Last Saturday (Nov. 2), I headed down to the Casa BACARDÍ AUTUMN TOUR stop at BOXPARK Wembley for a night that won’t be forgotten in a hurry. As I stepped into the mega-venue at 5pm, the first port of call was obviously to grab myself a Casa BACARDÍ cocktail (as well as a cheeky pizza from one of the food pop-ups), with DJ Sandra Omari spinning dancefloor-filling bangers from Burna Boy to J Hus, and host Jay Knox getting us hyped for what was about to be a truly unforgettable night.

DJ Donch stepped up to the decks next and pulled some dancehall and reggae classics out of his bag. From Shabba Ranks’ “Mr Loverman” to Buju Banton’s “Champion” and Sean Paul’s “I’m Still In Love With You”, the singalongs from the crowd echoed around the now-packed-out building. Something I noticed throughout the night was the joy on people’s faces: laughing, dancing, and ready to enjoy their evening, with more people enjoying the moment than typically filming the moment—which was refreshing to see.

Crazy Cousinz’s Flukes, with assistance from MCs Coldsteps and Terminal 4, was equipped with the goods to crank the energy up a notch or two. Flukes had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the first two tunes: his UK funky classic, “Do You Mind”, and the Afro-soul remix of Cleo Sol’s “Know That You Are Loved”. We were taken on a sonic journey through a number of strains of house music: soulful, tribal and, of course, the deep and funky.

Underground music icon Donae’O followed with more UK funky flavours, delivering classics like “I’m Fly”, “Mami No Like” and “My Circle”, and reminded us all that he indeed a one-man hit-making machine. Heartless Crew then took to the stage to go back-to-back with DJ Mak 10, who took the baton at full speed with their eclectic set exploring the realms of UK garage. DJ Fonti mixed in Mr Fidget’s “My Philosophy” into “Pulse X” and Bushkin—dressed in a lime green faux fur hoodie and joggers—dominated the mic with his classic lyrics from the “Heartless Crew Theme”. The vibes were off the scale and still barely any phones in sight. A sea of hands and gunfingers flew across the venue throughout, especially when Mak 10 dropped a grime remix of Jorja Smith’s “On My Mind”.

If the night had finished there, it would have been a memorable one—however Casa BACARDÍ and BOXPARK Wembley had other ideas. Bushkin stayed on-stage so he could introduce the iconic Ms. Dynamite and, at this point, the crowd were screaming at the top of their lungs with excitement—myself included. North London’s finest surprised us by opening her set with her now-iconic verse from the So Solid Crew classic, “Envy”. For so many of us in the room, we grew up listening to this track—her verse a clear highlight—and to have the Mercury Prize-winning star in front of us, performing it bar for bar, well, it might as well have been Christmas Day!

As Ms. Dynamite took us through some of her classic anthems, from “Lights On” to “Wile Out”, she cheekily smiled and said the set was finished, before saying that she may have forgotten “one or two, important ones.” Within seconds, the room erupted with shouts of “Booo!”, which is probably the only time hearing this would be a compliment in 2024. When she unleashed the first few bars of her Sticky-produced fan-favoutie “Booo!”, it was over. Reload after reload! In just a short space of 20 minutes, Ms. Dynamite demonstrated what a stage-show truly is—a powerful reminder of why she continues to be one of the nation’s favourite MCs, and still dominates stages more than two decades after breaking into the underground.

Luckily, we managed to get a short break—to catch our breaths, wipe the sweat off our forehead, and get a Casa BACARDÍ top-up (of course)—with a beautiful selection of UK anthems being spun by Chennessy. 15 minutes later, in a cloud of smoke and red background lighting, North-West London wordsmith Bashy descended onto the stage and received cheers of love as he told us he grew up locally. Taking us through some of the hits from his new groundbreaking album, Being Poor Is Expensive, Bashy brought out WSTRN’s Haile for their track “Blessed”, before taking us back to 2007 with his powerful anthem, “Black Boys”; while receiving multiple reloads, some fans at the front even pulled out photos of them with Bashy in his early years.

Shifting the energy slightly, the MC then blessed us with a thought-provoking acoustic version of “When Black Men Lose Their Smile”. As you looked into the audience, especially in the first few rows, you could see so many different people locked in, reciting every word. Ending the moment, the crowd put their fists up in solidarity with Bashy, which was a truly breathtaking sight. As we took this emotional moment in, Bashy caught us all off-guard with a quick hype set of grime instrumentals—-courtesy of his long-time DJ, CJ Beatz—that took it back to the good ol’ days of pirate radio.

Bashy ended his set on a high, and as everyone was making their way out, Chennessy jumped back on the decks to blast out BMD’s Channel U gem, “North Wheezy”, to remind us what part of London we just had one of the best nights of the year in. One thing’s for sure: whether it’s a pop-up event or their annual festival stage at Wireless Festival, Casa BACARDÍ and BOXPARK know how to put on a FOMO-worthy show. See at the next one!

For more info on the remaining tour dates, head here.