So Uproar.... heard mixed opinions on their nights at the sanctuary but you only know once you've experienced it yourself right? Besides I aint gotta drive, already secured a lift (Thanks Clo x x) and I've spent my day hammering out hardcore and techno so I'm well up for a rave! Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond their control the uproar crew have had to shut the old school room, I was looking forward to this but won't let it dampen my spirits, cest la vie. A short queue with some regular ravers means within 15 minutes of arrival I'm ready to go in the door, an efficient guaranteed code system split across three people, a quick search from friendly security and we're in : ) Never been to the sanctuary before but heard it's a good venue for hardcore. Walking in the main room I can see why, the dance floor has no barriers apart from a couple of bits of raised stage so we can spill out all around, always a bonus. The stage is right at the front and there are no additional barriers, another bonus. DJ Box is a bit further away and higher up but can't complain. Water is £2.50 and the bar maid assures me that they do free refills, so far all good : ) The main arena is decked out with spikey balloons hanging from the ceiling, the lasers are looking awesome already and the system is.... well the system is not the best, too bassy and distorted, more on this later. There is no such thing as kick off here the room is dark, the music is kicking, the bass is pumping and the room is filling up and getting down to business. Flying and Sparky are the opening act of the night, already spinning upfront mixes of "in complete darkness" and "Whispering in his ear", both classics i'm sure you'll agree. I only caught 20 minutes of this set but it was worth staying in the main room for, the tunes and the atmosphere was really getting me going. Up next Robbie Long takes control, not much tune IDs here I'm afraid, it's time to check out the venue. Those of you who know the sanctuary already know this but the balcony around the side is a good feature, for one you get to walk past both sides of the stage on your way up the stairs, giving good views of the room and for seconds the view from up on the balcony is wicked. You get a real sense of the venue from up there. Both downstairs and upstairs having small bars and laughing gas stalls, as well as a merchandise stall tucked away in a corner in the main room, not obtrusive but obvious, good placing if you ask me. Upstairs has more speakers so your never far from the hardcore : ) All in all I really like this venue, the main room has a real presence but its easy to get around. The second room where they will be playing Gabber and techno is due to kick off at 10 but is a bit late starting, room looks good though, low ceiling, plenty of speakers, a bar and some seating, looks like all bases covered there then ; ) Now I don't know whether the Uproar crew or the Sanctuary 2 staff are to blame for the system but if I'm being honest (and what reviewer shouldn't be?!?) I was not impressed with it. At times through the night you could not hear the MCs, the bass was too loud and sometimes distorting. Moving around the dancefloor improved things for the audiophile but still not impressed. The funny thing is this didn't detract from the night, the crowd, the atmosphere, the presence of the MCs and the dancers kept the vibe alive for me. The line up to come was the usual suspects, Essential Platinum, Raverbaby, Quosh and Relentless main men in effect. But right now its 11 o'clock and Dougal is due on, since there's no old school to conflict my choices its gonna be a core filled night. First surprise of the night, Dougal is not alone, playing b2b with Hixxy, an EP/RBC combo. However once again the system was not up to scratch so even though there were some stomping hardcore tunes including Rockin with the best it was difficult to get a full sense of what the DJs were trying to get across. MC2 were on fine form though, Storm and Whizzkid with their first set of the night were smiling, jumping around and generally looking like they were on it. The usual sing along lyrics and a bit of voice sratching ensured the crowd were kept in tune. Following on from the b2b its time for Breeze to keep the RBC theme going. Dropping the current dancefloor smasher Report to the bassline near the start showed us where we were going, hard tunes and vocal anthems including "Come on" and "Never too late". This accompanied by the usual suspects, the hardcore dancers. Dancing princess and little sis once again on form and then interchanging with Annabellucy and the up and coming Hana kept the crowd interested. Their smiley happy faces emanatig right off the stage, again keeping the vibe and the atmosphere in the crowd. Half way through the set the sound is brought down so Storm can say a big big up to Breeze, 100,000 copies of Clubland Extreme Hardcore 2 have been sold, 100,000!! Hardcore is back people beleive! Storm proudly brandishes an official frame showing the platinum discs. Seduction up next assisted by Wotsee and Rude, again the tunes were pumping I have no doubt, let down by the system but once more this did not dissuade the crowd, who kept the pace full and in effect. The NEC Demon is on stage and whats that, surely not, nope it is, it is man in a hardcore thong with a smiley face! Marc Smiths set in my opinion suffered the worst due to the system, I had trouble getting into this one, a real shame as last time I saw him I was really impressed. So not much to say here. As Hixxy has been on earlier we suspect he wasn't going to do his 4 o'clock and instead we were treated to UFO, I was milling about chatting to people more around this time so no tune IDs here either, shocking I know! But if the crowd can be used as an indication I would say UFO was doing something right! Its already 4 in the morning, once again the event has flown past but the most talented Darren Styles has arrived and is ready to do what he does, ably assisted by Whizzkid with Anna and Hana, Sar and Sis. The crowd knows it too, the room completely filled up for this set, I don't know where all these extra people came from at 4 in the morning but come they did and the only place for me to be was at the front! Surprsing to hear Save me dropped first but not unwelcome, "give me a reason" keeping the sing along crowd happy, smiles all around. The atmosphere for this set was electric, Styles, Whizzkid, Dancers, phat lasers and I think the system was a little bit better for this set too... Darren drops "I don't want this night to end" and this is accompanied by the whizzkid doing a live PA over the top, this boy truly is talented. Hammering through more well known and not so well known tunes Styles keeps the pace going, Back to the old school and that "Report sounding" slammer Come on. Continuing with More than life, Recon's Insane and Skydivin and we're taken to heaven and back. At least one person I spoke to said it was their set of the night, Once again Styles delivers with style. So its nearly the end, one more set to go and we have a b2b special, Gammer and Sy, Quosh main man versus the EP prodigy. Storm on the M I C for the last hour, no dancers, this is the final set of the night and its all about the music and the atmosphere. Gammer kicks off with the atmosphere building anthem Space Oddysey, on top of this we got the scratchmaster SY doing what he does Hy-Hy-Hy-HyHyHyHyHyper. Gammer hammers out Everybody is in the place, don't know who does the mix but I love this tune and I think the crowd to do, Sy fights back with established anthmem "U R My Phantasy", time to sing along, get your hands in the air and feel that rush! The two continue their battle with Tell Me a story and Squad-e's remix of 24-7 coming from the Gammer corner and Caught up in your love and see the light playing off them. Another "Report" sounding tune hammers out from Gammer and also the Storm sing along 21st century rush. But now its all over, Storm tells us its the final tune, the first few bars of braveheart play out and everyone knows its one last chance to rush... except theres an afterparty with Gammer and Storm so its not really over ; ) So my first uproar, apart from the system I loved it, and even with the system issues and no old school room I still loved it, why? The crowd, the atmosphere, the venue, the lasers, the dancers, many friends old and new too many to mention. My last rave of the summer, not disappointed in the slightest. And I hear that Uproar are moving venues... so who knows.... One last point I forgot to mention, the chillout room over looking the main arena, a glass box where you can just hear the core pumping, very very cool. Didn't spend any time in it myself as Report to the bassline kicked in whie I was up there but I like to know theres a chill out room available and this one rocks : ) Venue: 8/10 (Big main room, decent size stage, easy to get around) Atmosphere: 8/10 Chill out: 9/10 (What a room, how cool?!?) System: 5/10 (Wasn't up to scratch) Security: 9/10 (Friendly, helpul and understandng, believe it or not!) Overall: 8/10 (Despite issues, still a slamming night)
