I thought that the last Uprising I went to here in March was the best Uprising event I'd ever been to. I couldn't make the April one and I wasn't originally planning to come here but after a last minute change of plan I decided that I would. I arrived at the National Centre for Popular Music at about 9:15pm, just after the event had started. There wasn't that much of a queue outside so I got in pretty quickly. I wasn't given a search by the security which I thought was a bit dodgy, then I dropped my coat off and headed in. The National Centre has three levels, but all of the music arenas are found on the top floor. The Turning Point arena where the hardcore was had been done out well with Uprising banners all round the room. The Soundscape arena had a bit of everything in it, with hard house, trance and hardcore getting played there on the night. The main part of the upstairs floor is a big open plan bar area and this was the chillout room. By the decks they had put up a smoke machine and disco lights, which made this into a pretty cool arena too. The first set that I saw was Uprising resident CJ Glover in the hardcore arena. In the past I've sometimes felt that he has been guilty of playing the same tunes, but here he did a good set. He played the "Now is the time" remix, a couple more Evolution tunes, and did some wicked scratching as always. For the next set I went into the second arena to see Johnny El play. I'd never heard of him before I went here but I was impressed by his set. I didn't know that he would play hardcore until I walked in there, and he did a good set with "Elysium" and "Pilgrim" Next up in the second room was South Yorkshire up and coming DJ and Bedlam resident Jake Nicholls, and he played a trance set. This was on a more uplifting tip with some truly euphoric breakdowns, and he dropped in "Trance and Acid" by Kai Tracid and the brilliant "Don't cross the line" by the 12 Inch Thumpers. The main attraction for this night was Bass D and King Matthew, direct from Holland to play their FIRST EVER set in this country. These had been given a two hour set to show what they could do, with half of this being designated to classics and half to new stuff. I didn't catch all of their set but I heard them play "Eardrumz" and the original "Hold me now" that Vibes always used to play (the first ever hardcore tune I liked). They even went so far as to play a hardcore version of "Somewhere over the rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz. At around 1am I went into the third arena to see a DJ called Nick playing, who I'd also seen play at my last Uprising here. He was doing a trance set and blew me away when he dropped in "The Dawn" by Tony De Vit. I then nipped into the second room and caught a DJ whose name I didn't know drop in "Silence" by Delerium. That made me smile as I certainly wasn't expecting to hear that played out here. For the 2-3am slot I flitted in between Kenny Sharp b2b Topgroove in the main room and Spinner in the second room. The first two played a trance set, dropping in a remix of "Children" by Robert Miles, the new "Exploration of Space" by Cosmic Gate, and the anthemic "Cafe Del Mar" by Energy 52. Uprising regular Spinner is well known in South Yorkshire for playing bouncy hardcore and here was no exception. He dropped in some new tunes like "Radio Rockin" and "Odomok" as well as older tunes like "Gonna Get Ya", "Love me too" and the Braveheart theme. The last set of the night arrived and this was taken up by the DJ I most wanted to see on the night, Scotland's Marc Smith. He played a banging set which included "Rez out", "Bust it", "Elysium +" and of course "Identify the beat". He also played a fair few new tunes I'd never heard before, and for his last tune he played the entire "Ezekiel 25/17" speech from Pulp Fiction and then faded it straight into the classic "Jiiiieeeeehhaaaa". The set included some wicked cutting up and it definitely got my vote for set of the night. We're lucky to have him back in the hardcore scene as he is a very talented DJ. The 4am finish had arrived so it was time to head off home. This was another good Uprising event, but unfortunately it wasn't quite as busy at their March event. The National Centre is by far the best Uprising venue I've been to, and I hope that they stay here for a long time to come as it's a brilliant venue to have. Having the three rooms gives the chance to book loads of different DJs and play different styles of music as well as hardcore, which all adds up to make a better night. Come up and try Uprising out as it is a very good northern hardcore event. The next Uprising event here at the NCPM is on June 29th, with Brisk, M Zone and Amethyst as the headliners. On July 6th Uprising and Compulsion join forces at the After Dark in Morley, Leeds. Both of these events are well worth going to. :) Shouts go out to Lee UHF, Martin Space, Jonesy, Rich B, Part-E, Jake Nicholls, Sam, Ch33ky Charliiiee, Alarm, Lee, Kerrie, J.O, Runna, Bombjack, Hirsti, Techno head, Kleiny, Tracy, Spinner and Tobe Cypher. :)
