Dave Tarrida vs Youngsta, Kinky Afro 7th Birthday, Sub Club, Glasgow, Oct 27

Kinky Afro's 7th Birthday saw Dave Tarrida, former resident of heavyweight techno outing Test, share guest duties with one of dubstep's youngest established stars, Youngsta. The musically diverse monthly has its roots in an event organised to help raise funds for a girl's trip to work in Africa, later becoming a club night in its own right. The passing years have seen it undergo various changes, but one constant has remained: the residents' and promoters' (Matthew Bennett and Dougal Perlman) willingness to embrace new developments in dance music. It is perhaps apt then that Youngsta should make his Scottish debut at their birthday. His slew of dubplate exclusives gave the Sub's soundsystem a serious, bass-heavy workout, and the dancefloor reacted enthusiastically to his skanking rhythms. Tarrida later upped the pace with a techno onslaught that sidestepped minimal fashions - the crowd seeming to appreciate his set all the more for it. [Colin Chapman]