Skream ‘Open To Close’ at The Rainbow Venues, Birmingham

We have all heard that Skream is playing in cities across Europe from October until December. He said he would be in control of the whole night and make a conscious effort to resurrect the back to basics element of club culture, and I can assure you at the Rainbow Venues he did just that.

He said in an interview it was a chance to show off his diversity, from anything to funk, disco, house or techno. He said, “Generally starting at about 100bpm and ending around 130bpm, but allowing the vibe inside the club and on the dancefloor to take me wherever it desires. I’m super excited to bring the Open To Close tour to some of my favourite venues in the UK and Europe. It’s gonna get wild!”

The Rainbow Venues comprises of eleven spaces, ranging from warehouses to a pub. The Venues are located in Digbeth, Birmingham’s creative district, and have hosted club nights, festivals, street food events and art exhibitions alike. Local promoters and international club brands, such as Defected and El Row, take care of the primarily house and techno focused programming.

The night started with intense build ups and succulent drops, the venue was perfect for this and Skream really captured the crowd, allowing people to get right up to the front and actually touch him and even the decks, it was surreal.

As the night went on the crowd began to even itself out, the other DJ’s in different rooms may have surprised many with there excellent sets also. Skream was in the packed main room and he didn’t disappoint. The hordes of people crammed onto the dance floor lavished themselves in his techno-laden set. You have to commend his commitment to the cause as well, engaging with those around him to keep the mood.

Although many EDM geniuses recognize Skream as one of the juggernauts who lead UK dubstep into the US, he has certainly come a long way since then. Skream has motivated the bass end of the EDM band and has established a tech and house sound in his sets, which was heard during this “Open to Close” tour in Birmingham.

Opening the night with a varied mash of numerous house-friendly songs, one beloved that was played was a remix of Missy Elliot’s ‘Work It’. What makes an open to close tech-house set so interesting for us as party-goers, is that it gives the correct quantity of time for each song to lithely melt into the next with ease, which was the case for Skream.

After about two and a half hours, and a few more drinks, into his set, you could see his serenity release and he even presented some dance moves to onlookers. I mean, how could he not as he swayed to the beat of his classics and new era tracks, and how could I not, how could anyone not?

The Rainbow Venues was a perfect spot for me, and travelling from London was no drama at all. All in all I would say it was one of the best sets I’ve seen writing for inSYNC and I definitely advise you to go and see Skream on this tour if there are any tickets remaining. As I stated in my preview for this event; IT WAS PERFECT.

Venue – 8.0

DJ/Band – 9.0

Music – 9.0

Overall – 26.0