Vinyl DJ night of ska, rocksteady and reggae with guests Jo and Paddy at The Royal Standard.
The Undertakers Reggae Train is taking over The Royal Standard on Saturday 31 October, a vinyl DJ night that keeps things strictly on the wax. It's a full evening of ska, rocksteady and reggae, with the selectors working through their crates rather than a laptop.
If you're not entirely sure where those three sit, they're the different faces of the same Jamaican tradition. Ska is the upbeat, walking-bass sound that got people dancing in the 60s; rocksteady slowed it down and put the vocals front and centre; and reggae is the deep, heavy groove that grew out of both. The night pulls from all three, so you'll get the faster, skanking numbers alongside the slower, steadier rhythms. It's the kind of set that works whether you're there to dance or just to lean against the bar and listen.
Running the night are The Undertakers, and they've brought along guests Jo & Paddy to help keep the records spinning. Having a few sets of hands on the decks usually means the music doesn't stop, and the variety stays high throughout the evening. The whole thing is built around vinyl, so you'll hear the crackle and the warmth of the original pressings rather than a digital playlist.
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It's a Saturday night in Hastings, and the music starts at 20:00 at The Royal Standard. If you're into ska and reggae, this is a straightforward one: vinyl on the turntables, guests on the decks, and the night running from 8pm onwards.
