London raves rule. They do. When you're never more than an hour away from any venue in central London, you appreciate it all the more when a big night pitches up and provides the music you love within easy distance of getting home in the morning. This, amongst other reasons was why I wanted to go to HardcorKix. The other reasons were just as good as its geographical location though. For starters, the venue. I have been to the SEOne more times than I can count, but during all those times I can only remember Hardcore getting played in the main arena once. Even then it was only a couple of sets. This made HardcorKix, which had the main arena to itself all night all the more appealing. Not only that, but the DJ lineup looked like a winner with, not only a FULL compliment of the best MCs in the land, namely Storm Whizzkid, Odyssey and Smiley, as well as a DJ lineup of equal calibre. In that respect AMS, Kev Energy, Darren Styles, Sy Hixxy and event promoter ZipO were all scheduled to spin. Lineup look a bit thin for an allnighter? They'll be a reason for that, not to mention another reason I wanted to go. ALL the DJs had been given 90 minute sets. I really like this idea as quite often it feels like a DJ has only just gotten into his stride before he's replaced by the next one. Not here, this was an opportunity to expand on what they usually come up with. With the prospect of expanded sets from the best in the business in the best arena in the largest rave venue in london, well, I justy had to be there. Pitching up at around 10pm, a conspicuious lack of a queue made getting in easy. Or so I thought. I was thoroughly searched and then told in no uncertain terms that I werent getting in with my orange dayglo! I asked why and was told security were also wearing orange dayglos and they didnt want anyone mistaking me for them. I asked whether security had "astraboy" written on the back of their vests. It didnt go down well. Probably the reason why they insisted I hand it over instead of keep it in my pocket. That and the head of security was that moody asian guy I had tangled with in the past. I reluctantly handed it over and went in. Feeling naked. Once inside I soon lightened up, with the grey arch homing a large inflatable boxing ring and the main arena already fully into the swing of things. I rounded the corner and took a look at where I was going to be spending the night. The main arena SEOne has gone through many transformations, but this latest guise, with airmovement and nice (not to mention non slippery) laminte flooring gives it a touch of swank as well as grime. All you have to do to remind yourself you are in a railway arch is look up, but your legs dont leave caked in mud like they did in 2001. All this was helped by Kev Energy who was making an early start to the night with the one and only Odyssey on the mic. Starting out an evening with Freeform is always an odd one for me, as the top end BPMs are often difficult to get into first thing. However, Kev was a mile ahead of me, starting off his set with some of the more sedate and vocal based tracks in his repotoire before moving up to the Hard stuff. Sandwiched between all this was not one, but two lyrical dons on the mic. Odyssey was very much in control of proceeding, but with the aid of a sneakily smuggled into the crowd mic, Storm soon made his presence felt, culminating in an extended voice scratch battle from opposite ends of the arena. The only downside of his set was that it was a complete mystery to me from a tune recognition point of view. However this is not uncommon, or a bad thing now you come to mention it. Freeform is my pesonal crossover between Hardcore and Techno in that sense. You can go for a long time listening to both without IDing a single tune, but that dont stop you from loving it. As long as you keep stomping to it you can appreciate it. I did and I did, esp when he got near the end and dropped the Epic "Adagio". Next up was another from the Nu Energy Stable, the man behind the cleanest Mixdowns in the business, AMS. I'll be honest with you, I was expecting another 90 minutes of Freeform Hardcore, not that I was complaining, but yet again, the man behind the decks blindsided me with a surprise. Playing an "Impact & Resist" set for the assembled crowd, it was a complete departure from what I have heard from AMS in the past, but together with Storm on the mic, believe me it pushed all the right buttons when it came down to stomping to it. As well as that, it was ANOTHER set which consisted of lots of unknown material. I feel really slack at only being able to name the anthems in his set such as "I adore", "Dido R.I.P" and "Close your eyes", but I made sure I pulled him to one side after he had finished to ID my favourite tune of the set, the one with the "Stupid Fcukin Experts" sample which according to the man in charge was called "Check this out" I suggest you do what the title says. Next up was one of the highlights of the night. I was interested to see what Styles could come up with for his hour and a half and in no way did he let me down. Too many people have accused this man of being boring and predictable, so it was a shame there weren't more people there to witness this set. I was more than happy to be there when he got down to business though. Together with a full compliment of MCSquared on the mic, Styles tore through his 90 minutes at a breakneck pace. As well as playing all the tunes he is caining on dancefloors up and down the country such as "Dark like vader", "Slide away", "getting better" and my personal favourite "Feel so real", he also slid in a few cheeky tunes which definitely raised my eyebrows. Top of the list was a nice remix of "Angel eyes", as well as that, there was a VERY nice remix of "24-7" which I was more than happy to stomp to because I love that tune to bits. However it was the breakbeat mix of "Timebomb" that was the real icing on my rave cake for this set. Top tunes, quality mic work (esp. during the 24-7 remix, oh my word) and lots of surprises. Nice one. For the final set of the night, it was the turn of event promoter to step up to the decks and show us what he was made of. DJ ZipO took over from Styles and took the rave home while the ravers on the dancefloor made the most of what they had paid money to do. Seeing as I had never heard this guy play out before, I was more than happy to dance to his music. Starting off in an unusual manner with a rip of Pulp Fiction's Ezekiel 25/17 reading, ZipO soon found his feet, alongside MC Whizzkid on the mic. Initial tunes within his set were designed to keep the ravers on the dancefloor, with "Keep it Hardcore" the remix of "Set you free" and "You're shining" all getting played out. However, even though it was the final set, the surprises didnt stop there, a special guest MC in the form of the diminutive MC Mel SD (great name) had been promised and in due course she stepped up and took over from Whizzkid. I hung back near the rear stacks to see what she was made of. Too often MCs have an imbalance between talent and ambition, but on this occasion, it was refreshing to see someone who actually had some ability take over. Heavily influenced by the DnB style, sometimes she did rip off a few well known lyrics, but her own lyrics were nevertheless constructive and free of babble. Occasionally she did go over the top and chat over the breakdowns and mixes, but for the majority of the time she knew when to keep quiet and when to let rip. What was really impressive was the way this tiny girl ( a good foot shorter than me) was strutting round the stage with total confidence. It takes more nerve than I have to get on stage and a lot of MCs dont display confidence which is an important aspect of their stage presence, Mel SD had no such problems. Okay her lyrics were a little raw and her delivery and timing need work, but there is definitely something there. Eventually MCSquared took over from Mel and the night was taken to the end with ZipO dropping the tunes the ravers wanted for the final hour. Only the bounciest and crowdpleasing tunes made it onto the setlist, with "Makin me wanna dance", "Electrik" and the remix of "Free your mind" all getting played out. Despite the fact they were not playing to thousands of ravers, Storm and Whizzkid gave it 100% as they always do, dropping only their finest lyrics such as "We dont care" and "Stone cold" during the final tune, "Heartbeatz". Things I liked: Venue - I cant remember the amount of times I've been to the SEOne, I can remember the amount of times Hardcore has been in the main arena all night. One. HardcorKix. Sound - The sound is a bit hit and miss at SEOne, raves sound quality range from fantastic to unlistenable. This one was firmly in the former realm. Crisp, loud and clear. The mics were at the perfect volume too. Nice one. 90 minute sets - This dont happen often, but its really good when it does. This was one of those ocassions. Fantastic music from ALL DJs on the night with surprises forthcoming from every set. Video screen - This was showing video footage of the Uproar Collossus event. Never got tired of watching it. Things I liked less: Security - I knew I was in for trouble when I saw that moody asian guy hurtling towards me. Its a sad day when you go to a Hardcore Rave and you cant wear a dayglo vest. Doubly damning when there was another bloke wearing an orange one all night and he didnt get hassled once. Dayglo UNDER my tshirt next time I think. Attendance - There were only about 100 ravers in the place. For a venue the size of SEOne, more were needed. Early finish - mmm, dodging muggers is great when you're turned out at 4am. Its a shame more people didn't turn up for this one cos the attendance was the only thing that let it down. Why? Cos every other area was totally sorted. Venue was what I had always dreamed of, Sound was spot on, DJs given room to spread their wings creatively and MCs were on top form and were clearly having as much fun as the ravers. Thats another thing that was good about the night. even though the dancefloor werent rammed, the party crew in the place just didnt give a damn and were still determined to have it hardcore as they do every single week. I know I was loving it for no other reason than on a musical tip. Musically, this night was off the hook in every sense. I for one hope the promoter didnt get his hands burned too much and will be back for another one. Cos with some proper advertising, a venue better suited to the amount of ravers and a retention of the promoters artistic integrity, this could be a seriously good night out. Fingers crossed for another one, I had a great time.
