The first Accelerated Culture drum and bass awards event put on by Helter Skelter and Club Sidewinder was here last December, although I didn't make it to that one. The addition of the Human Traffic hardcore arena upstairs was an extra bonus so this was an event I had to go to. The event started at 9pm but I arrived at the Sanctuary at about 10:20. There was a fairly big queue outside and I had a credit card collection ticket but unusually this queue was joined with the main queue. The queue didn't seem to be moving as fast as it usually does at the Sanctuary and it took me about 35 minutes to get to the entrance. As I walked through they weren't searching people, which isn't the brightest strategy for a drum and bass event, although when I looked back five minutes later they were then. For all those of you who've ever considered sneaking into the Sanctuary, at this event they had two security guards at different points outside the perimeter fence with angry barking alsatians. I put my coat in the outdoor cloakroom tent, which was just by the Sanctuary glass doors, and headed inside the warehouse. Straight away I saw that the venue was very busy, and as the night went on this became even more so. As always the production here was very good with lots of video projection screens, lasers, strobes, a big stage at the front with specially made Accelerated Culture backing panels behind it, and the entire main arena was fully carpetted. There were a few occasions on the night that the sound system seemed a bit too quiet though, but this seemed to vary depending on where in the arena you were. What made this rave different was that it was the drum and bass awards event, so on stage was a stand, and in general it was MC Spyda who addressed the crowd from behind this to update them on the awards. Before or after every set it was announced where that DJ had been placed in the overall poll for best DJ. Similarly as each MC's time finished on the mike their position in the best MC poll was revealed. On the whole this was done fairly quickly, so as not to break up the flow of the night too much. The first set I saw was Bad Company, who got 8th place in the best DJ(s) poll. They did a hard and dark set as always, dropping in their own tunes "Torpedo" and "The Nine", and they were accompanied by MC Dett who got 3rd place in the best MC poll. Following them came Adam F who came 9th but I went off to the hardcore room instead. This was in the upstairs room, and was also done out well with lots of banners and Human Traffic logos on the walls. This room isn't that big but it never seemed to fill out during the night so there was always room to dance. Playing in there was Mark EG who played some good hard trance and a hard trance rip of "Funkatron" by Robbie Rivera. After him came Hixxy who played a lot of new stuff I hadn't heard before, then it was back downstairs to see Brockie play. He played a mix of old and newer tunes including "LK" by Marky. He was accompanied on the mike by Dynamite and Fearless who gained 6th and 4th places respectively in the best MC poll. The next set at 2am was Mampi Swift who many people felt had a strong chance of winning the best DJ award. It was not quite to be though when it was announced that he had come in 2nd place. He then played a quality set with some really good cutting and long mixes which he chopped up, and he played his own anthem "The One". Once it was announced that Swift had come in 2nd everyone pretty much knew who had won, and the award was presented next at 3am. Grooverider came on the mike along with Spyda to announce that the best DJ award was going to Andy C. He's my favourite drum and bass DJ so I was really pleased for him that he had won. It was also announced that Skibadee had won the best MC award for the second year running, so both he and Andy C took the mike and made a short speech. They then played the next set together and when the bass on the first tune dropped in the whole arena went mental. Andy C played his usual fast and hard set which included "Mo' Fire" by the Rawhill Cru. Following him came Zinc who finished 4th in the DJ poll. He did a good set but sadly was only given half an hour as more awards were presented after that. This took place over about ten or fifteen minutes, which I thought was maybe a little too long a break to have. The first of these awards was for the best producer and Dillinja won it, with Andy C getting second place and Zinc third. It was then an even better night for Andy C as Ram Records won the best record label award, with Full Cycle second and V Recordings third. The next award went to www.breakbeat.co.uk for their faultless Drum and Bass Arena website, and then Kool FM won the best radio station award, with Radio One’s Fabio and Grooverider show in second. The final award of the night was the best record shop and this was won by Nicky Blackmarket’s shop Blackmarket Records. Grooverider then introduced Shabba D on the stage to announce he’d come second in the best MC poll, to a great reception from the crowd. Shabba did a quick speech, then he and Grooverider played the next set together. I didn’t really catch much of it so the next one set I caught was Sy upstairs, doing the final set of the night with MC Storm. He did a good set to a room which was about half full, playing “Get Rockin”, the “Turn up the Music” remix, “Elysium plus” and “Ghettoblaster”. This bought to a close one of the best raves of the year, and the best drum and bass event I’ve been to in well over a year. The main arena was nothing short of rocking and was rammed solid from front to back. There was a really good atmosphere although there was a small fight in Shy FX’s set which the security stopped pretty quickly. The production was of a very high standard and the music was good too. The fact that it was an awards event added that special something extra to the night and I will be here again for this next year whatever else is on. I thought Andy C played the set of the night as he was obviously fired up after winning the best DJ award, although Sy was good too. The only criticism I can make is that the area by the bar and gents toilets was very busy and at times difficult to move through. There were also occasions when blockages occurred at the entrance to the gents toilets as people were moving in and out, so a security guard positioned there would have been good to keep people moving. The next Accelerated Culture at the sanctuary is on March 1st – drum and bass’s number one event. :) Shouts to 1N, Doc-e and MC Storm
