Barry Ashworth from the Dub Pistols stops at the Prince of Wales in Melbourne while on a worldwide tour to promote his CD in the "Y4K" mixed CD series...

On a windy Thursday night, I found myself heading down to the Prince of Wales to catch one of the true pioneers of the breakbeat scene, Barry Ashworth from the Dub Pistols. Considering that I was extremely tired, well fed and looking more towards the coming weekend, the fact that Mr. Ashworth completely rocked my world was something of a miracle. His energy behind the decks should be a lesson to all deejays: You may have built a name for yourself, but you still have to play your guts out to win the crowd over.

I rolled up just in time to catch the last few songs from one of Melbourne's rising stars, Lynt. He played the perfect opening set for the few people who made it down early, dropping the occasional booty-shaker, but keeping it on the mellow tip for most of the set.

Barry Ashworth rockin' the decks

Next up was local legend Phil K, who played the progressive, atmospheric breaks he's known the world over for. He provided the perfect backdrop for what was soon to come: the man himself, Barry Ashworth.

Let's just say that when he hit the stage, there couldn't have been more than 200 people in a fairly large room. But when he dropped that first song, the entire place rushed the stage and filled the floor for the entirety of his set. Opening with “Another Homicide” (the one with the Barrington Levy vocal) he quickly made sure that those in the room would be treated to barrage of bottom heavy madness.

Not being content with merely playing tracks, Barry danced in front of the decks on numerous occasions, pumping the crowd up in the process. He swung his arms, jumped in the air, sang along with the music and demanded full audience participation, which he easily received from the punters, who were going crazy.

Blending many of the tracks from his "Y4K" compilation (there was a reason for this tour) and the soon-to-be-released Dub Pistols album, he created mayhem unseen 'round these parts for many a month, especially considering the low turnout.

A big thanks needs to go out to the Sonar crew, who normally do drum 'n' bass shows but have recently begun to infiltrate the breakbeat ranks. If they keep bringing out heavyweights like Barry Ashworth, they'll quickly establish themselves in the local breaks scene. This was definitely one night to remember and if it was any indication of things to come, the new Dub Pistols album should completely blow us all away.