Warning presents The Big Fight Live – Judgement Night

Judgement Night, a name I would associate with the likes of 2000 AD’s Judge Dredd and it’s various characters but this was no comic book affair, this was Warning’s headline for it’s 1997 event themed about boxing.

Picture the scene, a smokey venue, dimly lit and packed full of junglists waiting for the next tune to drop, sounds pretty familiar for 1997 doesn’t it? Well this was no ordinary event as Warning had installed a full size boxing ring into the middle of The Junction.

The flyer already had you warmed up with anticipation as the event was billed as a VS night, each dj and mc combo would battle it out with 3 tunes each and the crowd would then judge the winner. What makes this special event even more fantastic is that Julius Francis (former British Heavyweight champion boxer) was the event’s introduction!

If one tape was to stand out from this event and really optimise what the scene stood for around this time, it would be the Swan-E and Shabba set. Although this was one of the earlier sets of the night, the combination of Swan-E’s effortless tune selection combined with plenty of enthusiasm and lyrical delivery from Shabba really makes this set stand out.

What also hits home when playing this tape back is how passionate Shabba’s lyrics sound, 1997 was a massive for him and this recording really demonstrates why, at this point, he was at the top of his game.

So give yourself a good few hours in a dark room, crack open a can of Red Stripe and stick these sets on loud.

Full tape pack steam can be found here (via Section 23’s Soundcloud)

Full event details:

DJ’s

• Wildchild
• Jo Jo Rock
• SS
• Frenzic
• Swan-E
• Brockie
• Ron
• Andy C (tape sadly lost)
• Mampi Swift
• Concrete
• Nicky Blackmarket
• Barrington

MC’s

• Chickaboo
• 5ive Alive
• Warren G
• Phantom
• Shabba
• Det
• GQ
• Navigator
• Marshall
• Stevie Hyper D
• Lydon