The third instalment in the Elation chapter, taking place in a new venue, the Dungeon club in Vauxhall, London. I arrived at the venue just before 10.00 to join a small queue of ravers already formed up outside. It was an arches club, which meant it had nice underground surroundings, perfect for a night like this. After a swift search by the very laid back security, I gladly slapped down my entrance fee and stepped inside. The entrance part of the building actually turned out to be the 2nd room as well. I think everyone was expecting the 2nd room to slightly bigger then that, but it gave somewhere nice to chill out later on in the night. Straight through onto the main room itself, which I thought looked excellent. It was off an average size and held about 400 people. It had nice crisp loud sound system with good intelligent lighting to match. There were plenty of UV backdrops scattered about and with the DJ booth raised above the dancefloor at the front, meant everyone could get a good view of the DJs in action. First DJ on the decks was Diewrecked playing a mainly 94 - 96 set. It was a good set, lots of pianos and euphoric breakdowns, did its job of getting the crowd warmed up for the night. Majestik followed on next, playing a banging freeform selection. Dropping lots of new tunes, including some of his own productions, alongside some more well known tracks such as 'In Deep Trouble' made it a top quality set and tempted more ravers onto the dancefloor. It was now 12.00 and time for Sonic who played one of his trademark fast paced sets. Starting off on a classic 96/97 tip with tunes such as 'Body Slam' and 'TeknoStorm' by the Vampire. Then slowly progressing into more bouncy tunes such as Evolution 35 and finally finishing off with a sprinkling of nu skool gabba. Nice varied set by him, got the deserved appreciation from the crowd. By now the venue and dancefloor was only about half full with around 200 ravers inside, and it stayed that way for the rest of the night. It was quite disappointing in terms of the turnout, because I know for a fact that the Elation promoters did everything right and put so much time, effort + money with the flyering, production, décor etc. They were definitely expecting a lot more people to turn up on the night. It amazes me how so many ravers out there get so excited about big raves returning to the Sanctuary etc, but also at the same time just tend to ignore the smaller up and coming events, trying their hardest to provide the much needed foundations to the scene. Brisk was on next who I thought was reasonably good but was I was expecting a bit more from him. He didn't play as much of his new material as I was hoping for, and played some of the same old usual anthems such as 'Set me free' and 'Eye Opener'. But the ravers seemed to be enjoying a lot and was probably the first set of the night to really get the dancefloor fully going. The MCing on the night was top quality though. Storm was there getting everyone hyped up to the max as ever, and some of the up and coming MCs sounded excellent as well. Look out for the likes of Elmo, Shotgun and Wildcard, these guys have talent and deserve a bright future in the scene. Happy Bounce was next on the decks, slightly slowing the pace down with a classic 94 / 95 selection. Dropping tunes such as 'SMD 4' and '95 style' got a good reaction from the crowd and provided a nice respite from the upfront selection. DNA was next who I thought was quite good, but not as good as the recent occasions I've seen him play. He seemed to play it slightly more cheesier this time around, but did play lots of new stuff such as the new 'Euphoria' remix and the crowd seemed to be enjoying it on the dancefloor. I then decided to take a break for a bit in the chill out room next door, which was nice and relaxed. It was a bit dark in there, I couldn't really see the faces of the people I was waffling too, but they seemed nice enough :) I thought the atmosphere on the night was top quality though. Lots of friendly happy smiley faces, there was a real intimate sort of vibe between the ravers. That's the beauty of these small events, they always tend to attract the right crowd throughout. Proper ravers, people who come because they genuinely love to follow the music. It was now 4.00 and time for Ponder who played an excellent set. He played quite a few dubplates, including lots of tunes made by some of the up and coming producers on the scene, such as DOK and DJ Voltage. Nice fresh sounding set, accompanied by impeccable mixing and scratching made it my set of the night. Energy followed on next and played a quality set, up to his usual high standards. He seemed to have cut down on the sped up trance stuff he's been dropping over the last year and settled for a nice banging freeform selection instead. He also played lots of his new dubplates, which sounded very good. There also seemed to be a lot more vocals incorporated into his set, then I've heard from his previous sets in the past. The crowd were really going mad on the dancefloor when he was on, as it was as if a lot of people had waited around just to hear his set. Just past 6.00 and time for the last set of the night, a 2 hour back to back set between Uplift + Lukozade. They played a quality set, playing a mixture of old and new, dropping tunes like 'Hardcore Vibes 2000' and 'Return to Elysium' made sure the people left on the dancefloor were having a good time. Around about half the ravers decided to stay until the very end to enjoy the music and most left the dancefloor well satisfied. Overall it was a wicked night. Everyone I spoke to had enjoyed themselves and were very glad that they came. It took a bit of time to get the place going, but when it did it was excellent. The only thing that was lacking was a few more people to come through the door to make up the numbers. Everything else on the night was on top form though. Good quality music hardcore throughout, good venue, good sound + lighting, good atmosphere…….lets hope more people out there finally catch on to nights like this and keep the foundations of the scene alive. Respect to Paul, Mark + Ryan….keep that Elation spirit alive. Big Shouts to: Kev, Andrew, 'The Dapper Don' Chedda, Raver Jo, 'The Yorkshire Ripper' Ardee, Charlotte + James, Alarm, Banksy, 'The Beerboy' Smithers, Mick Madness, Scott Majestik, Icekold Pete, Stix, Peachy, Dodgee, Wotsee, Steve, Luke, DNA, Beth, Adidas Matt, Bedford Caine, Loops, Becki, Jonathan, Twigg, Mupster, Tom U4EA, Lloyd, Phick, Potfish, SD, Swaver the badboy quaver, Simon Mdma, Mikey B, Breaka, Nemes1s, Miss Go Mental, Jexxy, Tony Resonance, Frost-E, Invader, Katic, Scottie, 'The Showman dancer' Paulie, Dimi, Gaz, 'The Ladies Favourite' Conrad, MC Storm….……hugs to the girls, handshakes to the boys…….seeya around soon :) Over and Out Slammin' Sam
