Big events are making a comeback in raveland, but it's been a good few years since there has been an event like this one. The last time the entire Fantasy Island complex was used was new years eve 1996, so this 16000 capacity event promised to be something very special indeed. This was a collaboration between lots of different promoters, with 9 different arenas covering many different dance music styles. I caught a coach from Sheffield which didn't leave until 5:45pm, 15 minutes before the actual event was due to start. The coach journey took much longer than I thought it would do and it arrived at the site at 8:30pm. The Fantasy Island site itself is usually used as a giant holiday amusement park and as the coach pulled up the first thing that I saw was the massive rollercoaster that went all the way round the site. There wasn't much of a queue when I arrived and it moved quickly because the security weren't really searching anyone. I walked straight in and was inside the complex at about 8:45. The promoters had decided to put on more than one cloakroom (there were at least three) due to the size of the event and I thought that this was a very good idea. I dropped my coat off and went to check out the site. The entrance into the complex led into the main pyramid which housed the Sundissential and Insomniacz hard house arena. As I walked in I was gobsmacked because the arena really was impressive. In the middle of this arena was the log flume ride and all round the arena were loads of wooden platforms and stairs which gave the arena a kind of "pirate ship" feel. All round the sides of the arena were loads of different shops and the arena was a mass of colour. The best way that I can desribe it is to say imagine taking part of Alton Towers, sticking a roof over the top and filling it with ravers. The Fantasy Island complex was just so different to any other dance venue that I've ever been to. Most rave venues are rectangular warehouses which are then filled with podiums, lasers and backdrops to transform them into rave venues. The main pyramid section of the complex had no need for any backdrops or podiums though because the arena was already so compelling to look at. The only problem with this though was the flow of people through the arena. The pyramid was full of different things and so not all of it was used as the hard house arena. As this arena was connected to so many other parts of the complex it meant that there were always people walking through it to get to other sections of the complex. This meant that not much of the hard house arena was actual dancefloor space and it was difficult to dance anywhere due to people always walking past. The security put up a barrier halfway through the night though and changed the direction of the flow through the arena which sorted out this problem. I headed off to the hardcore arena to check it out. To get to the hardcore and techno arenas from the pyramid meant walking through an outdoor section and as it was so cold on the night (well below freezing) no-one stopped out in this bit for long. The hardcore arena was a warehouse building with the techno arena located next to it. There was a separate foyer to this building which contained a cloakroom and one of the many hot food stands there were in the complex. The hardcore arena was slightly bigger than the sanctuary warehouse and the techno arena was about half the size of it. There was a big stage at the front of the hardcore arena and there were lots of banners all round the sides of the room. The sound system was nice and loud, but the floor was a bit slippy which made dancing a bit tricky. I arrived in there to find that I'd missed virtually all of Energy's set, just catching him play "Feel the beat" at the end. After this I wandered back into the main pyramid, passing a massive arcade room which was one the arenas. This room had loads of different arcade machines in and was carpetted so there were plenty of people chilling out in there. I then passed the drum and bass room to hear Nicky Blackmarket playing "Bodyrock" so I had to go in there for that one. This room wasn't that big but it had only one or two lights and a low ceiling so this gave it a great dark atmosphere. I headed back to the hardcore arena but bumped into a mate along the way who challenged me to go on the rollercoaster with her. I decided that I might never get go on a rollercoaster at a rave again, so I had to accept her offer. It was £5 for a go on it but it was well worth it. The rollercoaster was massive and very long, with a big drop at the start, two loop-the-loop sections, and loads of twists and dips in it. I was shivering as I only had a t-shirt on but I loved every minute of it. As I came off the rollercoaster it bought home to me just what a special rave this really was. I went back into the hardcore arena to find Sharkey on the decks. He played a dark and hard set as you'd expect from him, dropping in "Skills and Styles" and the "Music so Wonderful" Hooligans tune. After him at 11:00 came Demand, but I felt that he played too many trance ripoffs. These included "No Alternative", "Castles" and one of "The Journey" by Citizen Caned, but he did play "Fly Away" by Visa at the end, which I loved. The midnight set had wisely been given to Sy, although MC Storm wasn't with him as he was still at Slammin Vinyl in Milton Keynes. Sy played "Turn up the music" as the first tune of 2002 which I thought was a good choice. The rest of his set was a mixture of old and new including the "Power of love" remix, "Return to Elysium", "Set you free", the "Cold as Ice" nu-style gabba tune and the original "6 Days". Sy was on for an hour and a half altogether so he managed to fit loads of tunes in. After Sy came Marc Smith, who played a dark set similar in style to Sharkey. He played "Rez Out" and some newer tunes I'd not heard before. Halfway through his set I nipped into the old skool room to see Rozzalla singing "Everybodys free" live, with everyone in the arena singing along. Next on the hardcore decks was Vibealite resident Kambell who was playing spanish hardcore and nu-style gabba. I couldn't really get into his tunes though so I went into the hard house arena. Playing in there was Insomniacz regular Iain R and he played a good hard house set. I went back into the hardcore arena to find that I'd missed Brisk's set and Scott Brown was just starting up. MC Storm had now arrived and he was hyping up the crowd in the usual Storm style. Scott Brown played a few Evolution tunes and then the rest of his set was nu-style gabba including "Eardrumz". After him came M-Zone, always a big favourite with northern ravers.He played a wicked set of hard trance including the mental "Chainsaw" which is doing the rounds at the moment. I really like M Zone as a DJ and it was great to see him being given a main arena set. I think the last set in the hardcore arena was Billy Bunter but I didn't get to see him play. I picked up my coat at 6am to beat the rush and I only had to queue up about five minutes to get it. I went to the hard house arena for the last set of the night and was delighted to see Andy Farley and BK going back to back on the decks. These are two of my favourite hard house DJs, especially BK, and so it was great to see them playing back to back. They did a wicked set which included "Are you all ready", the Paul Glazby remix of "Dreams" and BK's "Flash" which was played last. Overall this was a really really good rave. The venue was unlike any other rave venue I've been to, and it's difficult to fully explain just how amazing it was. The 9 arenas meant that there was loads of choice over what to see, and it was great to see hard house and hardcore ravers meeting at the same event. Everyone there was really friendly and I saw lots of people that I recognised from Uprising in Sheffield. The different cafes, shops and the arcade meant there were loads of different things to do, and the rollercoaster was just the icing on the cake. Where else are you ever going to see a full scale rollercoaster at a rave? I don't think the McDonalds and Burger King restaurants were actually open though as these seemed to be just outside the main complex. The main criticism I have of the night is the toilets, which there simply weren't enough of. There were no toilets at all for the hardcore or techno arenas, so to go to the toilet from these meant walking back into the pyramid, which was a fair walk. As there were only a few toilets in the complex it meant that the ones they did have were always busy, and I felt really sorry for all the girls who had to queue up for their toilets. I also felt that more thought should have been given to the layout of the hard house arena, as the constant flow of people through it meant that it was difficult to find a good dancing spot to all the good tunes that were being played in there. These criticisms were far outweighed by the good points though, especially the melting pot of all the different dance music fans bought together in such a cool and original venue as this one. If the promoters who collaborated on this event are reading, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE join together again soon as I would love to come back here sometime for another rave (possibly next new years eve). Shouts go out to Lee UHF, Martin Space, Rich B, Lang-E, Part-E, Jonesy, Jake Riddler, Mick Moss and Sarah, Kleiny and Tracy, Rich, Anna and Craig, Emma, Tombola, Beth, Wildcard, Bedroom Raver, Mike Sureal, Ted Pornstar, Missus Sureal, MC Bombjack, Gazy J, MC Titch, El, Joe, Katie, Alarm, Kerrie, Dodgee and Jexxy, Manchester Caine, Bedford Caine, Potfish, Billy Bass, Misdee, J.O, Runna, Ardee, Andy M, Hirsti, Reepa, Ickle Miss, the Ali G lookalike, MC Whizzkid, MC Storm and Sharkey. :)
