It was Hardcore Heaven time once again. The last Hardcore Heaven in February was in many people’s eyes the best event so far this year, so it was back again at The Sanctuary for a night of pure hardcore bliss. There was a decent sized queue to get in, that went down pretty fast considering the size of it. The security were fair, not heavy handed in the slightest & guided the ravers through the entrance into the main arena. The décor was impressive looking around taking in the whole thing. Several extremely large screens had 3D animations & assorted visuals on display, along with the current Dj's set time on the lower half of the screen. There were other elaborate props & some dancers on stage too throughout the night. The bars in the main arena were situated near the exits & the merchandise stalls were well stocked with all manner of raver paraphernalia. Outside there was a large Double Decker bus (complete with chilled DJ dowstairs!), a few vendors & a selection of rides. Many people were stood around & sat in the provided seat/table area all grinning & generally having a great time. Overall the atmosphere in the venue was fantastic, no trouble to be seen and everyone who went said the same. Upstairs though it couldn't be helped to notice that there was little décor apart from a neon structure around the Dj booth that seemed to be a burden to the MC. Also the temperature had soared dramatically. Demand was on in the sweatbox upstairs at 11. On the lineup times there seemed to be no mc but it was soon realised that good old Wotsee and Smiley had managed to blag the mic and were already making the crowd bounce around to tunes like ‘Futureset’. Wotsee was on top form on the mic with his thoughtful and controversial lyrics, and Smiley was hyping up the crowd as only he can. After Demand it was time to check out Mr Brown, Scotland’s number one badboy. Down the stairs, the arena was nicely rammed and Whizzkid spitting out lyrics as fast as he could. The Scotsman played a wicked set full of upfront Evolution tunes like the new remixes of ‘Definition of a badboy’, ‘Hardcore hustlers’, a new bouncy techno tune that sounds like its got the samples from Bloodhound gang (yeh yeh!), and the new classic ‘Neckbreaker’. The last half of his set was full on nu style, and looking around the arena it was obvious that the crowd were up for a savage night. Next in the Sanctuary at 12.00 was Mr Raverbaby Hixxy boshing out the tunes to a really rammed room. There was people dancing right at the back of the arena and, just like the last Hardcore Heaven, it was a reminder to the old Skelter days. He played his remix of ‘Set you free’ and some other Raverbaby style tunes. Storm was on the mic pumping up the ravers and there was smiles everywhere throughout the arena. Hixxy finished off with his remix of ‘Injected with a poison’ by Praga Kahn pitched right down to about 160bpm, and it went down really well as everyone sang along to the cheesy, but euphoric vocals. After Hixxy was the sound of foreign hardcore, the Viper and what a set ! He played some rip of the ‘Chariots of fire’ theme tune, as well as the tune with ‘Waste this motherf**ker’ in it. Viper and Wotsee seemed to work with each other really well, with Wotsee’s bouncy lyrics fitting in nicely between the harsh beats. Looking around when Viper was playing and the Sanctuary was absolutely f**king crammed. There were people everywhere, gritting their teeth, sweating and raving it up like proper savages. Viper’s last tune was ‘Under Control’ by Masters of ceremony, and the whole arena chanted along to ‘f**k you I won’t do what you tell me!.’ Another point about this set was that Empress Stah messing around on the stage. She was hammering nails into her nose, then putting another nail through her tongue and hanging the hammer off her tongue. Her rare act seemed to go with the heavy music though, and loads of people were looking over to see what she was doing! Upstairs the heat was unbearable as people stomped to Sharkey, but they were loving it anyway rushing to tunes such as ‘Impossible dream’ by Riddler. The sauna upstairs is very hot, but it does give the room a rushier atmosphere and the dangerous heat levels sorts the men out from the boys :) The best place to dance was under the (powerful) fans at the back of the dancefloor, which is one of the best spots to dance in the entire building. Space & air con are a rare commodity at the Sanctuary :) Walking back downstairs at 4.00, just in time for Sy and Storm, the ravers champions. Dunno what tune Sy started with but he played ‘The feeling’ by Gav G and Dan Rolla J and which is one of the crowd faves at the mo. A nice simple uplifting hardcore tune with plenty of happiness, and looking round it was plain to see the ravers were lapping up Sy. The only problem was the sound, which had seemed to dip since Viper, but the crowd weren’t that bothered and kept dancing away! Back upstairs at to the sweatbox to catch Scorpio set and his first tune, which sounded like messed up hard house. It was full of hoovers and only about 150bpm, but sounded wicked ! He built the set up nicely with his ahem original style of mixing, from mental mid paced hard house stuff to crunchy new style with screechy riffs, then new style on the wrong speed for the last half hour of his set. Loads of people were going mad, thrashing their bodies around and really going for it. Scorpio played ‘Oh god’ by Dione right near the end of his set and the arena went mental. It was a nice change for the people who’d been listening to the likes of Breeze, Hixxy and Sy as well, proving that ravers still want their music that little bit harder and faster! Scorpio’s set ended all too quickly and Dolphin came on and changed the mood slightly. Once again it was another brilliant Hardcore Heaven night. Nice bright sunshine to greet the ravers in the morning as well to top it all off. The crowd on the night were definitely the noisiest and most up for it seen at The Sanctuary for a long time and everyone who went seemed to have had a wicked time. Bring on the next one ! Shouts to: Smithers (Milton Keynes finest chef !), Lee UHF, Nuclearaver, Ashley King, MiniGatz, Raveangel, Pocket Raver, Mozz, Oli G, Sawyer, Gallagher, Hiney and all the other Lichfield massive, Jay Hughes, mc, James, Charlie Kitten, Number 2301, Happythoughts, Matsui, Joe + UK Scene crew, Nocturnal, Gurn-E (South West legend), Reg, MC Jutt, Kickin K, Grob Le Frog, Sketchy Jon, Moonlight Raver, Emma-O, Paul W, Cris E Manic, Desire, Hyper Babe-E, Hyper Rush, Dice-e, Reality, MC Jutt, Shox, Mayhem, Kazzer, Andy M, Tenz, Ben-e + the Gurn.net massive, Astraboy, Davespice, Scottie, Gill Dreamscape, Mark HB, Paul Ponder, Koochy, Hardcore Frog, Bedroom Raver, LadyLou, Mupster, Rob Brownlee, Doc-E, Bedford Caine, Brad 35354, Icklemiss, Sorcerer, Summy, Aidan, Here's Dead Johnny, Richard Diehard and Clair Raverbaby, Fishgeoffo, Wotsee, Uprising MC, Sam, Jo, Em, Trigg, Kate, Jamie, John, Stripper, A.T, Taff, Phil Friction (Nice one on Breeze playing the friction anthem !), Ryan Frisby & Sharkey for playing my tune, Julie delicious, Leon, Wilf and the rest, Wiggi, John d’story, Deb Lee and Gamer, Caz, Wotsee, Pikey and their crew, Smiley, Cherub, Hixxy, MC Whizzkid, MC Storm......+ anyone else who was there, apologies if we’ve forgotten you.
