Ever since the last Raindance in December and due to the general lack of quality events at the moment, there has been a big expectation for this event. With a big USH contingent there it turned out to be a really good night. We got there at about 9:45 and we were in for about an hour later. On the flyer it promised that there would be a new improved queueing system and while it was definitely an improvement on last time, I heard of other people who had to queue a long time to get in. As we approached the door everyone started blowing their whistles and horns only to be told by a security guard to be quiet. He said as there was a hospital opposite we couldn't make too much noise or there would be complaints. I thought that was a bit surreal. We got inside and stuck our coats in the cloakroom, which was more organised and moved faster than last time. We then saw that Raindance had allocated our own individual meet up spot with posters saying "USH meetup" and lots of pens and paper. That was a really nice touch and it's good to know that at least there is one promoter around who pays attention to what ravers say. The first set of the night was Bosha and he played through until 12. His set contained a few classics but had some newer harder tunes in as well. Next up was Billy Bunter and he played a selection of breakbeat style tunes. It was a decent set but he didn't play it as hard as I thought he would do. He also did his own MC'ing at the same time which I've never seen done before. Following him came Sy and he played a good set but nothing exceptional by his standards. He mixed up some good new tunes with some older classics like "Heart of Gold" and "Hold me Now". He didn't scratch as much as he normally does though. During this set the crowd were knocking a huge balloon around in the air and someone hit it too hard so it went over to the decks and hit the needle. The record jumped slightly and Sy just laughed and carried on. It was that sort of night. :) The next set was Mark EG, the biggest nutter in raveland. Watching him behind the decks is pure entertainment and he's always guaranteed to be jumping around doing something stupid. I find his hard trance a little bit slow though and difficult to dance to. The following set was Sharkey and Energy b2b and for me this was the set of the night. Lately I've been getting more into freeform all the time and these two did a brilliant hard and banging set. Freeform is like taking the maddest part of the fastest happy hardcore track and making an entire tune from that. It has so much energy and is great for going mad to. Sharkey was MC'ing earlier on as well and he seemed to be enjoying it as much as any of the ravers were. At 4:00 came Vinyltrixta and he did a good hard happycore set. He played quite a few older tunes but these were tunes you tend not to hear very much , not anthem style tunes. The next set should have been Vibes but for some reason he didn't turn up. I was gutted by this because he's my favourite DJ, but he probably had his reasons for not showing. DJ Storm filled in for him and he made a good substitute. Most of his tunes were older tunes but they were mainly ones you wouldn't tend of and it definitely wasn't predictable. By this time MC Storm had arrived so it was a Storm and Storm double act. He was his usual hyper self and did well as always. At 5:30 MC Storm told us it would have to close at 6:00 then at 6:00 told us it was actually staying open till 7:00. It was good to learn that we were getting another hour but by this time all my energy had gone so I had to sit out the last set. It was Easy Ed and I was told that he was a bit predictable in his tune selection as he often tends to be. Summing up, this was a really good night and Raindance are becoming a real force on the rave scene. The best thing about it was the venue which was really underground and hopefully they'll stick to their promise of moving hardcore to a bigger room next time. The hardcore room was pretty full all night but that lead to a good friendly atmosphere. Everryone there was friendly and Raindance has the obvious advantage of no Birkenhead crew. The only criticism I can really make is about the toilets. There were about 1 or 2 more than last time but still not enough. By the end of the night three of the bowls had flooded to the top with dirty toilet water. This was a bit disgusting and meant they were unusable. I really think Raindance can be the next big promoter on the scene. They get big attendances, create a friendly vibe and will surely do well at their next event on Good Friday. You would be very stupid to miss it. If you can't afford both Raindance and Slammin Vinyl choose Raindance as it will be better. Shouts to Time, Kev, Sam, Smithers, Justin Vinyl, Bridie, Andrew and Jo, Rich and Jo, John, Viking, Lukozade, Uplift, Roo, Maxim, Paul and Carol, Emma, Peter and Emma, Neil, Matt, S, Nemesis, Happy Bounce, Ponder, Happy J, Rob, Conrad and his sister, Tina, Vince, Missie, Lloyd, Eleanor, Chris, Ben, Katie, Stuart, Lizzie,Carly madraver and her fella and MC Storm.
