DMC & Technics - 2000 - UK DJ Championship Finals

Kick off was at around 7pm; me and two other fellas got there about 30 mins after that. Even though my lifestyle is more disorganised then Watford's midfield, I always try my best to not arrive late to concerts. I like to just kick back with the music in the background, with a brew or smoke and see what's up with the crowd. This year's UK finals were being held at the Shepherds Bush Empire. Last time I was there, was to see Henry Rollins Spoken Word tour, this time, there was no need for the upstairs section.

When we arrived the crowd was less then half full, I had the feeling it wouldn't increase by much more, but by the time it was poppin' off, the place was more rammed then Bernard Manning and Chubb Rock in the same cab, but minus the hostility. In fact, the atmosphere was pretty dope - translation: plenty of women - and the DJ who had been spinning for some time now, stepped off.

One of my boys actually ducked out to meet some chick at this time, he paid a tenner for about 20 mins! " But he's a doctor so money aint a thang to him ". The host gave out a little info and then introduced the surprise act,'NextMen'. They did a set lasting about 15 minutes, a decent effort but their sound was too high to catch any vocals clearly. Afterwards, the judges were introduced. Defending champion Tony Vegas was one, choosing not to defend his title this year. Choice's DJ 279 and various other heads of UK hip-hop took their seats by both sides of the stage. After few more freebies were chucked into the crowd, and some chucked back at the stage, the contest started. Each DJ had six minutes to show what they had in their arsenal. There were fifteen contenders, all who had been awaiting this night for the whole year.

DJ's came and went, mistakes were rare, but the occasional awkward part effected a couple of hopefuls. The crowd responded rightly to certain tricks and musical choices. Standouts were obvious though, DJ Tang, DJ Woody, Mr.Thing and others.

The odd technical difficulty occurred here and there, in between changeovers. The contest went back and forth, an impressive showing got the crowd roaring and waving their 'guns' in the air. Then it was time for the last contender, 'Plus One', who finished second last year, closed the set. Time to see if the judges were actually watching. Whilst the votes were being counted up, more give-aways from Rawkus and others sponsors were thrown to the tired but loyal crowd. The background spun some tunes and then it was time....

In 3rd place.......Madcut.

In 2nd place.....(once again) Plus One.

And this year's champ.....!! Mr. Thing !!

Prizes were given out and applause from all around. He's already doing the rounds, appearing on Radio One last night to showcase his title-winning skills. Afterwards, we were treated to a four-man display of turntablism and then we left in our droves. Legs aching from standing up for 5 hours, it was around 2.am. Dropped off my mate and then drove home, trying to phone my other mate, Tim, on the way back. He was meant to turn up to this but there was no answer at his place all night. My other mate was on 'stand by' for the Brighton-fest in the morning, just a few hours away.....