19 February 2006 (gig)
24 February 2006
Sway cuts a mean figure as he stands head bowed against a pillar in the corner of Level 2's bar preparing to face an expectant Essex crowd. Sway is a man on a mission, having just returned from a tour that included the U.S and Germany he is (almost) back home. The UK grime / hip-hop scene is spreading its murky vibe across the world led by amongst others, Sway.
Sway starts the set impressively dropping his biggest tune to-date flo fashion as the opener, a bold move which doesn't backfire with gunfingers and brrrapps filling the Essex air. The set continued in the same mould with tracks including his take on tipsy, pepsi; up your speed and sick world bringing more of the same accepted recognition from this diverse crowd.
There are long gaps between each track when Sway shows himself to be a charismatic performer who is looking to leave the crowd laughing rather than feeling hostile as is sometimes the case at grime events. He can be seen wandering into the crowd and having off the cuff chats with the fans about topics such as music, money and the tweed trilby hat which he stylish sports throughout.
Illegal downloading is something that clearly bothers Sway. This is understandable for a man awarded best male solo at the 2005 MOBO awards ahead of 50 cent. He is keen to turn this recognition into pound sterling but this is a topic that he covers so much, including a version of download, that the crowd became restless and disinterested. DJ Turkish is forced to resort to plan b in dropping some classic U.S. hip hop ( Dead Pres, Snoop and even MC Hammer) to whip the crowd back into shape.
Interest restored and it's time for Little Derek a pop / r n b tune in the same bracket as Kano's night night and brown eyes. This is a big track for Sway but it fails to capture the imagination of this crowd and soon the queue to sample the snakebite black at these knockdown student prices has increased somewhat. Unfortunately for Sway the money that could have been sitting in the coffers at HMV come Monday evening was more likely behind the bar of level 2.
