It was time again for another Accelerated Culture event by the mighty Helter Skelter and their D+B partners Club Sidewinder. These events started up in March this year, this being the third one held at the Sanctuary in Milton Keynes. I really enjoyed the last one here in May when Roni Size played, so I was looking forward to this one a lot. I arrived at the venue at about 10:15 to find a fair sized queue along the path. To their credit though the security did keep this queue moving well and I got to the front pretty fast really. I had a reasonable search, but perhaps a little slack by the Sanctuary's usual standards. I was inside for about 10:30 and I dropped my coat off in the outside cloakroom straight away. In the outdoor complex was a merchandise stall, a big chill out tent, and fairground rides. The chill out tent had sofas at the front, loads of plastic chairs and tables, and they were showing a video of the world DMC mixing DJ championships on a screen at the front. The fairground rides included the dodgems and a kind of waltzers ride, but one where the cars were suspended off the ground on bars, as opposed to being on a track. These were completely free, but I went out to go on the waltzers at 3am and they had already shut it down for the night :( I headed inside the Sanctuary warehouse to check it out. The stage was located on the long side of the warehouse, opposite the balcony. The lighting was good and they had a big coloured laser firing over the middle of the arena, but they didn't use strobes like they did at the May event. The video projection screens were definitely a lot better this time though, showing really detailed and interesting visuals. First up on the decks was a DJ who I didn't recognise. He wasn't one of the "big names" but he still played a decent set. At 11:00 came Grooverider who was billed as playing a classics set. He played one or two anthem style tunes but on the whole it was less predictable old tunes that you wouldn't hear out that often. After him came the main headliner for the night, DJ Krust. He played a set of new and fresh tunes that I hadn't heard before. After Krust, came True Playa DJ Zinc at 1:00. Zinc did drop in some well known older tunes but he threw in some newer stuff as well. Towards the end of this set I went for a wander upstairs to check out the second room. This was drum and bass as well, and there were drapings hanging from the ceiling of the room. This wasn’t as busy as the main arena and so there was a lot more room to dance. I caught about ten minutes of Jumping Jack Frost on the decks. The reason I only saw ten minutes of his set was that I realised Andy C was starting in the main arena and dashed off downstairs to see him. Andy C is without doubt my favourite drum and bass DJ, so he was obviously the DJ who I most wanted to see on the night. His set was a mix of old and new, and he dropped in the unbelievable “Bodyrock” halfway through. It was the set of the night for me and was made even better by the fact that my favourite MC Shabba was alongside him on the mic. After Andy C came DJ Hype for a three deck showcase. In the past when I’ve seen Hype he always seem to play the same old tunes but that wasn’t the case here. He played a fair amount of newer stuff that I hadn’t heard before, and added to it his trademark scratching. The next set was full of old tunes because it was a classics set by Nicky Blackmarket. He played all the anthems that you’d expect to hear from him like “Two degrees”, “The Chopper” and “Original Nutta vs Bambaata”. It got the crowd going because these were all big tunes that they knew and loved. Then it was time for Mickey Finn to get on the decks for the penultimate set of the night. There wasn’t too much here that I’d really heard before and I enjoyed this set. As it got to 5am my mate said he wanted to set off for home. I was debating whether to go in the car with him and get back a lot quicker or stop till the end and get the train. I decided that it was only an hour so I set off at 5.00. Mampi Swift was playing the last set of the night, but I obviously didn’t see it as I had left by then. Once again this was an Accelerated Culture event that I really enjoyed at the Sanctuary. You know exactly what to expect from Helter Skelter events, especially in the high standards of production that they give. Club Sidewinder are also an experienced big dance promoter, so when these two stick their heads together the result is always something special. The Sanctuary security seemed better here than they have been in the past, and they weren’t taking the piss as they usually do. I didn’t see any trouble or attitude and everyone was friendly and seemed to be really getting into the music. For the next Accelerated Culture event they have come up with the idea of putting on a drum and bass awards ceremony. On the back of the flyer for this event was a form with nominations for the 5 best DJs and MCs of the ravers. All the votes were collated and the DJs and MCs who got the most votes have all been booked for this event which is on December 8th at the Sanctuary. The DJ and MC who have received the most votes will be announced on the night. It’s a good idea for an event, and one which I’ve never seen done before. I’ll see you all there :) Shouts go out to Marcus, Stu, Jonathon and Beckiboo.
