For me the original event was the best rave I'd ever been to. This was my 15th event and 18 months exactly since my first rave so it held special significance for me. I was curious to see whether this rematch would match up to the original and I was not disappointed. I was late being picked up by my mate DJ TIME (sort it out for next time!) and then we didn't get there until about 9:00. We managed to jump in the queue by our friends and were in for 9:30. I bought my glow rods and went straight into Vinyltrixta alongside the Storm. He played a good set as usual. I find it hard to believe that skelter do not give him a regular slot as he is quality through and through. Next up was Hixxy. He seems to have completely made the transition to trance although he still played a good set. I then made my way to the meet up. I can't remember which meet up the different people went to but there were plenty of people there. Hello to Charm, Smithers, Paul, Joe Retro, Caine, Peter, Raver Dave, Bug and a special mention to Adidas Matt who I saw on numerous occasions throughout the night. At one point he was even doing some kind of Irish kig with me. Heh heh. After the meet up was Vinylgroover. He seems to have gone more trancey in recent months although he did drop the most recent Discoland remix. Then came Sy and Unknown with yet another flawless set. They are very popular and it is no wonder as they are always exceptional. Undoubtedly the biggest talking point of the night came from an ugly incident which arose from this set. I saw it happen but I didn't learn the full story until I spoke to Adidas Matt. A pisshead wanker jumped up on stage and proceeded to try it on with one of the stage dancers. She told him to get lost then he punched her in the face. She is DJ Seduction's girlfriend and Seduction came flying out of nowhere and floored the pisshead with a storming punch. He hit him some more and then finished off by booting him in the head from a short run up. Seduction was absolutely furious but in my opinion his actions were completely justified as hitting women is bang out of order, especially as she was merely doing a job she had been hired to do. It was obvious that everyone else felt the same way as nobody made any attempt to hold Seduction back. The obvious reaction is to say that the pisshead was from Birkenhead but I don't think he was as he looked about 30 and most of the Birkenhead are about 18. They were fairly well behaved by their standards except for their usual trick of jumping on stage and pissing off the MC's. Seduction was up next and he played a good set as well. I only saw half of Brisk as I went over to the Rollers to see some D and B. I saw half of Brockie and then half of Ray Keith and they were both good. I was dancing there in my trademark waistcoat and nobody seemed to mind, with the atmosphere being quite friendly. I saw the last half of Force and Styles. I have never been a big fan of theirs but since the return of Junior their style is beginning to grow on me. I still don't like "Feelin' Fine" but I am beginning to like some of their songs. The next set should have been Vibes but he had swapped with Dougal for some reason. He was alongside Stixxman which is a bit of a rarity for Hardcore Heaven. They played a quality set as well. Vibes was on next but once again there was no Live Lee. I find this very frustrating as this means he has missed four events out of the last six I've been to. I know he has a wife and kid now but if he is not going to turn up then he shouldn't have his name put on the flyers. Despite an in-depth discussion with Adidas Matt about Live Lee's merits I still think he is number one though. Vibes still played a good set but he was lacking the extra edge that Live Lee gives him. Slipmatt played the last set and it was quite good although it was a bit quiet in terms of noise as I think most of the ravers there were genuinely tired after a manic night. My calves were aching anyway. :) For me this event was as good as the original event but the non-appearance of Live Lee was what prevented it from being better. The two Slammin Vinyl vs Hardcore Heaven events are the two best raves I've been to and I hope they do another soon.
