A sonic concoction of reggae, funk, rock and hip-hop with intermittent shots of DJ Buffalo Dave’s Drum and Bass beats will be sloshing around Winterland’s tumbler this Friday in Bremerton.
The longtime Kitsap-steady rock-lyricists of Rewind will join forces again with the local reggae-infused Bremerton Dub Rockers and Seattle’s Buffalo Dave.
That trio took the stage at the March 16 Artists For Freedom and Unity’s eclectic Dub Show. And while the Dub will most certainly be back, the April 20 shindig at Winterland promises to be an even more inclusive affair with the addition of The Goondocks.
While staying true to the evening’s laid-back appeal, the Seattle-based band will likely add another notch of funk and hip hop with their fusion of the genres.
On that note, each of the artists on the evening is planning to bring more than the status quo to the stage, beginning with the Bremerton Dub Rockers at 9:30 p.m.
“Each member of the band is not just 100 percent one thing,” said Ryan “Rhino” McCrow, bassman for the Dub Rockers. “It’s weird because I don’t consider us a full on reggae band. I would love us to just be a reggae band, but it’s going to take a lot more of us playing it.”
One can also find traces of funk like James Brown and Bootsy Collins hidden behind the dub of the Bremerton Rockers in addition to a bit of the punk rock fare which lingers from members’ earlier days. The random influences of the band seem to be guided by a similar blast of positivity.
“It’s not necessarily a message, it’s just nothing negative,” said BDR vocalist/keysman Ras Top, adding with regard to the music, “You’re definitely not going to hear our style anywhere else.”
The same could be said for DJ Buffalo Dave — also known as Producer Dave from the Monkey 104.9 FM — who will keep the juice flowing on the evening with Drum and Bass rhythms before, after and in between sets. DnB is a lesser-known style of electronic dance music matching broken up tempo beats with heavy basslines.
“The style that I play, Ragga, is probably one of the least known forms and definitely doesn’t have a huge following in the U.S.,” Dave said. “I’ve had people come up to me and say ‘I never thought I would hear that in Bremerton,’ but also I would scare people out of the club sometimes because they’re expecting the norm Top 40 stuff.”