Elation, a brand new night in London purely run by ravers for the ravers, which sounded just like my sort of night, so I headed down to check it out. I arrived at the Chunnel Club just before 10.00. Situated in railway arches, the Chunnel Club certainly had an underground feeling to it and perfectly complimented an underground night like this. After a strict search by the security, I finally made it inside. The first room you came into was the hard house room which was of a reasonable size, about 350 capacity. The hardcore room was situated next door, and was of the same size as the hard house room. The DJ booth there was situated against the back wall and there were dance platforms in the middle and around the side. Happybounce was on the decks, playing a wicked banging mixture of bouncy hardcore with lots of breakbeat influence in his selection. Dropping tunes like ‘Is anybody out there’ and ‘Sky High’ remix, tempted more and more ravers onto the dancefloor. Lukozade followed next with a nice old skool selection, smoothly blending in some nu skool with the more well known classics such as ‘Don’t go’ by Awesome 3. By now the dancefloor in the hardcore room, was now pretty much full to capacity, which was a nice surprise, because before the event, me and many others didn’t envisage the dancefloor ever getting that busy. It was now 12.00 and time for Brisk, playing another stomping selection. Perhaps not as cutting edge as I was hoping for, as he did drop some of the usual anthems such as ‘Set me free’. But it was still a wicked set as he unveiled some new Next Generation / Blatent Beats tuneage and also played the new remix of ‘Pilgrim’, so deservedly got plenty of appreciation from the crowd. The production inside the venue was very good. The sound system in both rooms were loud and supplied plenty of bassline, particularly in the hardcore arch. The décor throughout was also of a high standard, plenty of UV backdrops and banners scattered around the place. Its small touches like this which makes the night all the more admirable. However there was a major fault, which is off no error of the promoters I’d like to point out. But there was no water in the mens toilets, which meant it was impossible to get free drinking water all night. Not only is that dangerous but its also illegal, and I didn’t expect an established Chunnel Club to pull a fast one like that. Next up was Majestik ready to play some banging freeform and probably the set of the night in my opinion. Dropping tunes like ‘Lotek’ and ‘Distornord’ and then progressing more into a bouncy style towards the end of the set, had the dancefloor loving it. The London crowd are finally beginning to catch on to the more cutting edge side of hardcore, as opposed to the usual happy selection, we’ve had rammed down our throats over the years. Breeze was next on the wheels of steel and played a pretty good set. It was nice to hear him pitch it up and play it faster then usual. He did play one too many big name anthems for my liking but still it was a good set, and certainly drew a good reaction from the crowd. I thought the atmosphere inside was excellent as well. Everyone there was friendly and I didn’t see one bit of attitude all night, true rave style :) Everyone who came, was there purely to enjoy the music and have a good time, which is what its all about really. Sonic followed next on the decks, understandably looking slightly nervous before he started. But he had nothing to worry about as he played a wicked fast paced set. Starting off on a more lighter bouncy sort of tip, with tunes like ‘Rock this place’ by DJ Chewy and gradually progressing into a more darker freeform direction, dropping some Stomping Choonz tuneage towards the end. A nice experimental set, precisely what these sort of nights are about. Meanwhile next door, Caine was busting out some banging hard house with some techno blended in nicely. There was a fair few people dancing as well, which was nice to see because the hard house room wasn’t really that busy throughout the night. But hopefully next time more hard house heads might come and rectify that situation. It was now 4.00 and time for Ponder who was playing a 1995 / 1996 selection. Dropping tunes like the original of ‘Higher Love’ by JDS ( where was the rewind ??) alongside other classics such as ‘Sense of Summer’. I was particularly impressed with the mixing and beat matching in this set and with some scratching to go alongside, made it a wicked set indeed. Also the MCs on the night were generally off a high standard. Livelee was there making one of his rare appearances, alongside up and coming talent such as Elmo, Shotgun and Wildcard. The whistle and horns crew were very active all night generating lots of noise and were well hyped up by the MCs. But the last hour had come all too quickly and so it was time for the Cris E Manic. Playing her usual uplifting style, spinning tunes like ‘Virtual Dreams’ and ‘Elysium’ had the crowd stomping mad and a nice way to round off the night. The dancefloor was pretty much full right until the very last beat, which is always a good sign of a well satisfied crowd. Overall it was a brilliant night and everyone who I spoke to had a wicked time as well. On a personal note, being a London raver, it was so nice to finally have a London hardcore night, which is willing to try something different and push the hardcore scene forward. For too long in London, we have been subjected with too much cheese and endless big name DJ lineups playing the same big name anthems. So to have a night like Elation, was like a breath of fresh to me and many others who came. Its these up and coming nights like Elation which at the forefront of the revival of the hardcore scene. Once word spreads on how good this first event was, I’m sure it won’t be long before Elation firmly establishes itself as one of the main nights on the scene. Respect to: Mark, Ryan, Paul…….Elation will be bigger and badder next time !!! Shouts to: Paul, Kev, Peter, Andrew, Chedda, Jo, Carol, Emma, Conrad, Caine, Scott Majestik, Smithers and his beer cans, Ravegirl, Jamie, Radium, Dimi, Raver, Gaz, Stix, Icekold Pete, Jester, Chrissy, Steve, Luke, Adidas Matt, Darkcyde, Happy J, Nick EP, Egg Fried Rice, Breaka and his puffa jacket, Nemesis, Mikey B, Barking Boy, Billybass, Misdee, Cakes, Charmy, Snow, Carly, Alister, Tony…..…...hugs to the girls, handshakes to the boys……….seeya around soon :) Over and Out Sam
