.5 is also set to feature long-time collaborator and UK hip-hop legend Rodney P, Larry Love from Alabama 3, superb London hip-hop kru the Foreign Beggars, and Lindy Layton once again. Meanwhile, the ‘Re:Hash’ album – out May 2011 – features remixes of classic Dubs cuts by the likes of ex-Leftfield man Paul Daley, Matthew ‘Bushwacka’ B, one half of the acclaimed Layo & Bushwacka duo, and Wrong Tom, who has just released an album of dubwise reworkings of Roots Manuva’s back catalogue, as well as underground DJ/producer hotshots such as Ben & Lex and Kouncil House.
With a back catalogue to be proud of, the Dub Pistols’ punky-reggae party rages on, firing sugar-coated bullets at any recession depression. Few bands can raise a roof or ignite a festival crowd with more rabble-rousing aplomb than this crew. Barry, who still DJs relentlessly with the Dub Pistols Soundsystem, The Dub Pistols have played a hectic string of live festival dates during the summer of 2012 to promote ‘Worshiping The Dollar’ and after the inter recording their new album White Lines are smashing it at festivals in the UK and Europe over the summer of 2013 ready to start over again touring the new album ‘White Lines’ during 2014!
Tickets are available for 380 CZK at the cash desk of the LMB (without fee) or at Ticketpro, Ticketportal, Eventim and Ticketstream (with fee). At the door: 450 CZK.
