After getting lost for the umpteenth time around Milton Keynes, me and my mates finally arrived at the Sanctuary at about 9.30. Those roundabouts around Milton Keynes make sure your head is spinning before you even set foot inside the venue !! Everyone I was chatting to in the queue seem very hyped up with it being the last but one Skelter and the atmosphere inside more then reflected that. Following a very stringent search by the security I finally got inside. The security were in fact back to their worst. You would think that with the Sanctuary shutting down, they would take a more lenient attitude towards us. But no, they were back to their usual mode of giving endless amount of grief to the ravers....just a bunch of corrupted criminals. As for that old bloke with the walking sticks in the Sanctuary toilets who spies out for the security, nothing would give me more pleasure then to shove one of his walking sticks down his throat until it comes out of his arse and then use him as a bogbrush. Moving on swiftly, the first port of call for me was the Sanctuary. The production on here was impressive as it always is at Helter Skelter. Dave Pratley always delivers the highest caliber production and tonight was no exception. The stage was facing opposite the balcony and the place was already rammed full when I got inside. The rave veteran, DJ Swanee was on the decks alongside the MC Shabba and gave us a wicked selection of jungle business which certainly got me mad blowing on my horn. Mark EG and M-Zone stepped up next to change it to the techno style. Starting off slowly, they gradually built up the tempo of the set, slowly but surely mesmerising the whole crowd into the techno sound. Ribbz who was on the mic, had to stop the music because everyone was screaming the Mark EG chant and everybody had forgotten about poor old M-Zone. So everyone then started screaming M-Zone's name, which doesn't have quite the same ring to it, but still the crowd showed their appreciation to the max. Meanwhile over in the Rollers, Vinylgroover had just stepped up to the wheels of steel. He played a blinding set of trancey sort of stuff blended in with a bit of cheese. He dropped a hardcore remix of the rave classic 'You got the love' by Candi Staton, well it wouldn't be a Vinylgroover set if he didn't a play a few old skool rip-offs !!! Time to aimlessly wonder outside, I thought to myself. The funfair rides were causing the usual mayhem and endless queues. I had a go on the dodgems, well you got to really. You may get whiplash, and you may cause a riot trying to find a free car....but its well worth it :) DJ Sy was next up in the Sanctuary, which was rammed solid to the rafters. Playing stuff like that Braveheart tune, which even after all this time is still sending crowds into euphoria. MC Storm was on the mic as ever, and as usual accomplished maximum appreciation from all the crowd in the arena. Clacton's finest, Force and Styles alongside Junior followed next and for a change didn't play their usual predictable selection. OK, they did slip in 'Higher Ground' and 'Paradise and Dreams' but except for that, it was a wicked set which sent everyone hopping mad from everyone to the balcony right up to all the dancers on stage. There was even a 10 foot high spaceman who was going mad on the dancefloor and I even went up to shake his hand, so I know I wasn't imagining things...or was I :) ??? The atmosphere in general was top throughout the whole night. The last few events have definitely rekindled the old Skelter vibe, lots of happy smiley faces out to meet new raving chums, which is what its all about. You could sense the extra excitement in the whole air, as people were trying to make the most of Skelter before it finally disappears into the wildereness. The good old Birkenhead crew once again behaved themselves all night and just kept themselves to themselves....had someone slipped something into their cans of Special Brew ??? It was now 4.00, which meant it was time for the Vibes and Livelee show over in the Rollers. Livelee was making one of his rare appearances on the mic and although he may have suffered a lack of practice over the last year, he's still an exceptional MC who is loved by all the ravers. Vibes played his usual vocal uplifting tunes, that's known as playing it cheesy if you want to get technical :) Dropping tunes like 'Techno Wonderland' and 'Forever Autumn' made sure everyone was waving their glowsticks mad in the air. Brisk who I think is the best DJ on the scene followed on from Vibes and played his unique bouncy style of hardcore which got everyone going mental on the dancefloor. He played the 'Eye Opener' remix and many other wicked tunes, set of the night for me....keep it up Brisk !! I then decided to venture into the Technodrome for what I hoped would have been Loftgroover playing some mad industrial techno. But instead, like at the last Skelter, Loftgroover was playing drum and bass and once again left the whole Technodrome crowd in a frustrated state of confusion. What an idiot. I'm not against DJs branching out into other styles, but there is a proper time and place for it and Loftgroover has completely ignored that fact. So instead I trundled off to the Sanctuary to catch the sounds of Dougal. Or at least I think it was Dougal, because when I got there, all I was hearing was trance being played. In fact you'd be forgiven for thinking that Mark EG and M-Zone were doing another set, but no, that unmistakable dodgy blond haircut was definitely behind the decks...it was Dougal. I have to say it was a very good set by Dougal and was certainly a lot more invigorating then the usual stuff he's been playing over the last few years. But I get the impression though, this complete change of style for him is simply a case of him jumping on the trance bandwagon. For instance the last song he played was one of his cheesy watered down Innovate tunes, completely out of sync with the rest of his set....I'm not sure whether his heart is really in the trance sound or maybe I'm being too sceptical. The music in general was definitely a lot more refreshing then normal. Certainly sounded to me that the trance sound is well and truly taking over all things hardcore. My only complaint against this is that the music is sounding slightly more mellower and the 'stompiness' factor seems to have diminished a lot from the music. I'm all for making the scene progress in new directions, but lets keep the hard in hardcore. The last hour was now approaching and it was still dark outside. Slipmatt had the job of doing the last set alongside Charlie B in the Sanctuary, which was still rammed full. Once again, Slipmatt played a wicked set with his usual mix of banging tunes and even dropped in a few older tunes for good measure. Rounding off the night with the wicked 'On a Ragga Tip' remix and finally dropping some tune called 'Shooting Star'....well, we'll forgive him for that :) Overall it was an excellent night, certainly made me think how much I'm really going to miss Helter Skelter and what a loss to the scene it will be. But seeing that many ravers rammed into the venue also sounded to me that there is more then enough support out there to make sure our scene is around for a long time to come. Big shouts and hellos to : Kev, Chedda, Time, Nita, Tina, Icekid, Andrew, Jo, Taffy, KRS, Bug, Michelle, Charmy, Smithers, Cakes, Stuart, Chrissy, Uplift, Roo, Adidas Matt, Conrad, DJ U.D, Mad Marvin, MC Whizzkid, Radium....see you all on a dancefloor very soon :) !!!!
