Drum and bass events are happening in Leicester but nobody seems to know about them.

With Beastwang dominating the bassline scene and Lucid running swiftly alongside them, the audience seems to be more attracted to bassline over drum and bass more than ever before.

Marc Pantling, owner of Canvas nightclub, has hosted some of the biggest names in drum and bass over the years, yet the audience seems to be slowly decreasing.

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Pantling said: “We’re always made up of about 50% students, there were always crowds of 200-500 going out. Now with watered down DnB in the charts it seems students don’t get into DnB any more and just go to Republic and see Chase and Status live.”

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The mainstream idea of drum and bass doesn’t speak for all of the drum and bass out there, so people are getting the wrong idea. In Leicester, students seem to enjoy going to XY or Republic, rather than listening to some of the best drum and bass DJs in the UK.

Pantling added: “Clubbing has changed, and not the same people go out. So you get 100 people now instead of 200-500.”

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We’re in the golden era in terms of social media, how much promotion can people do? The onus is on the audience and the drum and bass lovers to find out where the events are happening.

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“There isn’t enough students into DnB, but the fact the council banned flyers outside venues and streets years ago has made it hard, also I used to put out about 60 posters at 60 burger and clothes shops, now there’s about 20 that let you.”

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Advertising events through posters is harder than ever, with the council firmly cracking down on it.

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“I used to put 250 posters on empty shops and traffic lights now that’s fully illegal, and you get fines so there’s hardly any street promotion now. But we have Facebook so I expect students or people to make an effort.”

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Substance – New Age Drum and Bass, is the leading drum and bass event in Leicester, with names of Dominator, DJ Guv, Jaydan and Nicky Blackmarket all making an appearance over the years. With names like this, why aren’t people getting involved? Is it purely that there aren’t enough people who like drum and bass? Or are people just not interested.

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Check out Substance – New Age Drum and Bass on Facebook for all upcoming drum and bass events in Leicester.