This was one event, I had been looking forward to for a very long time. I finally got to see what Fantasy Island was all about and experience Summer Sensation. I could see all the various rides and rollercoasters from miles off and finally arrived at the venue just after 7.00pm. There were still loads of families and kids who had come to Fantasy Island for the day out and were mingling outside the venue, all looking at the ravers in bemusement :) The venue was 40 minutes late in opening, so there was a bit of wait in the queue. But once the doors opened, the crowd were moved swiftly in. Non existent searches by the generally laid back security, made sure everyone filed in quickly. Everyone was given a wristband when they went inside, which meant ravers could come in and out of the venue throughout the night whenever they liked, which was a brilliant idea. First thing I did once inside was to take a walk around the venue. FI is the maddest rave venue, I’ve ever been to. Loads of stalls, rides, a multitude of different turns to get lost in and all encased inside a massive glass pyramid...quality. A proper FUN venue, what raving is all about. I decided to get one of the £10 ride passes to check out the rides. But sadly I found out the brand new massive rollercoaster was broken down, which was I really gutted about. And also funfair rides shut down at 11.00pm, whereas I thought they’d be open for a lot longer then that. I did go on the Volcanic Eruption ride about 5 times, which got the stomach churning :) But enough of the amusements, I wanted to check out some music. I found the hardcore arena, which I did think would have been bigger. The capacity of the arena was about 2000, there was a stage at the front with videoscreens around the side, lazers protruding patterns into the crowd and the sound system seemed loud and banging enough. But the temperature in here was way too hot, people couldn’t dance for a sustained amount of time without feeling overheated. Definitely more air conditioning was needed. But the atmosphere in here was kicking though, everyone was really up for it and going mental to the choons :) Sharkey + Energy were the first DJs I saw in here and they were laying down their usual banging freeform selection such as ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Identify the beat’, also dropping plenty of brand spanking new material. MC Whizzkid was on the mic doing a wicked job of getting everyone hyped up. Just past 11.00, so I headed over to the old skool room to catch the sounds of Sy. The atmosphere in here was also excellent and everybody was up for it. Sy was doing his usual anthem filled old skool set with tunes such as ‘Out of space’ by the Prodigy and ‘Let me be your fantasy’ by Baby D. Not the most unpredictable of sets, but it got a top reaction from the crowd...just happiness and smiles all round. I then followed Sy out of the old skool room and followed him into the hardcore arena, where he was playing back to back with Unknown alongside the one and only MC Storm. They played a brilliant set, lot of new Quosh tunes got dropped in the first half of the set and towards the end they dropped a few dancefloor classics such as ‘Eye Opener’ and ‘Together forever’ by Hixxy + Bananaman. Nice to see DJ Unknown back on the decks, it’s a long time since I’ve seen play an upfront hardcore set. After the sweatbox workout, I needed to chill out so I went for a randon raving wander. Again FI is wicked, because you can just lose yourself walking around the venue and discovering rooms you never knew existed. But I didn’t see hardly any lineup times dotted around the venue, which meant me and many others didn’t know who was playing when and at what time. More lineup times displays please and not ones we have to pay for either. The Sundissential hard house room was situated in the main glass pyramid which I popped in a few times during the night. I thought it would have been busier in there, but I enjoyed it and was nice to break up the night. The teckno / trance room was situated in a small makeshift room, which seemed a bit shoddy to me. But the small crowd in there, were up for it and didn’t seem too bothered with the surroundings. I caught Alarm on the decks covering for the absent Gollum. Was Alarm going to lay down some hard trance to make up for Gollum’s absence...as if !! Nu style gabba was the order of the day, relentless pace all the way which got everyone stomping. I also caught Vortex in there later on in the night, who did play a hard trance set and whom I thought was brilliant, top quality banging trance. The general atmosphere on the night was brilliant. The vibe between the ravers was excellent. In my opinion, the Northern atmosphere is better then the Southern atmosphere. Northerners seem that bit more up for it on the dancefloor and also they seem more willing to talk and getting to know their fellow ravers. I definitely want to check out a few more raves in the North in the future (finances and lift blagging permitting !!). Just past 3.00 and time for Marc Smith + Sharkey in the hardcore room. Sharkey playing his second back to back set off the night, not that I minded. Quality set all around, starting off on a freeform hardcore tip such as ‘Boom n pow’ remix by Marc Smith and ‘Creators game’. Moving into nu style gabba in the last part of their set, with tunes such as the ‘Cold as ice’ remix, got everyone sweating even more on the dancefloor :) Rays of daylight were now beginning to shine down on the venue and come through onto the dancefloor. I headed off to the old skool room to catch Stu Allan. Now some of the Northerners reading aren’t probably going to believe this, but this was the first time I’ve ever seen Stu Allan DJ ! I thought he was okay, a bit too cheesy for me at times, laying down tunes such as ‘Lets fly’ by Breeze and ‘Cloudy days’ by Bang. But judging the crowd reaction to Stu Allan, the crowd were loving his set and certainly lapped up the cheese :) Before I knew it was after 5.00 and time for the last hour. The venue had cleared out quite a bit by now, bah too many lightweights leaving early ! I headed back into the hardcore arena to catch the sounds of Vibealite’s old time resident, Kambel. He played an alright set, a few freeform tunes as well as some bouncey stuff, which drew the night to a close, but nothing amazing about the set. Overall I had a brilliant time. I cannot emphasis how excellent this venue is. A really unique raving experience, which works brilliantly for raves. If you’re reading this and are getting sick of going to the same old venues over and over again, then make an effort to go to venues such as Fantasy Island. There were a few minus points on the night such as the absence of the big rollercoaster, the intense heat in the hardcore arena, lack of lineup times etc. But they were minor in my opinion because everything else was quality and I definitely will be heading back to Fantasy Island for a rave in the future. Big Shouts to: ‘Trance loving shiny shirt wearing beerboy’ Smithers, Mark HB, The Gorgeous Gabrielle, James, Charlie, Chedda the clever dick, Number 2301, Joe + all the UK Scene crew: Ellie, Kinetic Raver Stoke, Wayne n Wendy, Teknobabe, Teknoraver, Mazfubar, Teknohead, Tonksi, Mark E, Ganja Alf, Ravin Jedi, Alarm (didn’t seeya dance mate !!), Banksy, Paul Compulsion, Cheeky Charliee, Lang-E, Rich B, Part-E, Hirsti, Jake Riddler, GurnE, Reepa, SD, SFX, Strike, Mike Sureal, Bedroom Raver, Ted the Pornstar, Amit, Icklemiss, Astraboy, Lee UHF, Davespice, JD Promotions, The legendary Kaine, Tobe Cypher, Ardee, Andy M, Potfish, Ravegirl, Jamie, Tanzy + anyone else I’ve forgotten, apologies if I have.....hugs to the girls, handshakes to the boys.....seeya around soon :) Over and Out
