Right, before I start, let me just say I`ve been going to raves for years now and have been to most of the big events: Skelter, Dreamscape, Hardcore Heaven, SV + UD. I am not a sixteen year old kid who doesn`t know their arse from their elbow (no disrespect) where this industry is concerned. I am one of the many people who have followed the scene for a long time and know what a good event sounds, looks and feels like. That brings me on to the subject of United Dance at Bagleys on the 4th Feb. This was to be the first event that I took my girlfriend to, and although she was a little nervous, she was still looking forward to it. About six of us met up at Kings Cross station at 9.30pm and went for a pint in the pub on platform 8. I was in no rush because although I suspected there would be an increase in attendance to this event (due to skelter closing and people wishing to show there support) I didn`t forsee any problem. How wrong I was. We arrived at about 10.20pm and joined the queue which doubled back on itself along the alley next to Bagleys. I knew that these things took time. After about half an hour I started to become restless as the queue had hardly moved and there was no security to provide info as to what was going on. There were also no ropes/barriers to control the situation and people were beginning to jump the line or join at the front. After waiting for an hour and a half in the freezing cold (the whistles and horns had long since stopped) everyone began to bunch up around the front of the queue. Still it did not move. One of my friends left. To my left a car was being trampled on as people had to run over it to get past. It seemed funny to some at the time but in reality it wasn`t. After 2.5 hours of waiting we were finally allowed in, only to be confronted with another queue at the entrance, which was stupidly on the ground floor next to arena 4. By this stage I wanted to kill anyone associated with the management, my girlfriend was miserable, I was fuming and we only stayed because I had my bag in the left lugagge at Kings Cross and couldn`t retreive it until 7.30am. Now this is where it became serious, very serious in fact, and I believe that anyone that enjoys raving but is switched on upstairs will agree with me here. Because of the lack of capable security at the event there was no control over the number of people who were crowded together at different parts of the building. This was highlighted most at the stairs from the entramnce up to the first floor and then the stairs again up to the main top level. It is with sadness that I say this about a rave event but this situation was a disaster waiting to happen. The width of the walkways and stairs couldn`t cope with the sheer volume of people trying to work there way up to the top floor. Me and my girlfriend tried to go up twice when we first arived but I made her force her way back out because of the dangerous crush. You see even though we weren`t moving, the idiotic security was still letting more and more people in, who were then pushing to advance. I refuse to believe that United Dance did not grossly exceed its capacity that night and any accident would have been on the heads of the management. As for the music and atmosphere? Well the hardcore room sound system could only be heard properly if you were right in the middle where you couldn`t move. The room itself was ridiculously small and I have really got to take exception with the blokes who posted messages on this site saying that Arena 4 was anything less than a disastrous move for hardcore. The other rooms were also rammed and no one could dance properly. I barely noticed the music...... It is with a heavy heart that I took my girlfriend away from Bagleys at 6am just happy that no one had been hurt in what was at times quite a frightening environment. I would appeal to any one who runs events like this and espeially the UD promoters (that means you darren) to learn from this mistake. I would also invite fellow ravers in the spirit of solidarity to post messages on this site voicing your support for this stand. Be safe. Paul
