C L U B  R E V I E W S

Back to Basics @ Rehab, Leeds, Saturday 2nd February 2003.

Back to Basics is well known to be one of the best house nights in the country. It has recently moved venue from the Mint club to Rehab. This was the first time I have been to Rehab and I have to say it is one of the nicest clubs I have ever been in, perfect for a night such as Basics. It is a very plush club with two rooms, the second room is essentially a large balcony overlooking the main room. The communal toilets in Rehab are done up as if they are cabins in a ship which I think is a nice touch and as an added bonus all the staff are drest up as nurses.
As per usual the club was full within about 15 minutes of it opening which is not surprising given the excellent line-up. This goes to show just how popular Basics is, not many nights could fill a 600 capacity club within 15 minutes of it opening.
The music tonight was great with Simon Mu and Back to Basics owner Dave Beer playing in the second room. Both played good funky house sets throwing in some good bootlegs keeping this room alive all night long from 10 until 6. In the main room, first up was resident Ralph Lawson who played a great set, warming the crowd up for the night ahead. Next up was Bear Who?, Before tonight I had never seen him play a DJ set, but he was fantastic and the crowd loved him. The last set of the night was by the man everyone had come to see, US house giant, DJ Sneak. His set was amazing, the whole club was going wild for the whole hour and a half. The pinnacle of this set was when Sneak played, "Fix my Sink" live with Bear Who? on vocals, everyone in the club was jumping up and down with their hands in the air.
This was a great night and I strongly encourage everyone to get down to Basics, it is brilliant.

Thanks to Dave Beer and everyone at Back to Basics.

  By Tom " Cheggs" Paton.

 

Sundissential  North

New  years  day

1^st  January,  Evolution,  Leeds

This  was  the  last  Sundissential  at  Evolution  in  Leeds  and  if  you  missed  it  you  are  a  fool,  although  I  am  guessing  you  probably  didn’t  miss  it  as  the  place  was  packed.  The  line-up  for  this  day  was  extremely  good  as  it  always  is  at  North  on  new  years  day  with  many  of  the  top  hard  house  DJ,s  playing.

As  usual,  Funkissential  took  over  Rosie’s  bar  next  door  with  the  Trophy  Twins  playing  a  good  long  funky  set.  The  atmosphere  in  here  was  as  good  as  I’ve  ever  seen  it.

Room  two  was  definitely  the  busiest  I  have  ever  seen  it.  The  atmosphere  in  here  was  amazing  all  night  and  a  well  done  to  whoever’s  idea  it  was  to  have  World’s  strongest  man  on  the  video  screens  as  I  forgot  to  video  it.  Lee  Haslam,  Eddy  Halliwell  and  Nick  Rafferty  all  played  great  set.  I  couldn’t  tell  you  much  about  Charlotte  Birch’s  set  as  I  was  to  busy  staring  at  the  former  lingerie  models  other  set.  The  medal  for  best  set  in  this  room  in  my  opinion  has  to  however  go  to  Ian  M.  His  set  was  absolutely  bangin’n  mixing  classic  and  new  tunes.  Possibly  the  only  DJ  who  I  have  seen  a  large  amount  of  times  and  never  heard  play  a  bad  set.

The  main  room  was  just  chaos.  It  was  absolutely  rammed  and  the  atmosphere  was  electric.  In  this  room  were  Jez  and  Charlie,  Tolley  and  Mark  Gray  who  played  a  blinding  set,  the  best  set  I  have  ever  heard  him  play.  Andy  Farley  played  a  great  set  mixing  his  usual  hard  tunes  with  some  tunes  with  a  bit  of  a  trancy  feel.  As  per  usual  Paul  Glazby  played  nice  and  hard  really  hyping  the  crowd  up.  The  last  set  of  the  night  was  by  Rob  Tissera  playing  his  usual  style  of  vocal  hard  house.

To  sum  up,  this  day  was  great  and  a  sign  of  the  quality  of  Sundissential  nights  to  come  in  2003.

By  Tom  “Cheggs”  Paton

Sundissential  North

Tony  De  Vit  Memorial

 1^st  December  2002,  Evolution,  Leeds

This  promised  to  be  a  great  day  and  night  with  an  impressive  line  up.  Sundissential  North  is  one  of  the  most  popular  club  nights  in  the  country  and  this  was  evident  at  an  early  stage  in  the  day  with  the  2000  capacity  Evolution  being  packed.  The  nice  thing  about  Sundissential  is  it  is  a  very  friendly  club  attracting  a  wide  variety  of  people.

Funkissential  has  been  a  large  part  of  Sundissential  for  around  a  year  now  and  proved  very  popular  on  this  night  with  the  Trophy  Twins  taking  charge  of  the  decks  in  the  funky  room  in  the  bar  next  to  Evolution.  There  was  a  really  nice  atmosphere  in  here  all  night  with  everyone  dancing  from  those  who  came  specifically  for  Funkissential  to  those  just  taking  a  rest  from  the  other  two  harder  rooms.  There  is  also  now  a  Funkissential  night  running  once  a  month  at  the  Mint  club  in  Leeds  that  you  should  all  check  out.

The  second  room  was  being  run  by  Goodgreef.  In  here  there  was  a  great  selection  of  hard  trance  and  hard  house  with  goodgreef  residents,  Alex  Kidd  and  Adam  Sheridan.  New  Goodegreef  resident,  Shan,  played  a  blinding  set,  in  my  opinion  the  best  set  in  this  room.  Eddy  Halliwell  who  is  always  a  crowd  pleaser  rounded  this  room  off with  a  good  set.

The  main  room  on  this  night  was  the  place  to  be.  The  atmosphere  in  here  was  great  all  night  made  even  better  by  so  many  fine  women  walking  and  dancing  about.  In  this  room  were  DJ’s  Mark  Grey,  Rob  Tissera,  Anne  Savage,  Lee  Haslam,  The  Tidy  Boys,  Jez  and  Charlie  and  Carl  Nicholson.  The  best  set  however  was  the  final  set,  the  3  hour  back 2 back  spectacular  between  Andy  farley  and  Ian  M.  These  two  have  been  in  the  hard  house  scene  for  a  long  time  and  never  disappoint  always  playing  great  sets  that  are  nice  and  hard.  All  I  can  really  say  about  their  set  is  that  it  was  fucking  banging,  one  of  the  best  sets  I  have  ever  seen.

Sundissential  is  always  a  great  night  out  and  I  strongly  suggest  you  check  the  new  year  parties.  For  listings  check  your  e-mail  accounts  if  you  are  on  our  mailing  list  or  go  to  our  preview  page.

 Big  thanks  to  Madder’s  at  Sundissential.

 By  Tom  “  Cheggs”  Paton

Federation at The Blank Canvas, Granary  Wharf, Leeds

November 2nd, 10pm-4am

       Federation is one of the top funky house nights about hosted by Fibre
which is one of the most popular bars in Leeds. The Blank Canvas can be found
through a tunnel in Granary Wharf, next to the Hilton Hotel and behind Leeds
railway station. Don’t however look down the river down the tunnel, it scared
the hell out of me.
       The venue itself is terrific with a large main room under an arch and a
semi outdoor chill out area. The club was set out brilliantly for Federation
with great décor and cages in the centre of the dance floor with semi naked
boys and girls dancing in them alnight. We were also entertained by the
performers on stage including dancers, robots ( in line with the futuristic
theme of the night) and those crazy people who play
with angle grinders.
      The music in Federation was fantastic with DJ’s Tony Walker, Stuart
Robinson and Matt Cosway to name but a few. It isn’t very often you go on a
night out and don’t notice any mixing mistakes but I didn’t notice any tonight.
The music was excellent and the sound system made it even better churning out
the funky house basslines as clean as a whistle.
      The atmosphere at Federation was excellent alnight with everyone getting
really in to the night. Most who go to Federation have tickets beforehand so
you don’t get random people off the street who aren’t into the night and the
music coming.
     This was the first time I have been to Federation and I thought it was
fantastic, I would put up there as one of the top nights in the country so I
recommend you try it out. Federation happens on the first Saturday of every
month but I suggest you go on December 7th for the Christmas special which will
have a pantomine theme and special guest DJ Alan Thompson (DTPM), who made his
name at legendary gay night Trade. For more info check out
www.clubfederation.com. Previews for new years eve and other upcoming
Federation nights will be on Dancenation soon.

By Tom “Cheggs” Paton

Big thanks to Mark at Fibre.

Urban Kiss @ Bed Nightclub, Sheffield 2nd May 2002

For all you garage lovers out there the urban kiss party at Bed in Sheffield was definitely the place to be on May 2nd. On the decks, none other than the uk garage scene pioneers Artful Dodger, Radio 1 and Dreem Teem's Timmi Magic, Jason Fakeerah, Mensa, Razor, CK and the one and only More Fire Crew performing a live PA of their chart hit 'Oi!'. The atmosphere inside was blistering, partly due to the intimacy of the club. Spread between two room's Urban Kiss was the first event (hopefully in a series) of new urban nights in Sheffield. The second room was filled with laid back r and b, hip hop and smooth grooves - a nice little escape if you needed a break from the other room. Bed is one of Sheffields most popular venues, primarily dedicated to funky house but yet again in association with players lounge they managed to put on a storming night. Look out for the up coming Urban Kiss movie that was filmed on the night in sheffield, you never know you may have a little cameo! We'll have further news on forthcoming  Urban Kiss Nights

Thanks to Tabbi and all at Urban Kiss

BACK TO BASICS @ The Mint Club, Harrison Street, Leeds.

Erick Morrillo - Subliminal Sessions

We're big fans of Dave Beer and his Back2Basics night and we weren't disappointed by the show they put on when one of the biggest names in house music graced the turntables of the mint club. The Leeds faithful turned up in their masses to celebrate in style. With some blinding line-ups over these past few and coming weeks, it seems as though back2basics is going from strength to strength in Leeds. The very intimate mint club creates a warm atmosphere, with the extremely individual outside chill out area which provides relief for tired clubbers! My second visit to back2basics and I'll certainly be there again, full of surprises and always different - if you've not been yet, you're missing out

Thanks to Dave Beer and all at Back to Basics for a superb night

BACK TO BASICS @ The Mint Club, Harrison Street, Leeds.

Saturday March 16^th

  Back to Basics is one of the longest running nights around. It opened in 1991 and since then has gone from strength to strength with house DJ Dave Beer at the helm. Basics is held at the Mint club every Saturday which is a beautiful and glamerous venue with lovely mint coloured walls and CD’s hanging off the ceiling. It is the perfect venue for a night such as Basics.

  On this particular night the music was absolutely spot on with resident James Holroyd, guests Domenic Cappello and Harri all doing excellent sets. The music policy at Basics is house and over the years most of the best house DJ’s in the world have played there. The Mint Club is fairly small holding only 600 people but that is what makes the atmosphere so great and you know that everyone there loves the music. On this night the dance floor was heaving from when it opened at 10pm to 6am the following morning. For those that want a rest from dancing there is an excellent semi- outside chill out area. Another thing about this club is it has some of the friendliest staff I have ever come across.

  To conclude Basics is an outstanding night and I suggest you go soon. There are some fantastic DJ’s in the coming weeks such as Erick Morillo on 27^th April, Fatboy Slim on 4^th May, Hernan Cattaneo on 11^th May, Tom Stephan on 18^th May and layo and Bushwacka on the 25^th.

  For more info go to www.backtobasics.co.uk.

  Thanks to Dave Beer and all at Basics.

By Tom “Cheggs” Paton

Tidy Trax Christmas Party @ The Republic, Sheffield

    Tidy Trax events are always unbelievable nights of fun, with everybody being included in all the silly antics. I had been looking forward to this event for a while & if it was anything like the last one then we would all be in for a mad night! For one night only Tidy Trax had forced out the mighty Gatecrasher from it's home so that we could all celebrate the festive period in style!

The Republic had been decorated with all things tidy and had sold out days in advance of the night. The club was full to the rafters by 11:30 and the atmosphere was wicked. The line up for the event was a list of the cream of hard house djing talent. The stars of the night were definatly Lee Haslam, The Tidy Boys, Eddie Haliwell & the mighty Paul Glazby. The music was great all night with uplifting hard house & hard trance being played to a well up for it crowd. The night was finished perfectly by Glazby upping the pase and exchanging the uplifting tunes for some fats & dirty hard house.

The only thing that was wrong about the whole night was the fact that the afterparty was cancelled at the last minute (thanks alot Sheffield City Counci!!). Apart from that the event went off without any problems & certainly everybody that i spoke to had a great time. Roll on next christmas!!

The next Tidy Trax event is thier weekender in April. This looks like it will be an absolute stormer not to be missed. For more information go to:-

http://www.tidy.com

Many thanks to Lee Haslam & Richard Skaife @ Tidy for sorting everything out for us.

BASE, LEEDS

Base @ The Space is a Leeds institution. It is a top notch student night that relys on people turning up to listen to quality music rather than cheap drinks. The lineup for the night included Matt Hardwick headlining and the residents Jez & Charlie, & DJ GRH.
In the second room Phil Hooton plays quality funky house for a glammed up crowd.

Jez & Charlie begin the night in style with a set of old classic trance. This gets the crowd going well and by 11:30 the club is full and ready for Matt Hardwick. Matt played a set of pumping trance in his typical Gatecrasher style. This goes down well with the crowd and the atmosphere in the club is electric. The final set of the night is played by the resident Dj GRH. After the trance of Matt Hardwick GRH plays out some evil hard house. All credit should be given to a dj who does not just stick to the classic big tunes. GRH played an excellent varied hard house set without touching any of the usual 'classics'.

Base is a student night with a difference & the atmosphere in The Space is second to none. Look out for monthly reviews of Base and interviews with the residents and the Headlining Dj's.

For more information go to www.baseevents.com

Ben Stevens

GODSKITCHEN @ AMNESIA, IBIZA
                                                                         

     Amnesia is one of the worlds best clubs in San Rafael in Ibiza. Every Tuesday Godskitchen host a night there. Amnesia is huge with a capacity of 6000. As soon as you step in to this place you will be blown away, this club is fantastic.
     Amnesia has two huge rooms, The second room on this night being hosted by Babooshka, for those who like it a little more funky and the main room by Godskitchen.
     The doors opened at midnight and the place was full by about one. First up in the main room was Tiesto who played a blinding progressive trance set which got the huge crowd pumped for the night ahead. Tiesto is monthly resident for Godskithen Ibiza and is really worth going to see if your out there when he is playing.
     Next up was Fergie who played the best set I have ever seen him play, he was absolutely brilliant. The hard Picotto style techno he is playing now dicks on the hard house he used to play. The crowd were going mental during this set which was added to every time the amazing dry ice machine was blasted into the crowd when basslines were dropped. You've got to experience the dry ice machine if you haven't already. The atmosphere in the place was at boiling point during Fergies set. Fergie is weekly resident at Godskitchen Ibiza, and if he keeps playing like he did on the 16th someone is going to make a lot of money.
     Ferry Corsten played the last set of the night taking us through to 7:00am. He played some great tunes keeping the crowd alive until the end. He is one of the best trance DJ's at the moment and in a place like Amnesia just excels himself.
     The Babooshka room was also great alnight with everyone loving dancing to the funky beats. This room had a certain classy edge to it leading to a terrific atmosphere.
     All I could say after this night was, "Amnesia, Godskitchen and Fergie, f'ing rule."


By Tom "Cheggs" Paton

Thanks to Felicia @ Godskitchen

For more information go to www.godskitchen.com
 

After only finding out that I was supposed to be driving down to Winchester 2 hours before we left I was unsure how i would feel as we made the trek down to homelands. After much getting lost on he journey we finally arrive at 5pm to the sounds of Judge Jules on the Radio 1 Outdoor Sound Stage. I was very impressed. By this time last year i was standing in mud up to my eyeballs but this year there was not a drop of rain to be felt anywhere. Once again the arenas were set up to a magnificent scale with top quality lighting and sound systems (or so I thought!). I was full of memories of two years earlier with everybody enjoying themselves in the sun rather than the image of somebody in a blow up dinghy from last year!

The Erricson @ Home arena once again played host to the major headlining acts and DJ's such as Paul van Dyk and Orbital. Pulp were the first act that we managed to catch in this arena and to my surprise they were actually very good. The arena was almost full and it was a great start to the night with a bit of more chilled out music compared with what was to come. Orbital played a superb set and they definatly captivated the 15000 people that were dancing around to them. They were a tough act to follow but Mr. Paul van Dyk managed to do it with ease. Dropping tunes such as Members of Mayday - 10 In 1 and a mix of Underworld's - Born Slippy he sent the crowd absolutely wild. Other acts such as the Orb and Dj Spoony from the Dreem Team were also very well received and it is good to see a dance music festival putting on more acts and band like this.

Arena 2 was the Radio 1 Essential Twilo arena and played host to Radio 1's Essential mix from Pete Tong. This arena was rammed fully all day and night and with Dj's such as Sasha, John Digweed, Steve Lawler, Nick Warren, Timo Mass, Danny Howells and Craig Richards it is not really that surprising.

The End hosted 2 arenas. One playing host to the techno sounds of Richie Hawtin and Darren Emerson and another showcasing the best talents of the Drum & Bass Dj's and Mc's. Carl Cox was absolutely stunning at 6 in the afternoon and the tent was bursting at the seams and in the drum & bass arena Roni Size and Andy C ensured that the tent was rockin' to the early hours!

An arena that was always going to be hugely popular was the Slinky arena. This played host to all the major Dj's in the Trance and hard House scenes. Dj's such as Judge Jules, John Kelly and Rob Tissera kept all of the Trance fans happy whilst Lisa lashes and Anne Savage played a back to back set from 4 until 6 am to keep all of the stragglers going.

Space in Ibiza, one of the best clubs in the world in my mind, also hosted an arena at Homelands. This was another arena that had simply some of the best Dj's that the world has to offer. Sasha and Steve Lawler played second sets in the arena but the main attraction for many was the main man himself Danny Tenaglia. This arena was the only one to have a proper wooden floor which meant that there were a fair few people sitting down which was a shame because the whole place was rockin'!

Back 2 Bacsics hosted an arena in association with Jockey Slut magazine. Unfortunately this arena was only partly full all night, event though it too had a superb line up with Danny Rampling, Erick Morillo and the Basics resident Ralph Lawson. Basics in Leeds @ The Mint Club is definatly worth a visit if you have not been yet, for a night of fun funky house and with Dave Beer as your host, who knows what will happen?

The final arena was the Resident All Stars arena. This contained Dj's from clubs all around the country. It was quite funny to see the whole crowd change every 45 minutes as 'their' resident began or ended his set. It was a great idea though as it gave some of the hard working residents around the country to play at one of the worlds biggest events.

We must not forget the Bud Ice Bus either. with a great lineup of Norman Jay, Groove Armada, Adam Freeland and Jaques Lu Cont this converted double decker bus was great to chill out to before the night really set in. The funky beats and breaks were the perfect tune to listen to with a cool beer and your mates. I hope that the Bud Ice Bus manages to make it to the other festivals of the summer. 

Overall Homelands 2001 went very well and there were no rivers running through the slinky tent at 4 in the morning this year either! However the one thing that I always moan about at festivals is the sound systems. They are always great during the day and during the night but by the time that 4 am arrives they suddenly go completely shit! I had the pleasure of seeing Anne Savage and Lisa lashes for 2 hours at the end of the night and they were great, except for the fact that the sound system was so quiet that i could have a perfect conversation with the person next to me and i was basically dancing in a bass bin!!! So the message goes out to any promoters that are doing festivals this summer or are planning one for next year GET THE SOUND SYSTEMS SORTED OUT SO THAT WE CAN ENJOY OURSELVES RIGHT UNTIL THE END OF THE NIGHT PLEASE.

However overall the Homelands festival 2001 was a roaring success, bring on the Gatecrasher Summer Sound System for some more fun in the sun!

Well we always knew that this was going to be a mission. After a heavy night on the Friday and a rather speedy drive up to Leeds on the Saturday another night out was in store. A night of fun was had at Gods Kitchen at Leeds Town Hall, but that was not the end. Sundissential was in store and what a weekend it was. I am just glad that the following Monday was a bank holiday because nothing was going to happen then!!

At 2o'clock in the afternoon on the Sunday I did not want to make the 5 minute drive to Evolution. In fact I did not even want to get out of bed for about 3 weeks. However I was pushed out the door by the ever up for it Dave and on we went for another 10 hours of 'fun'. 

Sundissential North is quite a sight, as it is located in the middle of  a leisure park. So at 2o'clock on a Sunday each month 2500 nutters descend upon this 'entertainment centre' to go nuts to some of the best Hard House in the country. There was a mixture of Cross Dressers, Sunny D kids and body builders and all of them were being pointed at by kids who had just come out of the matinee performance at the cinema across the car park! It was going to be a good afternoon.

The line up was as good as ever, with Rob Tissera, Charlotte Birch, Andy Farley, Jez & Charlie, The Disco Brothers and Nick Rafferty. All played top quality music and had the place going wild in the main room. However I was most impressed by the second room. This consisted entirely of Sundissential members DJing. this is the only club that I can think of that has a whole room dedicated for it's members.

As has been well documented, Sundissential has had a difficult past year and a half. However Madders and Danny are determined to put this behind them and get Sundissential back to full health. I was therefore very impressed by the fact that everybody is thoroughly searched when they enter, there are paramedics continuously walking around the club, free cups of water are available at all the bars and there are members from the D Cubed organisation on hand to give advice to clubbers. This showed us that Sundissential does care about it's members and hopefully it will continue to strive.

Overall a top quality night was had by all of us and I am sure that we will be visiting Sundissential in one of it's other forms very soon.

An interview with Madders is coming very soon.

For more information about Sundissential click www.sundissential.com

For your own Sundissential email address click www.sundissential.co.uk

I had been looking forward to this event for a while, as it would mark Dance Nations first trip to the legendary Sanctuary and Rollers warehouses in Milton Keynes. I had heard a lot about this venue and everybody told me that it was the best venue for raves in the UK. I have been to the Bowlers in Manchester and that was stunning so I was soon to find out if the Sanctuary would compare.

First impressions of the venue were good, there was a large queue to get in and that usually means that a good night is in store. Similar to most rave venues in the country, I had been told that the security would be rough and to stay well away from them. However they were very friendly, but at the same time they searched everybody that I saw very well and quickly with no hassle at all.

Once we were in we headed straight for the Rollers to listen to the sounds of Billy Bunter. It was a good start to the night with some pounding hard house to awaken the senses. The layout and decor of the rollers was good and it seemed like Slammin had actually out a lot of time into making this rave a good one! The sound-system was loud and  the lighting was top notch. Energy was up next and he was playing his traditional trancecore and freeform and this went down especially well at the beginning of the night. Mark EG as always was producing a set that all bedroom Dj's should aspire to. Each and every track that he dropped sent the crowd mental. Scott Brown played a mixed set of some of the classics and some of his newer bouncy hardcore and gabba. This was a good set overall and a nice change to hear some new material. Dougal stepped in for Brisk who was in America and he played a wicked set of some of his new tracks and some crowd pleasers. The Rat Pack played a set of some good old skool favorites, but I am sure that it was exactly the same as the last time I saw them? The last set in the Rollers was Sy with Storm. I was very impressed with Sy as usual. His scratching was perfect and the tracks that he played kept everybody in the Rollers dancing right up until 6 o clock! The Rollers was absolutely mental all night long.

At the back of the Rollers the Hard House and Trance Room was located. Normally when you go into a room like this at the beginning of the night you would expect some slightly softer hard house or trance. This was definatly not the case. The first Dj that we saw was Mistress Mo and she was playing some dirty hard house! This trend continued throughout the night with Charlotte Birch, Jon Doe, Ed Real and Sarge all playing wicked sets. The last 1 1/2 hours was played by M-Zone and he was dropping some techno influenced trance. This was without doubt one of the best sets of the night, and you could tell that the tracks were wicked when the bass was making it difficult to breathe.

The Sanctuary played host to Drum & Bass All night long. Again Slammin had spent time on making sure that the layout and the decor of the Sanctuary was all perfect. As always with Drum & Bass arenas it was packed all night. The sets by all the Dj's were great and especially Swift b2b with Phantasy. The Old Skool room was located up stairs in the Sanctuary and this was good also. There was a nice mixture of some of the old classics and the more jungle influenced tracks.

Overall the Sanctuary and Rollers arenas are great places to have major raves like Slammin Vinyl and they beat Bagley's so easily that I wonder why Slammin use Bagley's at all! However the Sanctuary does not quite beat the Bowlers in Manchester, probably due to the sheer size of the Bowlers. 

The karting in the Magna Carta warehouse was a nice touch and I did not see any injuries all night! However the bungee jump was definatly only for the nutters amongst you!!

Lets hope that Slammin Vinyl returns to the Sanctuary soon!

For more information about Slammin Vinyl visit :-

www.slamminvinyl.co.uk

Many thanks to Michael @ Slammin Vinyl for sorting everything out for us

The next big thing came to Media, Nottingham on Friday night, Trevor Nelson with his partner in crime and fellow DJ Hanif entertained a packed out nightclub. The superbly kitted out Media has plenty to offer the R ‘n’ B crowd with its great lay-out and rather chilled out atmosphere. DJ Diggz started the night with some soulful grooves, then it was left to Hanif to whip then crowd into a frenzy. It was left to the biggest man in R ‘n’ B Trevor Nelson to finish the night in style. Favorite floor fillers were packed in from start to finish, with Missy Elliot, Outkast, Crooklyn Clan and Dr Dre all making the crowd go wild. The night ‘Soul’ is self promoted by Hanif and Trevor Nelson – perhaps this is the key to a successful event. They’re priming ‘Soul’ to take over from the ‘Lick’ parties that are held up and down the country.

One thing that made the evening even better was the atmosphere within the venue – some people may associate r ‘n’ b and garage events with trouble, yet this wasn’t evident here. R ‘n’ B is surely going to be the next best thing in music – take a look at any music charts and you’ll see what a huge part it plays in the music world today – it could go any number of places, and with nights like this, you can guarantee that it’ll be around for many more years to come.

Renaissance @ Media – March 31^st 2001

Ninth Birthday Party

What better a way to kick start April than this awesome night put on to celebrate 9 years of Renaissance. Carl Cox wooed the crowd with some amazing tracks, my favourite of which was the new release from Harry ‘Choo Choo’ Romero. The club itself is superb – concentrating on a futuristic style, high tech renaissance period of furnishings – the music just fly’s through you. Danny Howells provided further entertainment, dazzling the crowd on the wheels of steel. Never have a I seen such an atmosphere that there was in Media that night – the place was packed from wall to wall. 

Slammin' Vinyl 2nd February @ Bagley's Warehouses

The Dance Nation team once again made the long journey down to London for the Slammin Vinyl event on the 2nd February 2001 at Bagley's in Kings Cross. This is the huge venue that hosts the major night Freedom on a Saturday but the Friday night is usually saved for different promoters.

On arrival the sight of the queue was to say the least disturbing! There seemed to be thousands of ravers all waiting very patiently to go and let off to some of their favorite music. Luckily we were on the guest list so in we went to have fun with the Security. However they were no trouble at all. They did a thorough search of all of us but it was quick and efficient and no bad attitudes at all! This made a nice change as the security at Bagley's are renowned for being a bit harsh.

As always a quick walk around the venue was in order but to our dismay there were only 5 arenas not the 6 that were on the flyer! However overall this did not matter as most of the Dj's still played in the one arena.

The line up for the event was as good as I have seen for a long time, there were all the major players from all of the scenes of hardcore, drum & bass, garage, old skool, hard trance and hard house. The interior of the venue seemed to have been improved also with some more banners and visuals such as projection screens. The hardcore arena had some extra platforms for people to show off their best dancin' moves!!

First up was Vinyltrixta, and he played a short set of some older tunes to warm everybody up for the next Dj the man Hixxy. Now we were straight into some nice bouncy hardcore but the sound system seemed to have no bass. This was improved as the night went on but it spoiled the first part of the night a bit. Dougal was up next and he played some of his new track off acetate that had been produced that week. He also played some crowd pleasers including Shooting Star and Eye Opener. The other sets that must be mentioned are Mark E.G. and DNA. Mark EG played the best set that I have ever heard from any Dj anywhere. It was full of pumping hard trance that sent tingles down my spine!! DNA on the other hand played a set of some happy drum & bass style hardcore. It was such a refreshing change from all the cheesy hardcore that may be bringing the scene down.

The drum & bass room was packed all night long and it was soooo hot. Sets from Hype, Bad Company, Andy C, Brokie, Nicky Blackmarket, Swan E, The Usual Suspects and Dj Markey were all outstanding and the heat in the room gives testament to this.

The old skool room was also going off with the Rat Pack playing some crowd pleasers and the demolition cru playing some wicked tracks as I got my coat! The queue for the cloakroom was as always incredible. I had the pleasure of queuing for 1 hour to get my jacket, Slammin please try to sort it out!

I can not really comment on the Garage room as I can't get into that kind of music. Although with Dj's such as Jason Kaye and Mike 'Ruffcut' Lloyd playing I am sure that it would have been good.

The hard house arena was absolutely banging all night long. The likes of Billy Bunter, Jon Doe and Chris C played excellent hard house sets combining some of the huge tunes and some of the less well known ones with perfection. There was some wicked nu nrg from Sarge and hard trance from Energy and M-Zone. Overall this arena was competing for number 1 with the hardcore. The only downside was the MCing over the hard house. In my opinion this was not necessary. Mc Ribbz did however do a good job as he did not continually talk, however Odyssey should be banished for evermore from the hard house rooms at the future events as he put a downer on Jon Doe and Billy Bunters sets. 

Overall this was a great event and I am looking forward to the next event at the Sanctuary already!

Thanks to Michael and Mike @ Slammin Vinyl for sorting everything out for us.

click here to visit the Slammin Vinyl website www.slamminvinyl.co.uk

Ben Stevens

To see some photos of the event click here PHOTOS

Progress @ Time, Derby

On 4th February 2000 we sent off two intrepid reporters to review the United Dance Festival in London, here is the story........

United Dance is one of the countries biggest raves and on 4th February 200, thousands of ravers turned up to 'Bagley’s' in London for United Dances' latest event. This night promised to be excellent with all types of dance music catered for. This extravaganza of dance which lasted from 10pm till 6am was held in the perfect venue for this type of event, with 5 arenas, a 140 thousand sound system over custom built staging and backdrops. During the night, hot and cold food was available, there was also several licensed bars, a chill out room with arcade machines and excellent merchandise store selling tapes, cd's, vinyl, videos, clothes and accessories for very reasonable prices. The event itself ran very smoothly and everyone was very friendly and paramedics were on call in case of the odd mishap, which fortunately, didn't occur.

In Arena 1, which was the biggest of the 5 arenas, some of the best drum and bass that I've ever heard was played by DJ's Mickey Finn, Darren Jay, Brookie, Ray Keith, Nicky Blackmarket and others. The atmosphere in his arena was great all night with the drum and bass crew obviously having a good time.

Arena 2 was the garage arena with new Radio 1 DJ's Dreem Teem taking to the stage. Other DJ's included E.Z., Karl 'Tuff Enuff' Brown, Mike 'Ruffcut' Lloyd and more. There was some very skilful MC-ing in this room for MC's Kie, PSG and Blakey.

Arena 3 there were some of the bets Old Skool set I've ever heard from DJ's Jimmy J, Phantasy, Ellis Dee, Slipmatt and Lime (back 2 back) and the Rat Pack. These DJ's were accompanied by MC's, JJ, Magika and Everson Allen. The first three set were excellent and built up a great atmosphere around the audience. Slipmatt and Limes back 2 back session was absolutely amazing. This was Slipmatt’s 3rd set of the night, you have to respect that guys stamina! The Rat Pack played some great Old Skool favorites too.

Arena 4 was the House and Trance room with DJ's Gold, BBM, Slipmatt and Duncan 'Strawberry Sundae' D. All the sets in this room were excellent with people dancing and living it to the max.

Arena 5 was the hardcore arena with DJ's Slipmatt, Brisk, Sy, Dougal, Vibes and Vinyltrixta and MC's Storm, Whizzkid and Charlie B. The atmosphere in the room was tremendous all night, from the start of Brisk’s set, who was on the decks all night long through all the sets until 6am. All the sets in this arena were excellent, with some brilliant hardcore being played and some great MC-ing.

If you weren't at this event then you'd better have a good excuse. Get your whistles, horns and glow sticks and make sure you're at United Dance's next event.

Tom 'Cheggs' Paton (Big up to the posse that went down there Ben, Will and Reece.)

Visit the United Dance Website

Passion @ Emporium, Coalville

Perhaps the best club in the Midlands put on an evening that the likes of Gatecrasher and Cream would do well to emulate. Keeping to the vibe of great music, good times, less fuss has certainly been a driving force in Emporium's incredible rise to renowned club status. Saturday 20th December heralded a superb line-up, consisting of greats such as Judge Jules, Ferry Corsten, resident DJ JFK and Pete Heller. Separated into two rooms, the club boasts a chill out room with bar, a Blue and Red room, each with a different DJ, and dancers to spark off the club go-ers. The range of people there was phenomenal, you could see the straight laced fun loving party fiend, out for a good time and then the 'Clubbing's My Life' sort of person, dressed to impress. The latest craze sweeping the nation's clubs is the use of Cycling gear in their club costume, and it certainly prevailed here. All in all the night was superb, definitely due to resident DJ and Promoter JFK's hard work. 

If you'd like more information contact Emporium, Coalville on (01530) 815278 or check out Passion website on:

Afro wigs. Flares. Dancing Queen! Most preconceptions about Dancing Queen are way off mark. Carwash even has three door pickers to enforce their 'no wigs' dress code. And what about the music? If a Carwash DJ played Saturday night, he'd probably be sacked! Instead, at this more upbeat club, you're likely to hear underground disco, funk, 90's house, hip-hop and rare groove. Conceived back in 1989 at London's Camden Palace, the night was a dolled-up reaction to the loose-fit rave scene. It's now at London's Astoria, attracting celebs such as Dannii Minogue, Jay Kay from Jamiroqui and Robbie Williams, but is still a by word for being cool. This sister night at Reading's new superclub The Matrix is catching up fast. With a chunky sounds system there's plenty of space for themed productions: jaw dropping canopes, ribbon dancers and drummers. Don't forget to leave the wig at home.

If you'd like more information call (0207) 394 9447

So many new clubs have been unveiled in the last 12 months that industry observers have begun to talk about 'overheating'. One venture certain to thrive, though is Area. Encouragingly, this state-of-the-art, 2,000 capacity venue is located in clubbing no-man's land of Watford. It boasts 'cinema-quality' Dolby sounds and 'the largest bassbin in Europe' - a 30ft by 5ft speaker built into the structure of the main dancefloor. That sonic excellence has been matched by chameleon-like visuals and 'medical laser technology', which sounds like the kind of thing that could take your eye out. But the gimmicks will always come second to the music, supplied by some of the most popular DJ's in the business. Area's resident is the flamboyant Jeremy Healy, who took Ibiza by storm last summer and reportedly turned down the top job at Cream to play for the club. Radio 1's very own Pete Tong took to the decks on its first night, so lets hope it doesn't all go 'Pete Tong'.

For further information call (07004) 25822723

The music policy at keep it unreal is simple. There isn't one. Mr Scruff started the night six months ago as a showcase for his 5 hour DJ excursions, which are as smoothly mixed as any house set. No wonder he only rated 3 or 4 DJ's in the country. The relaxed, sociable crowd at Keep It Unreal definately improve the atmosphere. It friendly here, and don't you love it. They fill Planet K's cool warehouse space every month, bombard the former art student with requests for his fish record and delight at the unpredictable soundtrack.

For more information call (0161) 273 3435

Garage has a special place in clubbing history. It grew out of the legendary, post disco sceam-ups at New York's mid 80's Paradise Garage and it's never really gone away. Soulful, song-based music is what brings the eclectic crowd back, week after week - whether they're designer babes, mature clubbers or trendy students. And no matter how sharp the dressing, there's a hint of attitude. In the basement (where former Gatecrasher resident Ricky Chopra plays an irresistible strain of funky house) there's a euphoric party vibe, while superb DJs like this weeks guest CJ Mackintosh keep the main room rocking until home time. With Danny Rampling as 'unofficial' monthly resident, it looks like Gatecrasher has some stiff competition for the title of Sheffield success story 1999.

For more info call (0114) 278 4540

If God really is a DJ, he'll be a fan of Atomic Jam. For starters this occasional 'festival in a club' happens in a converted church - there's an amazing main room with a 60ft organ and a network of confusing corners to lose your marbles in. It's a broad chruch too. While the core sound is techno (Dave Clarke, Oliver Ho and Eat Static) there's a tradition of hip-hop. deep house and drum 'n' bass in the other three rooms. Promoters Danny Meagham and Gerald Bailey started the night almost five years ago; it was what Birminghams scene had been waiting for and became an immediate hit with the anything goes crowd. They even pioneered aliens in stilts, but when club freaks became a fixture in commercial  clubland, Atomic Jam - the anti-corporate keeper of the free-party flame - moved on.

For more info call (01905) 729993

By Tom " Cheggs" Paton.