I arrived at the familiar Sanctuary road just after 8.30 to be greeted by a fairly long queue. As many of you know, it was a freezing cold night on NYE, which meant waiting outside could only be described as torture. But the queue was moving in reasonably fast and I was inside in about an hour, not too bad. One of the security outside was making a quick buck by walking up and down the queue and charging people £5 if they wanted to skip the queue and jump in straight at the front. Some ravers were up for paying the money, but if the security are going to be corrupt, at least be less blatant about it !! I didn’t get searched by the bouncer on the way in and to be honest, the security on the night were the best I’ve seen at the Sanctuary. None of the attitude or moodiness I’ve experienced from them in the past and none of the usual meatheads I’d seen for years at the Sanctuary seemed to be there either. First stop for me to find somewhere nice and warm to defrost, so I headed straight to the Fastrack warehouse. This was my first time inside the Fastrack and I got to say I was impressed. The production was excellent, a lot of effort had gone in to putting on a good show. UV Backdrops covered all the walls and the entire ceiling. There was good stage show at the front with videoscreens, lazers and a nice array of lighting. Sound system was good quality too, loud and clear, and carpet had been layed on the floor making sure all the ravers’ trainers remained clean come the end of the night. First DJ on the decks I saw was Scott Brown who I really enjoyed. Doing his usual trademark selection of Evolution tuneage blended in with nu skool gabba got the whole crowd stomping, definitely a good way to get everyone warmed for the new year. Force + Styles stepped up next and played a mainly upfront set, showcasing lots of new tunes. Plenty of trancey influence was too be heard with tunes such as the new ‘Future set’ by Breeze + Styles. Just past 11.30 and the arena was near enough to capacity with excited ravers. Atmosphere on the night was excellent, I personally didn’t seen any trouble all night and most people seemed in high spirits. Kaos was in control of the hardcore for the build up to12.00 with his usual dark banging selection, again with lots of new tunes on showcase. Before the crowd knew it was 10 seconds to go until midnight and the countdown began on the videoscreens with MC Storm counting down on the mic. And when the midnight hour struck everyone went into delirium, lots of hugs and hand shakes all around and plenty of smiles. There weren’t any special attractions like fireworks or balloons for the celebrations, which I thought there should have been. Come on, even a bit of glitter would have been nice !! Kaos played the midnight tune, which I wasn’t sure what it was, but it got the whole crowd stomping. Hixxy stepped up immediately after that and unleashed a full on hardcore assault. It was a good set by Hixxy with plenty of Raverbaby material being played. A few songs were a bit too cheesy for my liking but on the whole I enjoyed the set. I then decided to brave the artic conditions and venture over to the Sanctuary and catch a dose of drum n bass. Again the production in here was very good and the arena was rammed from wall to wall, I don’t think I’ve seen the Sanctuary so busy. Hype was on the decks finishing off his midnight set, which sounded wicked. Playing a mainly hardstep selection such as ‘Planet dust’ by Bad Company and with the usual old classics like Hype has a habit of dropping, such as ‘The chopper’ and the ‘The Lighter tune’. Upstairs was the old skool room which was also busy and had a nice vibe. I did hope to catch a few particular DJs in there, but due to the lack of lineup times which were visible around the venue, I didn’t know who was playing at what time. I hope next time a few more lineup times are stuck around the venue, so everyone can see what time their favourite DJs are playing, how much hassle can that be to organise ?? It was now 2.00, so I decided to chill out at the back of the Fastrack. That’s one nice thing about the Fastrack warehouse, there’s always enough space to dance in there and enough area for the ravers to sit down at the back, while still listening to the music. But enough of the relaxing, Sharkey was up next on the wheels of the steel with a manic dose of freeform. A top set by Sharkey, definitely my set of the night from my favourite DJ on the scene. Unleashing lots of new dubplates alongside a few oldies such as the immense ‘Now control’ by Helix , to get the crowd really going. Sy followed on after and played a pretty good set. A mainly upfront set with tunes such as Quosh 38 and ‘Turn up the music’ went down well with the hardcore faithful. MC Whizzkid was on the mic exhibiting some new lyrics. Whizzkid is one MC, whose in the premier class of hardcore MCs and should be for a long time to come. The night really had flown by and I couldn’t believe it when I looked at much and realised there was only one hour left to go. Demand played out the last hour in the hardcore arena and played a pretty good set. Playing a mixture of styles from happy to bouncey to trancey with tunes such as ‘Sunshine after rain’. The dancefloor was still pretty busy up to the end and most people were enjoying it. To be honest I could of quite happily danced for a few more hours, it was that sort of night, but it was kicking out time for me and the rest of the ravers. As everyone walked out into the first dawn of 2002 and greeted by frozen windscreens on their cars, everyone seem well satisfied with the night. Personally I had a wicked NYE, I had no major faults with the organisation on the night, even though I hear the cloakroom was too small. But the production and effort gone into the event seemed top draw to me. I hope this level can be maintained for every Slammin Vinyl rave in the future. SV seemed to have made the Sanctuary their flagship event, and proved to the ravers out there they can hold some of the best events around. Big shouts to: Kev, Mark, Gaby, James, Charlie, Paul Ponder, Tom U4EA, Scottie, Steve Uplift, Chrissy, Hanny, Mayhem, Paulie + all his thugs, Aidan, Crazy Chris, Icekold Pete, Stix, Vicky, Wotsee, Grob le Frog, Holly, Simon Mdma, Swaver the ladies man, Madman, Joe R, Loony, Denno, Danny, Paul Compulsion, Hattrix, Fanta-C, Tina, Tim, Astraboy, Jedi, Kryogen and his Phil Mitchell mate, Neil Kearns, Peachy, Davespice, NY Geezer, Cakes + anybody else who was there :).....hugs to the girls, hand shakes to the boys.....here’s to hardcore in 2002 !! Over and out
