Wow, what a rush. After being finally persuaded by Kev (who incidentally I think wants to get married there) to come to one of the revered Labyrinth nights at the Pleasure Rooms, Tottenham, myself, Bekki and Natalie caught the train into London, for what was to become a night to remember. Met up with loadsa people at Kev's house in South London, had a quick mix to get us in the mood for raving, and then it started to piss it down. From then on, until we reached Seven Sisters' tube station we were undercover, but the walk to the Pleasure Rooms was open to the elements, but strangely nobody was complaining. Maybe it was due to the fact that they could quite happily endure this act in return for the time they're all going to have at Labyrinth. However, I had yet to experience a Labyrinth, so I was well and truly miserable!! After a refreshingly easy and non-groping search from the friendly security we were in!! The Pleasure Rooms were quite unlike anything I had experienced before, and were quite a pleasant surprise. Layout was simple - not quite as easy to get lost as the Drome is! Carpeted corridors are a complete heaven-send, I tell you - wow, it's so nice to be able to sit on something that isn't dirty concrete, lovely! So, we entered and I sorted out my entertainment for the night, and entered the Hardcore arena where some person was playing old skool hardcore, which quickly turned to jungle. Having neither the energy nor the inclination to bop to jungle, or the drum n bass in the adjoining room, many chose to sit in the Dalston Lane reunion arena and wait for the magic moment to arrive! And when it did, I was straight into the Hardcore arena where some bloke was playing, er, hardcore?! Which was completely wicked, as I bopped like a mad man (after my somewhat obligatory vomit just after coming up!!). The rest of the night was either spent raving in the Hardcore arena to the likes of Easy Ed (nice scratching showcase), Vibes (set of the night in my opinion - mainly due to the three MCs on the stage literally fighting with each other for the mic!!), Vinylgroover (playing Scott Brown stylee I think, not particularly enthralling) and Rinse (?) (playing top current hardcore, nice set), or sitting by the vending machine on the carpet corridor chilling and chatting. Must have missed Slipmatt (either out of the room, or not concentrating properly), which was a shame, as I was looking forward to a Future Dance style set from him. I was a truly happy hardcore raver last night, and thoroughly enjoyed every last minute. The place was busy enough for a wicked atmosphere - full of 100% hardcore ravers - yet there was always room to sit somewhere, and dance with ease. Even the Drum n Bass room drawed me to it at points - with Nicky Blackmarket's set being the only one I remember - a particularly good set in my estimation. When it all finished at 6:00am, it seemed so sad, as the party seemed to be just getting better and better. But the memory that I will take from my first Labyrinth experience will be all those happy smiley hardcore ravers showing the world that HARDCORE WILL NEVER DIE!!! Huge massive shouts to (in no particular order!): Ed, Kev, Natalie, Bekki, RaverJo, Dimi, Androoo, Barticle, another Jo, Jamie, Rewind, and everyone else I've forgotten (remember it is only 10:00am the morning after when I'm writing this, and focussing on the screen is proving pretty tricky, so how do expect my memory to be working properly?!?) cos it was you who made Labyrinth the success that it was, you provided the atmosphere and the happy vibe. Roll on the next Labyrinth.....
