As Im Sure everyone has heard by now this was an absosoutely Wicked night!!! Raindance has to be the best promoter of hardcore around at the moment and definately will be at their next event as they’ve promised to open up the empty arch (AS BIG AS THE OLD SKOOL ONE!!) for the hardcore ravers! And so they should, the Hardcore following was huge was once again and the room was completely packed all night! Though as with the last raindance, things got moving a bit slowly, especially for us. Having been guest listed due to tickets not arriving we joined the nice short 2 people queue at about 9:30. We stayed here till about 9:50 then overheard one of the security tell someone else the BIG long queue was for ticket holders and guest list, so we asked another security and he said the same. So we left out lovely 2nd in line position and joined Kev and Co in the larger queue, though we didnt care much, gave us a chance to meet everyone. Though what was really annoying was as we got to the front we are told the OTHER queue is guest list we werent to happy as this queue is now huge, luckily the promoters got it sorted and took guest listed people across the road and gave em a special ticket, still Kev found it rather ammusing since he got in much earlier than us this time as opposed to 3 hours later like last time The cloakroom system seemed a bit faster this time, and definately a bit more efficient, nice one! Another thing raindance have sorted out nicely is the toilets system, there were loads more toilets this time and hidden round the corner of the empty arch there were a few loo’s which whenever i visited to fill up my water bottle were empty so getting water this time weren’t a problem at all. Right on to the Music! DJ Bosha Up first in the hardcore room, Playing some older style tunes alongside a few real stompers. The Bass was up nice and loud and really kicked the crowds that were gathering into a frenzy of a start to the night. He played a good 2 hour set, nothing really made him stand out for me, buts hes definately a good up and coming! Next Came Billy Bunter, He played a breakbeaty style set with some real classics, a change to what i expected but i loved it and so did the crowds. Billy was Really enjoying himself between the Deckz and Showed this by not only smiling the whole way through his set but he even started MC’ing which though wernt exactly storm was a nice touch indeed! Sy rolled in some good hardcore with classics like ‘hold me now’. It was about this time too that a couple of BIG balloons emerged which i thought was a nice fun touch from the promoters! Got a bit silly later on in the night though when the balloons hit the decks about 3 times during a set which brought about cries of “EASY EASY” and “FUCK OFF” from the MC. Still it was pretty funny at the time! Next up was That mad nutta Mark EG!! This is the first time ive stayed a while to check out a Mark EG set and i was amazed to say the least!! Chants of “MARK EG” to every possible tune that it would go to from the crowds and Mark EG really living up to his Crazy attitude were something ive never seen before. Mark Was Loving it big time and he was dancin and going mad behind the decks, he was dancin so crazily behind the decks he actually made the tunes jump on a few occasions! NUTTER!! I took a quick break during mark EG’s set finding it a bit slow and hard to dance to, even tho it was very uplifting. Then I was quick Amazed to see the ledgendary Raindance man!!! WOW!! I can assure you all he is real and he passed within a few feet of me! He was surronded by security tho which was a shame coz i’d been offered £50 if i could pull his head off! Hehe There were USH meet ups all through the night, and raindance had set up a nice table and area for the USH Crew with signs saying USH MEET UP and pens and paper. It was a real nice addition and show raindance really care about the ravers! Big Up The Raindance!! Next was sharkey and Energy. They were supposed to be on earlier but the time tables changed a bit which was annoying as it was also time for ratpack. Being a HUGEEEE ratpack fan i headed over to the old skool room for what was the set of the night for me! Perhaps the best set ive ever heard. Unlike normal they through a new tunes into the set but merged it with their predictable stuff you just love hearing time and time again. The lasers in the old skool room were wicked!!!! I hope we get some of them in the big hardcore room next time coz they were mad! Ratpack brought the crowds together really well and amongst the ravers, big balloons, lasers, lighters being held in the air, there was a massively happy vibe which ive noticed there is throughout every arch in raindance events. Next up was vinyltrixta in the hardcore room, i dont know why but im not a huge fan of his and maybe it was coz i was starting to feel knackered but i didtn get into his set that much. I also started to notice the sound system in the hardcore room was begginging to bugger up. Huge Bass waves deafened you other the music momentarily and made your internal organs feel like you were being castraited! So i went back to the old skool room, i dont know who was on the deckz but it was a nice relaxing set filled with lotsa the old style hardcore we all love. Storm replaced vibes set which upset a lot of people as Vibes is a bit of a favourite even though he’s more cheesy than a big lump of cheddar being served in a cheese beagle! Storm in my opinion is a great producer and this was the first time id heard him DJ, I thought he played a good set and wouldnt mind seeing him playing out more often. MC Storm also showed up and did his usual class MC’ing which was needed as everyone was beggining to feel the exhaustion set in. Easy ED played the last ‘BONUS’ hour but i decided to sit out and chat with the USH crew as well as get my coat and collect the vinyls i’d purchased earlier from the small record stand. From what i heard Easy ED was terrible with plenty of mixing errors and some poor scratching, but i didnt hear it for myself so i dont know. Overall Raindance is shaping up to be one of the finest promoters of hardcore around. This event has really restored my faith in that hardcore will be back on its feet this year and the way things are going raindance will be the ones leading the way! They are a superb promoters with nice little touches all over the place showing they care about their ravers and want to provide the best night possible. The Venue is also excellent, very underground, with ease of access all around it (though it got hard once it filled up). Another thing i love about raindance is the Happy vibe, not only from the ravers and the DJ’s but also from the security. They were again completely safe!! A good proper search on the door and no problems at all. The ravers seem to respect a good team of security and vice versa. I even saw a couple of security stompin away to a few of the tunes and chatting casually with the ravers, this is great to see and a positive sign for what other promoters should look to provide. All i can say is be there on Good Friday in April!! Hardcore room will be huge!! So lets show raindance hardcore does have the following we claim it has and fill the room to the brim! Slammin or Raindance? Has to be Raindance if you havnt got the money for both!! Massive shouts out to Kev, Time, Ponder, Lukozade (where were ya mate!? Couldnt find you!), Jody, Tim, Lloyd, Ross, Richard, Beckie, Chris, Andrew & Jo, Bridie, Justin Vinyl, Smithers, Chedda, Slammin Sam, Unit-e, Happy bounce, Steve “Radium”, Rob, Elmo, brekka and Everyone i met, all the USH crew, all the hardcore ravers still supporting the scene and of course the Raindance Promoters! Definately see ya all at the next one, and if i can get the money at Go mental!! --- Nemesis ---
