This was the first anniversary of this event, when Helter Skelter joined up with Club Sidewinder after taking a break of just over a year from the rave scene. It was the third of these events that I've been to here at the sanctuary and I was hoping before that it would measure up to the previous two. My friends who I went down with set off late and the journey took a bit longer than expected so we arrived in Milton Keynes at about 11:20. We went to park in the famous B+Q car park only to find that it is now shut off at night by barriers, so we parked in the Tesco car park instead, as all the other ravers had also done. I arrived at the venue to find quite a large queue outside and it took about half an hour to get to reach the front of it. A security guard by the ticket hand in point was actually making the effort to wish everyone who went through a good night, and the newer security at the search tent were much friendlier than the sanctuary security normally are. The search I was given was not that strict, just a quick patdown over my pockets and he briefly checked what I had emptied out of my pockets. I hadn't taken a coat to this event so I headed straight into the Sanctuary main arena to check it out. As I walked in I could see that it was rammed, with the lighting and stage layout just as impressive as they normally are here. There were two large video projection screens at either side of the stage, and the stage itself was quite big. It included about six different stage dancers, the female ones being kitted out in skimpy bikinis. :) As normal the entire main room had been carpeted which made it much easier to dance on than the normal tiled floor. There were plenty of Helter Skelter and Sidewinder banners and logos all over the arena and also two huge powerful green lasers which projected across the whole arena. As soon as I walked in I could feel exactly the same friendly vibe that previous Helter Skelter events here always used to have. It was about five to midnight when I came in and I was gutted to find that Andy C was just finishing. He played "Body Rock" and then finished off with a new Roni Size tune with a pure four beat for the intro. After Andy C came DJ Marky, direct from Sao Paulo in Brazil. I'd seen him once before this but it was a while ago so I was looking forward to this set. He played a really good drum and bass set with a few uplifting vocal-led tunes. It also included some of the most impressive scratching that I've heard in ages, where he was actually scratching the melody of one tune as it played. For me this was definitely the best set of the night, although during it someone did collapse at the front of the stage and had to be carried out by paramedics. :( Marky finished at 1:00 and Shy FX followed him. He played the brilliant "Grimy" by Dillinja, but bizarrely he was only on for half an hour. Zinc came after him and played some good new drum and bass tunes, including one in particular that really stood out. It started off with a garage bassline for about 60 seconds before suddenly speeding up and going to a jungle bassline, then back to garage, then back to jungle again. Zinc also only got half an hour though, which was a bit strange. I've always thought that the minimum set length any DJ should get is 45 minutes, so I didn't think this was really fair on these two big name DJs. One of the best things about Accelerated Culture is the fairground rides that they provide, and they are virtually the only dance promoter around who put these on free of charge. This time they had a big wheel with Nemesis style hanging seats, which rose up to vertical then rotated and moved around very fast. I loved it and it gave me a rush of energy to carry on dancing when I got back inside. When I went back on it was Mampi Swift on the decks, and crowd favourite MC Skibadee arrived halfway through his set. He did a decent set with a few older tunes that I recognised, but it was mainly tunes that I hadn't really heard before. Mampi Swift finished at three and Mickey Finn followed him. I only saw about half of his set but he also played "Grimy". I headed upstairs to check out the new old skool arena put on upstairs by Helter Skelter and called "Deja Vu". This room was well done out for a second room and when I was in there it was DJ Sy on the decks along with Man Parris on the mike. Sy was playing a very old set that sounded like it was from around 91ish. It was a bit too slow for me to get into but the crowd up there seemed to be enjoying it, and it was topped over by scratching in the usual Sy style. :) I went back outside and went on the big wheel ride again, and then on the dodgems. I headed back into the main arena again to see the headline DJ for the night, which was current world DMC champion DJ Craze. I was hoping to see lots of wicked scratching and cutting from him but he didn't seem to do any of this on the night. His mixing was pretty faultless and his tune selection was good, but he didn't seem to do anything else on the decks beside this, which was a shame. Last set of the night was Nicky Blackmarket alongside MC Foxy on the mike. I only saw the first half of his set though as my mates wanted to leave at 5:30 and they were driving. The tunes he played were older jungle style tunes but didn't really include the usual Blackmarket classics that he usually plays. However he did drop in "Original Nutta" just as I was leaving. The two things that have always made Helter Skelter events such high quality are the production and the atmosphere. The sanctuary was done out very well with great lighting, lots of backdrops and good video projection screens. There wasn't even the slightest bit of attitude on the night and at times the vibe felt more like a hardcore event than a drum and bass event. Accelerated Culture has the best vibe of any drum and bass event around at the moment, and here it was just as friendly as Helter Skelter events used to be. I haven't been to all of the big drum and bass events that there are around at the moment but I would be very surprised if there is a better drum and bass event around than this one. Helter Skelter always had a reputation for being the best promoter around, and with their current partnership with Club Sidewinder it looks like they are getting that title back again. The next Accelerated Culture event is here at the Sanctuary on Sat April 27th. Make sure that you're there because I know that I will be. :) Shouts go out to Marcus, Stu and Ralph.
