Who remembers raving back in the day when breakbeat ruled the ravescene? When every Dj, MC and raver all came together and partied hard under one roof until the break of dawn? Do you remember raving at venues like Crystal Palace? Lydd Airport? The Roller Express? The Ravedome in Hounslow? If your answer was yes to any of the above then perhaps like me, you spend most of your time reminiscing and wishing that maybe one day a huge whirlwind will blow us all back to the early 90's so we can start raving all over again. But all is not lost! That passionate old skool vibe that we once cherished is back with a vengeance and appears in the form of Ravenation! Hosted at the famous Bagleys film studios in Kings Cross for just a tenner in advance promoter Terry Turbo worked flat out to present us with four massive arenas and 26 Djs playing every tune you ever wanted in your record collection from the golden years of 1990, on into the melodius years of the rolling breakbeat and right up into the early days of some '94/95 jungle. Something for everybody? Absolutely! And if you didn't - I'll be handing you over to my good friend Jesus for a stern talking to. Prior engagements had caused me to turn up at Ravenation a little late and. might I say a little angered at the fact I had missed the start of the night with DJs Squirrel and Hype. Tunes like 'Go' by Moby and other 89-90 classics were being spun by DJ Blind downstairs in the small, yet cosily full arena four which was left in the capable hands of the Wax City Records crew for the duration of the night. Arenas one,two and tnree however were not quite as oxygenated - due to severe lack of space on the dancefloor ravers were hanging off the stage, climbing the walls and suspended from the ceiling but, hey! The more the people the bigger the party! DJ Phantasy was on the decks in arena one playing '31 Seconds' by Origin Unknown, nicely moulding and shaping his set for a breakbeat hungry crowd alongside the legendary MC Robbie Dee. But what is all that noise coming from arena two? Curiosity having got the better of me in the end, I decided to take a stroll into the room next door to find out what all the racket was about. My breath was then taken away! MC Suicide had introduced DJ Vibes onto the decks and in a desperate attempt to try and regain some of the air that was snatched from my lungs, I found myself on the floor on one knee - the atmosphere was electric! The whistles, the horns, the random calls for rewinds and those spine-tingling roars from the crowd as tunes like 'SMD 1' and 'Lock Up' by Zero B were brought into the mix made this the highlight of the evening for me and many, many others. Cor blimey Vibes - what a blinder!! Over in arena three the distinctive piano from MA2's 'Lighter' could be heard - it was good to see DJ SS giving the jump-up junglists a run for their money! The famous Bagleys chill-out area was practically deserted all night long - I came to the conclusion that every raver had decided the music was far too good to leave any of the arenas at any one point! What more can I possibly say about this rave? The atmosphere remained electric. Djs Billy Bunter, Jimmy-J, Spinback and Top Buzz made sure of that by presenting us with all the breakbeat anthems you could ever get your head around in one night! Uh-oh, only two hours to go and who better to take us through the last 120 minutes than the moulders and creators of the early ravescene themselves - who better than Ratpack and Slipmatt. I was standing in a comer I was searchin' for my Rizia " Oh yes! M&M's 'I Feel This Way'. 'Ravin' I'm Ravin' by Shut Up And Dance and 'far Out' Sonz Of A Loop Da Loop Era were just a few of the tunes that kept us on that dancefloor until the final whistle was blown. And last but by no means least. an answer to Mr Evenson 'Ratpack' Allen's question: Who thinks old skool will be running things in 1999??" It already is mate, and as long as the realisation continues to exist with the promotors of Rave-nation. The future for old skool is bright.
