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Review: Stand High Patrol, the Boxing Gym – ‘Devotion to the stacks’
Valentine’s Day 2026. Pulling the door closed, a phone notification helpfully warns to ‘expect wintery mix all night’.
So be it; there’s no way that’s going to stop anyone tonight. The Boxing Gym is open for a six-hour bout: Stand High Patrol in a rare Bristol appearance and the pioneers Iration Steppas, all powered by Bristol’s own Firmly Rooted Soundsystem.
An orderly queue awaits, smiles outnumbering shivers in the icy three degrees.
For those who haven’t been to an event at this St Jude’s warehouse venue before, it’s a surprisingly outdoor affair, with a main bar more typical of a festival than a central Bristol car-park. There’s a barrel fire, pallet furniture and a small outdoor stage under a stretch tent.
Festival vibes outside the Boxing Gym despite the freezing February conditions
Filing into the main space through a fabric-lined corridor, we are transported through tunnels into the inner sanctum then spat out through a pair of double doors into the main hall.
Two huge Firmly Rooted stacks catch the eye in opposing corners, with sound-system controls in the middle of the far wall. No fancy decor, stage or lighting here. All we need is two stacks, a simple lighting truss and a table already a tangle of cables and gear. The sound is the crucial element in this room.
The room is heaving, Stand High Patrol clearly a big draw. The dub collective’s visits to Bristol from Brittany, France are sporadic with an eight year hiatus before a session last year at Loco Klub.
Stand High Patrol made a slow start but fans were delighted that they played their new album in full, before kicking it up a notch
They have brought the full crew tonight, with Rootystep and Mac Gyver on selector/controls duties, Pupajim on vocals and Merry on trumpet.
Kicking off their 2.5 hour set with Head in the Clouds from 2025 album Underground Oasis seems a surprising approach given it’s a relatively chill affair but when that first bassline kicks in through the mighty Firmly Rooted stacks it ignites the dance.
Fists pump the air and the crowd roar, divided equally in their attention between the Stand High crew and devotion to the stacks themselves.
The crowd’s attention was split between the act and the speakers
Pupajim’s vocal soars over the bass womp. His is a unique voice, ethereal in timbre with lyrics which simultaneously marry a knowing cheekiness with a refreshingly blunt simplicity.
An early highlight in the set is Underground Dwellers, its opening lines “You buy streams and plays (I know that) / I buy cheese and bread” a classic Pupajim line, laying out the simple truth: we’re real, you’re not.
Merry on trumpet provides sporadic, breathy lines to back up the heavyweight productions – a curious use of FX including a strange distortion / 8bit effect adding to the digital-dub vibe.
If your idea of horns over dubs is based around the fanfares that often feature on steppers, this wouldn’t be for you. Merry offers a very different stylistic approach, pulling from jazz and taking inspiration from Pupajim’s laid-back vibe. This is tasteful, not brash.
Bristol is represented by the aural appearance of Cornerstone Horns on Pupajim’s forthcoming tune Rising, produced by local outfit the Co-Operators; while among the crew gathered around the system controls is local dub hero, falsetto-master Joe Yorke.
Stand High Patrol spin his song Tonight, another Co-Operators production. Lighters flash the air and the bass-bin massive notch it up a level. “Tonight, tonight. We’re gonna rock until the morning light,” Yorke sings. Yes, yes we are.
An hour in, the main room is full to bursting, with a strange crowd-flow situation developing as attention is pulled in three different directions towards each stack and the controls.
Firmly Rooted has established itself as the system of choice for the region
Thankfully, this is an extremely friendly crowd. For the loyal fans here tonight it would have been nice to have more space to kick back and enjoy, but it is heartening to know dub has this level of pull.
The sub-culture appears to be having another moment: this is, after all, one of three competing dub nights taking place within a square mile tonight.
Taking the chaos as an excuse for a breather we check out Room 2, where Lexxi is perched atop shelves lining a small boxy side room, fluffy clouds and love-hearts adorning the ceiling.
She drops Eve’s Tambourine, to a vibey crowd in the tiny room who relish the opportunity to stretch out and dance.
Lexxi provides a high energy, down and dirty release for people wanting to escape the crammed main room
For the final hour of Stand High Patrol the volume is rising, the energy growing, the tracks getting heavier.
Yellow spotlights cut through the smoke as psychedelic delays and reverb swirl. The soundsystem’s potent low end thuds into every chest in the room. This is meditative business.
“One more track,” intones Pupajim, “in two parts. Max Romeo. Hear the lyrics”. Stand High drop the needle on No Peace, a Max Romeo classic. A deep dub cut follows to finish their set which drops down to just a trackie-shaking bassline.
The moment of togetherness in the room is impossible to escape, with every single person in that dance skanking.
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The final act in the main room is the inimitable Iration Steppas. Mark Iration cuts a solitary figure behind the decks covering selection, effects and hyping over the mic like it’s no thing.
It’s a full switch-up in vibe from Stand High Patrol. This is year 3000 future-dub, and the source of inspiration for so many that came after including Dubkasm, O.B.F. and Firmly Rooted themselves.
It’s high-energy from 2-4am which keeps the dedicated bass-bin heads skanking until the lights come on.
All photos: Bristol24/7
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