All photos courtesy of Red Bull Music

Red Bull Music are known for their events. All over the world, their parties are well-curated, look good and pitch the right balance of fun with substance. Well, they outdid themselves in London on 30th June with The Odyssey.

1 river. 6 boats. 6 genres of music, and I’m estimating close to 1000 guests. A celebration of UK music and their global influences, there was everything from grime on The Transmission, UK rap on The Wave, and drum ‘n’ bass & bashment on The Wine Up. All boats were streaming live on Red Bull Radio, and can be listened back with plenty of videos to match. With a helicopter above, a speedboat next to the ‘boater-cade’, and photographers on each boat, the content alone is worth the production.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect day in London while joining the Boogie Boat at Lambeth Pier. With signs showing you which line was which, staggered boarding times and plenty of staff, it was like the beginning of a relaxing cruise holiday.

The Boogie Boat was the jazzy, soul, broken beat boat captained by Moses Boyd and Henry Wu, both young and very accomplished jazz musicians. Our boat was one of the smaller ones, with roughly 300 guests (Transmission held more like 600) and also had the smallest amount of outdoor space. You can imagine the overcrowding for views/smoking throughout. Mafalda kicked things off, followed by K15 B2B Shy One.

The staging area could only be described as cosy eclecticism, with layered rugs and countless instruments, the low ceilings and small audience made for a very intimate atmosphere. A silky smooth ensemble led by the captains included Tenderlonious (sax and flute), Mansur Brown (guitar) and Lily Carassik (trumpet). This was the first time Henry and Moses had performed together live, but you would never have known it. With Henry conducting the band from behind the keys, and Moses setting the pace on the drums, it was an hour-long marathon showing the best of what young, British jazz has to offer.

What followed was truly special. It didn’t matter if you had never heard the name Peven Everett before that night, because you became a fan on the spot. The Chicago-born jazz legend has been touring with the Gorillaz for two years, with the rest of 2018 to go. He’s credited for pioneering the two-step sound, and has forayed into funky house and garage-style music throughout his accomplished career.

Speaking about the Gorillaz, Everett was clear on its impact: “It’s changed my life for a lot of reasons. Coming into contact with Damon Albarn was meeting a person that was a quest for me. Maybe subconsciously I was looking for someone with the prowess necessary to actually give me something back.” He’s also unequivocal about the benefits of travelling on a word tour: “The whole point is to ensure you’re as well rounded as possible, correct? It’s kind of a sacrilege to not take in the places we go, and really appreciate the fact that you’re spending your life for that particular amount of time, in that country.”

But his home is Chicago, or as he puts it, “as long as my momma is there”. He speaks very fondly of his hometown, and explains why it’s the place he can always go back and focus: “I needed real solitude, and the type of solitude New York can offer you has to do with capital, and a lot has to do with where you are in the city. A quiet place is more in the Midwest, where you can hear the leaves, and you can’t hear any car. It’s really important.”

Everett began in jazz but moved his boundless musical abilities elsewhere after while: “Getting into that house thing after jazz was a natural progression, because I wanted to dance. I didn’t want anymore suit and tie, claustrophobic, weird, standard, stuff anymore. There’s only so much of being regular that I can tolerate. And now that I’m a grown man I don’t have to tolerate any of it, I can be who I am without permission.” However, he has strong feelings about how the dance scene celebrates DJs and artists, “Without the art there is nothing to spin. When has there been a steady point in dance music that was fortifying the artist and not fortifying the DJ? For me it’s about fair exchange.”

It’s hard not to get caught up in Everett’s energy. He comes across as a wise soul who has lived a thousand lives, and will live a thousand more. “As long as you look for goodness you’ll find goodness, and that’s how I construct the things that I present to the world.” This seems like a lesson to keep in mind, because although Everett’s career hasn’t always been consistently successful, he’s happier than he’s ever been: “I’m enjoying life. I’m in a place I haven’t been ever. It’s better than what I was thinking about, because I really prayed for an answer about what’s happened, and Gorillaz provided me with a way to see that answer, and now I’m back to work. And because I wasn’t resistant to it, that’s why it worked.”

On stage, Everett comes alive. You can see it might be the only place he’s truly comfortable - behind keys, with a mic, conducting a band of awe-inspired musicians; Boyd had a smile of disbelief on his face the entire set. His voice filled the boat 10 times over, but even without it he was the loudest person there. His energy is astounding, and it felt very surreal seeing him in such an unusual setting.

Legendary DJ duo Bugz In The Attic ended the proceedings, turning the boat into a proper disco, reminiscent of school leavers’ parties and 18th birthdays. They played an extra 30 minutes as we waited to dock at the O2 arena, where we hopped on a coach to The Vaults for the joint after party. Inside railway arches, as all good venues are, Red Bull had some heavy drum ‘n’ bass playing when we arrived. Some good artist spotting was to be had if you knew who to look for, as well as a few non-musicians, like funny guy Will Poulter. They did well to continue the party, but I hope other genres were played earlier in the night as it was pretty heavy coming off our smooth jazz high.

Red Bull Music showed they can pull of anything with The Odyssey. I can’t imagine the meeting where they decided 6 boats would simultaneously cruise the Thames for 4 hours, but thank goodness for dreamers, because it worked. It was essentially a festival, but without the portaloos, ponchos and passed-out teens, and doubled as a tourist night out (second time in my life on a Thames boat). Hopefully this gets replicated in other cities to highlight their homegrown music, because it definitely did the job over here.