Crazy Diamond

Buckle up for a raucous ride when The Dub Pistols play in Dubai this weekend, carrying the flame of reggae-driven sound system culture and wearing their ska influences on their sleeve.

- Kristan J Caryl

Barry Ashworth is a real rave veteran. He has been in the trenches – or more specifically on the stage – for 20 years now. In that time he has steered his band The Dub Pistols through many prevailing musical trends and changing industry fashions. The fact he has paid heed to none is probably why he is still here, doing his do, two decades after first forming. But it sure has taken its toll.

“I’ve busted my knees somehow,” he says when we call him up just after the start of his latest year-long tour. “I’m in absolute bloody agony. It was some on-stage antic. I’ve had problems with them for years but they were all healed then just snapped. Now I’m struggling to walk!”

A famously riotous frontman, he promises he won’t go on stage with crutches, vowing that he’ll make sure he is fit for all the band’s dates between now and December.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s been 20 years,” he says in his gravelly London drawl. “Some of the highlights have to be things like being on stage and doing Gangster with [The Specials frontman] Terry Hall for the first time at Bestival. That left the hairs on my arms standing up.”

This year, The Dub Pistols will put out their seventh studio album. By now, their uniquely British fusion of dub, reggae and dance styles is well known but still as vital as ever. The new album,