Its Friday night, whos hardcore have a new venue, they have been promoting the hell out of it and seem like they have the right ingredients. Line up showcases some up and comings and more well known DJs alike. Marc Smith heads the bill, accompanied by Hardcore Revolutions Overlode and Ecksta-C with MC Smiley doing a DJ set to add to the mix. On the same flyer is the likes of Clodhopper, Cruze, JB-C and resident whos hardcorer Tiny. We weren't very well prepared for finding the club but luckily found a place to drop the car right outside, result! Getting out of the car we are greeted with the sounds of whistles and horns... its 10:00 the doors aren't yet open but the ravers are already in force, got to be at least 40 already in the queue. With the doors open the ravers waste no time in going straight up past the first two floors, we know where we wanna be, where the core is : ) First impressions of the top floor are promising, theres a decent size DJ booth, surrrounded by a small stage, a large screen above the stage and three more at the back above the bar. MC Smiley is kicking off the night with a DJ set, the system isn't kicking but its definitely not quiet. Smiley plays some well know and less well known tunes to warm us up, with his own Anthem Ordinary people being sneaked in twice ; ) Accompanying this the uuplifting remix of Rhythm of the night, I've got a feeling and Cry. Its half 10 and theres got to be at least 80 people in here already and theres more filtering in, always a good sign. MC Dizzyvibe does a quick stint on the MIC and then Juicy takes us through to the end of the set. With Smiley done with his set its time for him to take the mic. Its been a while since I've heard Smiley so its a welcome return. Smiley brings the set in by giving a short speech, this is another chapter in whos hardcore history, a plush new venue. Replacing Smiley on the 1s and 2s is Hardcore revolution main men Overlode and Ecksta-C. "In Complete Darkness" leads the way, powering on with "Everybody moving to this on the dance floor", the atmosphere is building now, with more and more peeps getting on the dance floor. The set carries on with Smiley lyricing his way through the old favourites including ordinary people. Half way through the set and more peeps are getting down to it as only hardcorers too. Smiley calls for a rewind... "Why have they just rewound the tune, cus I said so!! ha ha", Smiley shows who has the power ; ) "If your hardcore, make some noise" the crowd responds in the usual fashion, the party has most definitely started! Accompaying the DJs and the MCs the whos hardcore boys have pulled in a couple of well known dancers. Sarah and Emma grace either side of the stage doing what they do. Finishing off the set with "Just a feeling, just a feeling, just a feeling take control" upfront mix its time to take a breather. So two hours in, how we doing then?, so far so good, two quality sets, up for it party crew. Not sure the dancers are that effective though, the stage is not very well lit so they're not very prominent and as is the way in smaller venues they don't have a lot of room to move. Also as the stage is not very raised they can only really be seen by the peeps right at the front. Plus the stage is constantly invaded so theres even less room. Still, up next are residents JB-C and Tiny. JB-C kicks off with an intro he made for this night, Macca takes the stage and we're off. You can tell Raverbaby have just released a bunch of tracks, the sing along crowd anthems my direction and save me take center stage on the first half, then JB-Cs own tune slams in. His track; infinity; starts off with a trance style and then flips to some pounding bass then on again to a d'n'b vibe, Macca lets the crowd know this is JB-Cs tune, "make some noise for JB-C". Noise is indeed made, big up James : ) The music is brought down and DJ Tiny takes the mic to wish some birthday greetings to three peeps, most importantly its the Whos Hardcore main man Sid P's birthday. Sid takes the mic and gives a heartfelt speech on how much he loves everyone whos come down and thanks the crowd at least once ; ) A quick singing of happy birthday then we're back down to business! JB-C slams in with Gammers body flow; a raw pounding track, the last half continues with Sky Diving 06 and the anthem Your shining, the finish is brought to us with the remix of lullaby, time to sing along again : ) So half way through the night and the crowd has built up a bit more, the crowd is still a mix of ravers and non-ravers alike but they're all still here so whos hardcore must be doing something right ; ) Up next, one of my favourite DJs of the moment; Clodhopper takes to stage, if this is anything like normal we are in for an aural treat of bouncy core with a relentless feel, Clo is known for not stopping when DJing, keeping the pace going with samples of other tunes to complement and tonight is no exception. Leading with Caught up in your love then following into "Dj let it spin" the pace is set, 180bpm all the way. But wait whats this.... Clo has brought her own CDJ with her... but theres two here already.... this question is quickly answered as I am lucky enough to be hiding in the DJ booth with Clo and therefore get to watch as three decks are played and three faders are up, absolutely awesome! The crowd may not know that there are three decks but they are loving the tunes. The promoters decide its time to get heavy and ask Clo to turn it up, no complaints from me I tell you, nor the crowd! Time and again Clo is mixing with all three decks keeping it fresh, this is why she is where she is today, a style all her own that keeps the dancefloor hungry for more! On and on we go following through different styles til the first few bars of "Nobody likes" is layed over the top, what a tune! You may have been hearing this out recently by the big DJs but Clo has been playing it longer, respect is due. Clo cuts the sound just after the main speechy bit in the tune and Enemy makes sure the crowd knows who they are bouncing too, if you didn't know before you do now!!! With the quick "big up" done the tune kicks back in. Even more bouncy uplifting core comes flooding out the speakers, "Gonna take you high!" then its all over as the final tune; Timebomb plays in, Enemy calls for more noise and deservedly gets it, what a set! If you haven't been following Clodhopper, keep an eye out, she's slowly making quite a name for herself and deservedly so, this is one DJ who can genuinely be called original. So two hours to go and Cruze is up next, Cruze wastes no time, doing a bit of a cheeky mix over Clo's last tune, "I want to touch you, I want you" then brings it to a halt. Obie takes the stage. The dancers Sarah and Emma are back and they have their own custom made whos Hardcore outfits, bless ya Sarah : ) Whos hardcore peeps you are privileged ; ) Cruze plays an eclectic set bouncing through voodoo people then going harder then darker then suddenly taking us back up with U R My Phantasy, following this a bit of Geos Crew, live for the music and also "hardcore DJ", its strange most times I've heard this I though it was cheesy but somehow in this moment with this DJ it suits really well, maybe it was Cruze's big smile when he played it, who knows. Obie takes full advantage of the tune screaming out "i'm a hardcore MC!" as Cruze cuts the music out. The set plays out with "Once I was lost, now I am found..." then onto stuck in a moment. Once again the night is coming to a close but you know the crowd could carry on well past it, still its Time for the biggest names on the bill tonight, Scotlands technical genius Marc Smith and everybody's favourite Welsh MC, Wotsee. Marc once again plays a varied set with plenty of fader work, I especially enjoyed his teasing of Report 2 the bassline and the slamming mix into Space Oddyssey. Also the scratching was top notch and really added to the set. "I rock the beat the beat the beat", Marc keeps it varied with Raverbabys slammer Pullover. More tunes I can't name are laid on, Marc mixes the styles dropping into a bit of d'n'b style and also slamming in Drop the bomb! Its getting late, you can tell by the way the club owner is wanting the music off.... Marc convinces them to let him have three minutes but its not enough for the final track so with the music brought to a halt its all over. Guess the club owner didn't figure on how much noise ravers make when a night is over, its not like it got any quieter!! Its time for Sid to once more thank the crowd and you can see how passionate he is about whos hardcore. So the night is over and its time to find our way to our respective homes and/or partys, its friday the weekend is young... So what did I think overall. The venue was clean, security were friendly enough, I didn't see any trouble. One gripe which isn't aimed at the promoters is that the only toilets in the club on the bottom floor, hardly a show stopper I'm sure you'll agree, As I said before I don't think the dancers really added to the night and the system wasn't particularly roaring but as ever the crowd were up for it and plenty had made an effort so what more can you ask for? I'm sure that whos hardcore will keep on getting better the crew certainly is full of passionate and talented people so I expect only good things.
