Rudimental at the Regency Ballroom – A Concert Review

     London’s Rudimental visited the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on the day their album went to Number 1 on the British chart. Rudimental is a band that gets by very comfortably with a little help from their friends. There are four core members, but it was common to see nine performers on the Regency Ballroom stage. The friends included Ann-Marie and Bridgette Amofah.

Ann-Marie

Bridgette Amofah

      Last night, Rudimental presented its brand of “Drum and Bass,” a genre characterized by fast-paced beats and heavy bass and sub-base lines. The songs from their recently released album, “We the Generation,” were appreciated by the attendees, but the older songs created the stir. For too many person-to-person interactions, the expression is “Familiarity breeds contempt.” For concert-goers, the expression should be “Familiarity breeds compassion,” since there is almost always an increase in the excitement level when fans recognize a song. As an example, the enthusiasm noticeably swelled with the first few notes of “Waiting All Night” (which is a good song to pay attention to the fast-paced beats that tipify the genre).

     The four core members of Rudimental are Piers Agget, Amir Amor, Kesi Dryden and DJ Locksmith (Leon Rolle). Among the artists who contribute to the recently released album are Ed Sheeran, Anne-Marie, Ella Eyre and Bobby Womack. While we intend to become familiar with the new material, it will always be the performance skills of the group that will draw us to them. Well, that and our favorite video – “Free.”

      A sample portion of “I Will for Love” on the recent album