It looks like the Helter Skelter era is finally coming to an end. This was a wicked event even by skelter standards and I will really miss this when it goes. Helter Skelter is almost like a religion for so many people and for me it is now starting to sink in that it really is finishing for good. I went down in a party of 13 and we got there at about 9:45. We were in for 10:00 and as we walked in I could see that it was the most rammed that it had been since NYE. Obvioulsy everyone wanted to make the most of skelter while it is still here. The queue for the cloakroom was massive so I had to miss Breeze, although his set sounded pretty good from outside, with Storm and Whizzkid on the mike. Shout to Whizzkid who I was chatting to a few times through the night, and also to Storm who sadly told me that the rumours about the Sanctuary closing are true. Yes, after NYE there will be no more raves at the Denbeigh Leisure Complex as it is being sold off to a land developer. Then I headed off to the meetup to see plenty of the USH NET crew there. Big shouts to Time, Kev, Slammin Sam, Smithers, Bug, Michelle, Andrew, Jo, Tina, Mad Marvin, Charmy, Cakes, Adidas Matt, Radium and Icekid. At 11:30 I went to see Vinylgroover who did a good banging set and then after that came Hixxy who played a good trancey set. I then went to the 1:00 meetup. At 1:15 was a set that I was really looking forward to, which was Sy and Storm. These two make a brilliant double act and Sy played his usual flawless set including a new remix of DJ Jean's "The Launch". The crowd were going mad in this set and towards the end of it Storm called for some noise for "The one and only Helter Skelter" at which the whole arena just erupted. Next up were Force and Styles and they did a fairly good set but it was let down slightly by the odd dire tune such as "Higher Ground". I was very surprised to see that they have been given the midnight set at NYE skelter. Force and Styles are quite good and they have improved since Junior returned but it should have been given to someone like Sy or Slipmatt. I then went to the 3rd meetup at 3:00 and we went upstairs and sat in the bowling alley for a while. The set of the night followed at 3:45 with Vibes and Live Lee. I thought that Live Lee had packed it in and I would never see him at an event again so it was really good to see him here. Everybody seems to love DJ Vibes and he played a great happy bouncy set to get the crowd going. The last set at NYE skelter has been given to Vibes and Live Lee, and rightly so. I can't think of anyone that I would rather spend my last skelter moments with. The next set was Brisk but I only saw the last ten minutes or so. Right at the end someone collapsed right in front of me and that was really scary. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Last but one was Dougal and at first it was difficult to tell who was playing. Dougal was playing a much more trancey style , similar to Hixxy's, although he did throw in a couple of cheesy tunes in at the end. Last set was Slipmatt and he finished the night off well. He played a good stomping set with a few trancier tunes thrown in. As soon as I came out I picked up a flyer for NYE and checked out the ticket price. £99 is less that I thought it would be, although for me you can't put a value on it. The fact that it's Millenium Eve isn't really that important. What is important is that it's the last ever Helter Skelter. I feel a bit depressed that there is only one more event to come and I really will miss it when it's gone. Decadance once again showed just how good Helter Skelter really is. It's by far the best rave around at the moment, probably one of the best there's ever been, and in a few years time people will look back and acknowledge that. Don't any of you even think about missing their NYE event.
