This was billed as the biggest ever event at the Sanctuary, so I wanted to check out for myself whether it would live up to all the expectation. I arrived at the venue just after 8.30, to find a huge line of people queuing up outside, waiting in the cold. But the queue was moving swiftly and I was inside the venue within an hour, which wasn’t too bad at all. The queuing and crowd organisation was overall a lot better compared to how it was for the November event. I just walked straight through without even getting searched by the bouncers, all good. Even though I personally had no problems with security, I did hear reports of some of the security doing the old toilet cubicle raiding antics etc during the night and generally being a bit unpleasant. Looks as those some things will never change. First stop for me was the Sanctuary to catch the sounds of drum n bass. Through the different new entrance on the other side of the Sanctuary and straight onto the dancefloor. The stage was facing opposite the balcony and the arena looked well done up. Ed Rush was on the decks who I thought was outstanding. A nice hardstep selection by him really got the dancefloor into full swing. He even dropped in the classic ‘Lighter tune’, which got everyone waving their lighters in the air just like the old days. After some bass pressure, I headed across to the Rollers which was where the hardcore was situated for the night. The Rollers was looking very impressive with good sound + lighting and a nice crisp clear sound system to match. There were videoscreens on either side of the stage, which were broadcasting trippy visuals to mesmerise the crowd. I hope hardcore resides in the Rollers for future events. Its so much better to dance in then the Sanctuary and having a carpeted dancefloor, really is appreciated come the middle of the night. Energy was the first hardcore DJ I saw and was laying down a nice banging freeform selection and probably my set of the night. Playing tunes such as the ‘Little Mermaid’ and some of his new Nu Energy tunes got the whole dancefloor stomping. The overall turnout on the night was very good. All the arenas were full and the venue was packed, but nicely full up. It wasn’t over packed, there was enough space for everyone to move around and to have their own space on the dancefloor. Back over in the Sanctuary and time for another brocking session for me. The veteran Mickey Finn was tearing up dancefloor with some rolling drum n bass. The crowd was proper heaving in there, and the dancefloor was rammed baying for rewind after rewind. But unknown to me I had just missed all of Hixxy in the hardcore arena, which I was a bit disappointed at because I really wanted to see his set. I wish DJ lineup times were clearly posted around the venue, so the ravers can see which DJs are playing when. I’m certain all the ravers would really welcome that. There was plenty of entertainment laid on for the ravers, if they fancied a break from the hedonism of the dancefloor. There was of course the customary funfair rides, no bumpers cars though, which was a bit of a shame. The Magna Carta building had a go karting track, which was doing good business all night, with lots of ravers ready to have a go speeding around the circuit. Also the bungee outside wasn’t short of nutters ready to hurl themselves of the top. But there was quite a few of times, when I saw people who were jumping off and as they were bobbing around at the end of the bungee, they nearly smashed into the crane winch by the side. I must admit that was very entertaining to watch though :-) Meanwhile back over in the Rollers, Mark EG was entertaining the crowd with his hard trance selection. The crowd were going mental while he was on and as usual the ‘Mark EG, Mark EG’ chant started ringing about the whole arena and of course his party tricks followed suit. I thought the atmosphere was very good throughout the venue. I chatted to and met lots of happy smiley people during the night including a lot of first time ravers, which was good to see. I also personally didn’t see any trouble from anyone all night either, lets hope it stays that way. It was now 2.30 and Dougal was on the decks replacing an absent Brisk. It was an alright set by Dougal. Starting off with quite a few new tunes including the new Raverbaby one. But then by the end, he was back to his usual style of dropping the same classics again. Ratpack were next on the bill to take things back with the old skool flavour. It was the usual Ratpack anthems concoction, but as always Everson Allen and the Lipmaster Mark had the whole arena captivated and singing along to the words of ‘Searching for my Rizla’ and ‘Captain of the ship’ amongst others. The hard house / NRG room at the back of the Rollers was busy all night as well. I popped in there a few times to enjoy the NRG, with its very banging sound system to get everyone going. The old skool room situated at the top of the Sanctuary was also wicked as well with the old classics in full effect. It didn’t seem as busy in there as it normally is, but still the atmosphere was wicked. Scott Brown stepped up next in the hardcore arena and played a pretty good set. Starting off with his trademark Evolution selection playing a mixture of old and new. Then half way through, switching to the nu style gabba selection, to get the whole arena stomping to the sounds of Dutch hardcore. He finished off with a gabba rip off ‘My way’ by Frank Sinatra, which got everyone smiling and going mad on the dancefloor. Just past 5.00, the last hour had arrived all too quickly. Sy was on the wheels of steel, who I personally thought was a bit disappointing. He started off with a few new tunes, which was good to see. But from then on, it was just all the same old happy classics such as ‘Shooting Star’ and ‘Cloudy Daze’. His mixing and scratching were exemplary though, but I was really hoping Sy would leave the classics aside and opt for a less predictable tune selection for a change. Storm was on the mic hyping up the crowd and in all fairness the dancefloor was having it right until the very end. Overall it was a wicked night, I really enjoyed it and had a much better time then when I last came in November. Music in the hardcore arena could have been a bit more captivating and I would have liked to have seen a few more fresher DJs on the lineup. But the atmosphere was wicked, the production was impressive and I’m pretty sure everyone who went had a brilliant time too. Big Shouts to: Kev, Peter, Androo, Emma, ‘The London Thug’ Swaver, The big HB, Ponder, ‘The beerboy’ Smithers, ‘The Dapper Don’ Chedda, Time, Becki, Jonathan, Aidan, ‘The drunken bird harasser’ Paulie, Crazy Chris, Neil Kearns, MC Casper, Jedi, Charlotte, James, Steve Uplift, Chrissy, Rooth, Tom U4EA, Stargazer, Velocity, MC Extra-C, Darren Rapid, DJ Steel, Technobabe, Velocity, Smile-E, Madman, Mupster, Matt Wildcard, Beth, Scottie, Andy Plu Raver, Phick, Potfish + his beard, Lloyd, Billybass, Tony Res, Alarm, SD, Cryogen, Minx, Caine, KRS + all the other USH who were there on the night…..hugs to the girls, handshakes to the boys…..respect :-) Over and out Slammin’ Sam
