The Raindance summer solstice had arrived, and as always there were a lot of people looking forward to another visit to the Drome. I arrived at the venue just after 9.30pm and after a swift search by security I got inside. I’m glad to say this time the cloakroom situation was fully rectified and seem to run very smoothly. The staff and security on the night were generally friendly and welcoming, and got the thumbs up from me and the rest of the ravers. First passing through the Jenkins Lane arch, with all the various stalls selling all the different accessories and straight through onto the hardcore room. This time, the stage and decks were back against the far wall like at the first couple of events. It was very dark in there, in fact the only lighting there was a wicked lazer at the front, which generated lots of nice patterns all over the walls to entertain the ravers and gave a nice atmospheric feel to the room. The sound system was reasonably good as well, lacked clarity at times but generally was loud enough for everyone on the dancefloor to enjoy the music. First on the decks was Happybounce and Ponder who played a wicked set in my opinion, gradually building up the bpms as the set progressed. Playing mainly an upfront selection, such as the new remix of ‘Cloudy Daze’ and ‘Mentamission’ had the ravers loving it. In fact as an indication to how well the set went down, usually the hardcore room at Raindance doesn’t get fully going for at least a good few hours. But this time the hardcore room was already packed and in full swing within the first 45 minutes !! MC Elmo was on the mic, who I was quite impressed with, knew where and when to open his mouth and did a very capable job of getting the crowd going. I then decided to venture over to the old skool arch, as Scottie had just stepped onto the decks. As usual the old skool arch was rammed and always seems to have a special unique atmosphere to it. The usual trademark lazer show at the front always adds that special uplifting feeling to the arena. Scottie had the crowd going mad on the dancefloor, playing an older 90 –92 selection, dropping tunes like ‘Playing with Knives’ by Bizarre Inc and ‘Go’ by Moby, got a big thumbs up from all the old skool ravers inside. After that I decided to go for a bit of a wander around the venue. The drum n bass room seemed to be packed and rocking all night. The big chillout arch next door was full of ravers, just relaxing, chatting away and making new friends etc. DJs such as Uplift were in there playing old skool classics and even managing to get quite a few people dancing away. A nice touch on the night was a couple of masseurs who there to give the ravers some much needed massages and relaxation. Believe me there was endless amount of ravers queuing up for that and definitely a nice original touch by the promoters to have them there. It was now 2.00 and time for Kaos on the decks in the hardcore room, which I have to say I was quite impressed with. Me and many others were expecting him to play a full on cheese selection, but he stayed away from that and played a banging upfront selection instead. The tunes he was playing were like freeform sounding, but with a strong old skool / breakbeat influence to it. Some of the tunes he was playing sounded excellent in my opinion. Dropping tunes like the remix of ‘Music’s so Wonderful’ and many other tunes coming out on his brand new record label, had the packed dancefloor loving it. Admittedly his mixing at times was substandard, but the tune selection certainly got my respect. Energy followed on next, and as always whipped up a frenzy on the dancefloor. Laying down a non stop attack of banging freeform to the ravers, dropping tunes like ‘Lotek’ and ‘Violet Skies’ got everyone going mad and probably the set of the night in my opinion. Also I noticed some of the people who were passing through to the hard house room next door, liked what they were hearing from Energy and hung around for a stomp, which was nice to see. The atmosphere as it usually is throughout the Drome was excellent throughout. Raindance seems to generally attract an older raving crowd and all the ravers, both young and old were dancing together in high spirits all night. Next up in the hardcore room was Herman + Storm who played a nice fast paced set. Sometimes using a CD mixer to showcase their new tunes, including new remixes of ‘Dreamfinder’ and ‘SMD 4’, which sounded all good to me. Again the mixing here was a bit lacking at times, but the nice banging upfront selection has everyone more the satisfied on the dancefloor. MCs Storm + Whizzkid were at the front on the mic throughout the night, doing a fine job as ever at getting the crowd hyped up. As Sy failed to show, it was just Unknown who was next on the decks. He played a reasonably good set, playing a mainly classic 94 – 96 hardcore selection. Dropping tunes like ‘Now is the time’ and ‘Toytown’ went down well with the crowd. It would have been nicer to hear some of his newer Quosh material, but still the classics always go down well with the ravers and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I thought the atmosphere in the hardcore room was particularly firing during the night. Everyone was so up for it on the dancefloor and the room was pretty much rammed to the rafters all night long. It did get a bit too hot at times and some more cooling fans would have been nice, but still everyone seemed more then happy to stomp madly away. I hope this proves to some of the other promoters out there, that you don’t need endless big name lineups to attract the numbers. If done right, a nice compromise of older and newer DJs together can work very well indeed. It was now 7.00 and time for the last hour. It did seem a lot people had already left the venue by now and the venue was generally only about half full. But I wasn’t going to leave until the very last tune, so I headed straight back over to the old skool arch to hear the second set of the night from Scottie. This time he played a 92 – 95 selection. Starting off with tunes like ‘Blow out part 2’ by Bass Selective and progressing onto some happy classics such as 'People's Party' by Hixxy + Sunset Regime, made it a nice way to round off the night. Overall it was another brilliant Raindance night, I personally think Raindance is the best event around at the moment. The music in the hardcore room was of a high quality all night, and the reaction from the ravers more then reflected that. The Raindance crew seem to have everything spot on when it comes to putting on a good show for the ravers and everyone always seems to have a top night there. If you haven’t been to Raindance, particularly the Northerners, it is fully worth your while making the journey down for it, you will not be disappointed. Big Shouts to: Paul, Kev, Peter, Andrew, Jo, Emma, Carol, Happybounce, Ponder, Sonic, Chedda, Ade, Paul Paranoia, Ravegirl, Egg fried rice, Mick Moss, Carly madraver, Maxim, Jester, Icekold Pete, Stix, Lloyd + the ICL hardcore massive, Abi, Chrissy, Steve, Luke, Adidas Matt, Beth, Happy J, Bedford Caine, Scottie, Peachy, Chris Rolfe, Nemesis, Mikey B, Barking Boy, Breaka + the West Watford Patrol, Billybass, Misdee, Phick, Simon Mdma, Nick EP, Becki, Dimi, Kaya, Tina, Bug, Snow, Bridie, Jon, Alister, Tom U4ea, Bristol Paul, Twigg, Mupster, Luna VC, John Kinsella, Hypnosis, Swaver, Walrus, Rob Learner, Matt Clarke, Nita, Unit-E, Storm, Whizzkid + Tony@Raindance………..…hugs to the girls, handshakes to the boys…..….…..if any of you lot nicked my airhorn, then please give it back !!!! Over and Out Sammy Sam
