After nearly three years of intimate and innovating hardcore parties at some of London’s most well reputed smaller venues Elation are finally starting to receive the crowd and interest they so dearly deserve. This party was their most successful at the cosy Electrowerkz venue in Islington and had an atmosphere second to none and a line up to match, with every style of modern day hardcore well represented. The night’s musical proceedings were kicked off by Torture Garden regular Ting, Elation resident and also a pleasingly regular contributor to their ever growing Elation Records label. Charged with her energetic behind the decks presence Ting unleashed a bouncy and banging hard nrg set on the Elation early birds. Bouncy basslines, screaming acid and euphoric trance riffs all featured in a varied opening set. TdV’s hoover classic Are You All Ready was dropped early on with K Komplex’s Indestructible wrapping off a refreshingly mixed bag of nrg-ised beats. With the dancefloor warming up nicely it was time for honeypot headman Billy Bunter to take to the decks as the clock struck ten. While so many hardcore ravers would love to hear Bunter knock out a good old GBT classics set there was no way his sterling selection of bang up to date hard trance tunes left anyone disappointed. The venue now steadily filling up Bunter drew his set to a close with a medley of Jon Doe tracks, including the uplifting remix of Digitek’s Don’t Hold Back The Music and the excellent new Warehouse mix. As the clock struck twelve the man himself took over, albeit in his mysterious CLSM guise. Having produced and influenced just about every last strain of modern hard dance and rave orientated music Mr Doe can safely be described as a true innovator, a phrase all too often overused. All the CLSM classics to be were showcased, including Higher and Higher, the anthemic Reaching Out and a new tune featuring Hollyoaks actor Stefan Booth, who sang live on the night. The PA was accompanied by what has become an expectedly unexpected display of bizarre stage performances from the CLSM crew, with carol service invitations, paper aeroplanes and sweets all being thrown into the sea of ravers. Following hardcore’s hottest PA act was DJ Dodgee, another strong up and coming DJ being supported by the Elation crew. A quality freeform set, always a must at a decent hardcore night, was served up and the dancefloor duly rocked on. Elation co promoters Tom U4ea and James F then delved deep into their record boxes with a breakbeat influenced 95/96 set which had many a raver sailing down memory lane. Sure enough plenty of still fresh sounding material from the likes of Demo and Ham was rinsed to rapturous reactions from the ravers. The underplayed 95 Style by Demo’s Happy Rollers would have been tune of the set had it not been for the stomping festive finale! Bring on the Christmas hardcore styles! Following on from Tom and James well received set the original promoters Ponder and HB grabbed the reigns for another Elation crew back to back session, delivering a strong set of trance influenced hardcore from labels such as Raverbaby and of course their own Elation Records imprint. With the venue jumping and the awesome laser in full effect scratchmaster Sy then kept things ticking over nicely from 3 till 4 with a varied set of upfront hardcore before Kniteforce legend Luna C and his long time friend and recording partner Al-k-ed knocked out a set of full on fun set of rave tunes old, new and downright banging, no holds barred! Starting off with some ruff n ready KFA breakbeat material the crowd were rocking and bouncing all over the place to the ever interesting sounds of KFA’s quirky take on breakbeat hardcore. Progressing swiftly into jungle, including the classic Darkage by DJ Solo, the pair then took things to another level cutting Dillinja’s drum and bass party anthem Twist Em Out into the mix. It was seriously fun to hear such a stupid and fun drum and bass dropped in a hardcore rave atmosphere, and not just any hardcore atmosphere either, i’m certainly not alone in thinking that this Elation’s vibe was one of the best and bounciest I’ve experienced for a long while. More upfront drum and bass anthems followed before a medley of classic happy hardcore tracks sent the crowd singing their hearts out. Finishing off with a ludicrously manic gabba tune this set goes down as the most enjoyable raving hour I’ve had in the last few months- pure rave fun! While the dancefloor was thinning out slightly towards the last hour Uplift and Stargazer played the event out with a fine selection of upfront hardcore and thus ended one of the most enjoyable hardcore raves I’ve had since…my last Elation (which was all too long ago I can tell ya!). Shouts to everyone I met! Keep em coming boys!
