Rudimental

Rudimental are originally a four-piece from East London’s Hackney, but in their live shows that core songwriting quartet is expanded with a drummer, trumpet player and three backing singers, including various special guest appearances (including Emile Sandé, Lianne Le Havas, among others, but these seem to vary from gig to gig). Their collectiveness and positivity are infectious right from the beginning, even before hitting the stage you can tell the anticipation among the crowd is through the roof. Their set is great to see live, the course their music has charted is like a journey through the last two or so decades of dance music, which could make for a ramshackle of odds and ends (there’s rave, drum’n’bass, transitional blasts of reggae and house, all kicked along with the cheerful and rowdy interjections of MC and hype-man DJ Locksmith), but is actually very cohesive, their performances are accomplished, and all this is compounded with their undeniable positive energy, charisma, and stage presence, which some would say isn’t typically thought of as ‘urban’, but it works! Rudimental’s shows, which are bringing in ever greater and diverse audiences given their continuous and meteoric rise, are like benign underground parties that nobody wants to miss out on. Highly recommended.