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BEST LIVE ACT: SCUBA

Scuba eschewed EDM light shows for a cooler retinal and aural extravaganza

Live dance music has got a pretty chequered heritage. Inevitably when Scuba decided to make the switch from DJing to presenting his tracks as a live experience, there were plenty of pitfalls awaiting him, not least of which being an internet full of dance ‘fans’ ready and willing to open fire on any poor sod who dares try anything different.

A year on and it’s looking like the boy done good. Nesting himself in a cage of neon tubes, Paul Rose has complimented the subtleties of his production with a live show that whirrs and flashes without ever trying to engulf the senses — he wisely leaves that job to the bass-heavy intricacies fired from the speakers. 


Declaring from the off that he had no intention of getting caught up in an “EDM live visual arms race”, Rose has come at the live problem from the position of a raver, always asking whether what he’s doing up on the stage works as something you can dance to.

If the answer’s no, then it’s not welcome. So whilst you can look up and see a sea of neon scrolling up and down, an appropriately rhythmic visual counterpoint to his techno mutations, if you’re looking for cake-throwing, glitter cannons, inflatable dinghies or a bloke whose main trick is to pretend he’s got the head of a plastic rat, you’re probably in the wrong show.And possibly country.

Rose is leaving that guff to the guys with the ego problems, content himself to just blow our minds via our ears.