With Addiction FM currently being the only underground radio station playing hardcore music across the airwaves, I was sure to be at their first birthday event to show my full support and appreciation. This was to be my first ever visit to The Pleasure Rooms and from what I experienced, the venue was beyond my expectations.

I had never been to The Pleasure Rooms before and yet I heard so much good gossip about this venue. It was quick and easy to locate, as it was just a few yards from the tube station. We arrived at approximately 10pm to be confronted by a small queue, which was soon to build up much later. My first impressions were a little ambiguous about what was in store for the night, as from the outside the Pleasure Rooms building replicated a rather large pub. However, after entering the building whilst proceeding with a quick security search, my impressions immediately changed. From the inside the Pleasure Rooms had a completely different scenario and the structure of the building appeared to be very well organised. Each arena was within easy reachable access on the same level and I didn't feel as though I had to travel far in order to manoeuvre between them. There was also a nice feeling of warmth too, as there was carpet covering the floor in the corridors and surrounding areas.

After putting my jacket away in the cloakroom, it was now time to experience what was to be an exciting night at The Pleasure Rooms. My first stop was to be the hardcore arena. As I walked through the arena, I couldn't help but notice the creative décor that surrounded me. It had a very 'outer space' feel, complete with stunning ultra violet coloured backdrops. The dark arena, combined with ultra violet colours created a nice contrast and certainly made the artistic backdrops and gyrating laser lights stand out. It appeared like something out of the space movies and I was nearly expecting to see an alien, fly down from the ceiling! It was very creative indeed. To top this up, the arena was complete with a nice fully-fledged EQ sound system. Unlike some previous venues, the quality of sound was just right and was neither lacking too much treble or bass. The frequencies were evened out, which gave a nice 'punchy' sound to the beats that were flowing from the tracks.

With a slight cold chill that filled the arena, I was a little unsure whether putting my jacket away in the cloakroom was such a good idea. Luckily, the arena did eventually warm up, as more and more people started to arrive. This wasn't until later on, so in the mean time, I decided to proceed to the old school room. At this present time, the music style that was being played in the hardcore arena had a slightly 'darker' breakbeat feel and I didn't recognise any tracks. I opted to go into the oldskool arena, until the music progressed onto more uplifting happy anthems. Eventually I did go back to the hardcore arena after a few hours of chilling and chatting.

The oldskool arena was comfortable to chill out in, due to the sofas that were located in the corner. As I sat down for a while on the comfy carpet, I noticed the photo shoot area nearby the entrance. This was a very good idea, as photos are always nice to keep for memorabilia.

By now, it was now approximately 1am and I decided to go back to the hardcore arena. The crowds of people that were sitting along the side platform at the beginning of the night, were now stomping away to the uplifting anthems that were being played by a very satisfying DJ Soapy. I decided to jump on the dancefloor and mingle with the incredible atmosphere that surrounded me. The atmosphere was truly amazing. There was no sense of aggression or bad attitude whatsoever and I was constantly being approached by friendly people who were very willing to greet and shake hands with me. There was a true sense of P.L.U.R, with an atmosphere like no other. This amazing response from the crowd welcomed the next two DJ's that were to follow. In return both Uplift and Chris E Manic performed very well. Easy ED, Wizbit and finally Lukozade were to follow, playing great anthems such as Bang 'Shooting Star' and 'Heart Of Gold'. In my opinion, the Addiction DJ's performed just as well as one another and even as good as the big name DJ's. It was very exciting to see a new selection of DJ's and MC's, as they all performed really well. Sy did not make an appearance, however this didn't bother me too much as I was there to see the Addiction DJ's rather than the big name ones.

The night finally came to an end with everyone feeling in good spirit, as Addiction announced they would continue their effort to last into the future. Judging by the successful outcome of this event, Addiction certainly look set to reshape the rave scene to a new level. An event certainly worth going to in the future.

Many special thanks to all the Addiction crew for their tremendous effort and support for the rave scene.

Special shouts to: Kev, Tina, Jo, Andrew, Justin Vinyl, Happy Bounce, Bridie, Conrad, Sam, Cakes, Smithers, Richard and Jo, Chedda, Vince, Tina's friend, Joe Retro, Andy, Stevie R, Rowan, and of course to all other USH crew and friends.

- HaPpY-J (bahia@onet.co.uk)