- The Notting Hill Carnival is something I've never experienced before. It's totally mad that for two days you can walk around a certain area of West London, swigging lager, stuffing your face with meat and toking on doobs while the federales don't bat an eye. It's a parallel universe that I wouldn't mind making permanent.
We'd taken in the delights of Sunday's carnival, checking out 1Xtra's Rampage sound system before dropping in again on the Monday with a hangover and a hankering for the dancehall stylings of Switch and Diplo's Major Lazer project. The pair had taken it upon themselves to host and headline a ridiculously free bash under the archway of a motorway flyover. We hauled ourselves up for the midday kickoff to find the sun beaming and the Red Bull (who were funding the binge) flowing freely. Mad Decent's youngest upstart L-Vis 1990 was ripping it up with MC Ninja on the mic in what seemed a set clanging enough for the end of a night rather than the beginning. The weirdness of a free bar was underlined by the surreal vibe of being under a flyover, the stage flanked by a pair of high heel-wearing storm trooper-esque robots grinding in time to L-Vis' flurry of buttery, bashment beats. It was the sort of slick yet mucky party that we usually never receive an invite to.
Soon after, the beer gutted Jillionarie and hairy Mad Decent blogger Paul Devro ramped up the carnival vibes with some sick soca and bassline vibes. A shorts-wearing Rusko, meanwhile, came with a ridiculous haircut and even squonkier dubstep beats. The excitement proved so much that Diplo sprinted on halfway through his set to provide a rewind, egging the almost moshing crowd onto further heights of dance floor based-bedlam. It was unfortunate that we missed the surprise showing of Jesse Rose due to severe caffeine distractions amid all the chaos.
Sheffield's Toddla T was the next target on the bass radar. Sporting big hair and checked shirt with MC Serocee and Lady Chann in tow, his set hit the Carnival nail on the head with enough sunshine to make the ladies shake it, but buff and bassy enuff for the boys to chomp it down too. DJ Zinc's "138 Trek" and Zed Bias' "Neighbourhood" were particularly big looks as the dance floor melted as if some scamp had let off a digital stink bomb. While Toddles' klang business was mad, Major Lazer proved to be full-on chaos. Switch and Diplo lorded it up in blazers while their crew of dancers and hangers on ensured their set descended into total mayhem. Fake Blood stage dived, and MC and dancer Skerrit performed an impromptu leap between the legs of a waiting lady from atop a step ladder. Louder than loud, the pair mashed up their album into a wall of dancing, bass and Mad Decent 7-inches, which were flung liberally about the place. We spilled out onto the streets of Notting Hill while "Paper Planes" floated through the fuzz of feedback coating our ears. In this case, guns may not kill people, but too much free Red Bull almost can�