Rave review, Vibealite 10th birthday rave last sat.
10 September 2003, 09:59 PM
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Vibealite had been hyping up their 10th birfday party for the best part of 2003. I seem to remember them starting off after me and dave left their NYE party at Fantasy Island. Hype is all well and good, but it has to be backed up by delivery on the night. If last Saturday was anything to go by, Eddie Stobart himself couldn't have delivered better.
It was a major Vibealite rave and it was up north, so as usual I was driving. As well as that, I saw to it that the car was full of ravers before I left. After some last minute chopping and changing, it was me, Rizla, Wildcard, Laura ( a friend of Doc-e's as he couldn't make it) and Jon who was liftless who blitzed up the M1 to Leicester University.
Once we got there we were pleasently surprised to find the barriers to the carpark were open. This meant we parked virtually outside the venue, We sorted out our rave gear and went inside. Having been to Leicester Uni before I made a beeline for the Hardcore arena. When I got there I was seriously impressed. A few weeks ago, I went to Tribal gathering and was blown away by the scale and specticle of the production. This was just as impressive, just in a smaller arena. The main stage was split into three levels. Right down the front was the DJ booth, so the ravers could see what he was up to. Either side of the booth were raised platforms where the MCs could do their thing, and behind the DJ booth was the highest platform, which was used by the stage dancers for most of the night. Two projection screens showed a combination of trippy visuals and graphics, footage of raves from days gone by and shots of the crowd and closeups of the DJ at work. All this was complimented by serious lighting rigs, Smoke machines, three green lasers (one either side and one directly in front of the crowd) and nice, unobtrusive strobes. Don't sound much to to read about, but it was some of the best visual displays I've seen. On more than one occasion I found myself just looking straight to take in the hypnotic way the lights and lasers cut and swept through the smoke. Didn't stop all night either.
However, the main reason everyone was there was for the music. I will confess to spending most of the night in the hardcore arena. The reason I did so cos I can honestly say that Vibealite had just about the best lineup I've ever seen. There were so many top notch DJs that more than a few sets had to be compressed into 45 minutes.
So many DJs, so little time. However sets of note include (but are not limited to):
Seduction - I'll be honest here and say that previous sets I've heard from Sedders have left me underwhelmed. However, tonight, assisted by Storm on the mic, was a different matter. He seemed to play harder than usual and even though it was the last set, all the crowd seemed to be loving it. Especially when he dropped his remix of "Take me Higher" I was worried that he would ruin the night for me by playing the same as before. However the exact opposite happened
.
Robbie Long- I knew exactly what to expect from Robbie's set and werent dissapointed either. Breakbeats all the way and accompanied by Sharkey on the mic meant that this was one of my favourite sets of the night. Playing "Get Hard" is always gonna be a winner for me, the crowd seemed to think so too, cos despite emptying out at the start of his set, they were all back on the dancefloor by the end of it.
Energy - Kev Energy was meant to be playing at the start of the night. Luckily he had his set changed and played 3-4 instead. Good thing too, as he played a blinder and it would have been a shame to miss it. Kev played hard and fast freeform based stuff, once again, with the Shark on the mic. I went bananas when he dropped "John Peel is not enough" by CLSM and the rest of the set was equally as good. Damned if I can remember anything about it though
Sharkey - Sharkey was one of the 45 minute crew but that just meant he had to cram more quality tunes into less time. The set was none the poorer for it either though. Smiley was on the mic for this one and complimented the rock hard and tightly mixed selection well. Another one to play "John Peel is not enough", you could tell he was enjoying himself with his looning about behind the decks when the vocals came in. Its always nice to see DJs taking the time to appreciate the music they're playing to the ravers.
Dougal- Blinding set. Absolutely mint set. Cant remember a thing about it. **** all. Nothing. Loved it. Stomped me guts out all the way through.
Marc Smith - I almost forgot about Smithy being there, till he came on that is. Good thing I was there though as Marc definitely played the set of the night. Similar in style to Kev Energy's set, yet harder and very, very dancable, me and Davespice were having it hard all the way through. Especially when he played "Identify the beat" and best of all "Liberation" OMG, I was rushing that hard to it I thought my head was going to explode. Like I said, easily the set of the night.
Paul Zykotic - Pretty much the only set out of the hardcore arena which I caught, Paul was playing up in the up and coming room 12-1. This meant missing Brisk and Stu Allen, however, the upside was catching one of the most unique sets of the night. Bouncy techno is not played out enough, end of chat, so I was was really enjoying this set. Rizla Dizla and Wildcard did the business on the mic too. Never intruding, and complementing the dacabilty of the set nicely. The only reason I left the dancefloor was to cool down, then as soon as I did, I was straight back on there. Never one to resist it for long, Paul finished on some Gabba lunacy, 240bpms worth of "****face" was a double hard end to a really enjoyable set. Nice one mate.
After Paul's set, we had been promised something special. The Vibealite hype machine had once again worked overtime and what we were expecting was meant to be something that would blow our minds. This was made doubly interesting by the fact that no-one had a clue what it was going to be.
At 1.30 the lights went down and so did the music. This stayed the same for a while till we worked out it was a technical hitch. The ravers talked amongst themselves till it was sorted and the surprise began.
What we were greeted with was a UV tinted display by a performance artist called "The Wizard" using black velvet and ultraviolet lights, he put on a display which seemed to defy the laws of physics, making fish, dragons and ***** of light dance in midair to trippy ambient music, he then proceeded to pull strip lights out of his mouth, spin around the middle of the stage and rip his own face off and make it dance in midair. A lot of the ravers didn't seem to appreciate it, but you couldn't fail to be impressed on a "how the hell did he do that" tip. Daring to be different is a Vibealite trademark and this was defenitley different.
It was a major Vibealite rave and it was up north, so as usual I was driving. As well as that, I saw to it that the car was full of ravers before I left. After some last minute chopping and changing, it was me, Rizla, Wildcard, Laura ( a friend of Doc-e's as he couldn't make it) and Jon who was liftless who blitzed up the M1 to Leicester University.
Once we got there we were pleasently surprised to find the barriers to the carpark were open. This meant we parked virtually outside the venue, We sorted out our rave gear and went inside. Having been to Leicester Uni before I made a beeline for the Hardcore arena. When I got there I was seriously impressed. A few weeks ago, I went to Tribal gathering and was blown away by the scale and specticle of the production. This was just as impressive, just in a smaller arena. The main stage was split into three levels. Right down the front was the DJ booth, so the ravers could see what he was up to. Either side of the booth were raised platforms where the MCs could do their thing, and behind the DJ booth was the highest platform, which was used by the stage dancers for most of the night. Two projection screens showed a combination of trippy visuals and graphics, footage of raves from days gone by and shots of the crowd and closeups of the DJ at work. All this was complimented by serious lighting rigs, Smoke machines, three green lasers (one either side and one directly in front of the crowd) and nice, unobtrusive strobes. Don't sound much to to read about, but it was some of the best visual displays I've seen. On more than one occasion I found myself just looking straight to take in the hypnotic way the lights and lasers cut and swept through the smoke. Didn't stop all night either.
However, the main reason everyone was there was for the music. I will confess to spending most of the night in the hardcore arena. The reason I did so cos I can honestly say that Vibealite had just about the best lineup I've ever seen. There were so many top notch DJs that more than a few sets had to be compressed into 45 minutes.
So many DJs, so little time. However sets of note include (but are not limited to):
Seduction - I'll be honest here and say that previous sets I've heard from Sedders have left me underwhelmed. However, tonight, assisted by Storm on the mic, was a different matter. He seemed to play harder than usual and even though it was the last set, all the crowd seemed to be loving it. Especially when he dropped his remix of "Take me Higher" I was worried that he would ruin the night for me by playing the same as before. However the exact opposite happened
.Robbie Long- I knew exactly what to expect from Robbie's set and werent dissapointed either. Breakbeats all the way and accompanied by Sharkey on the mic meant that this was one of my favourite sets of the night. Playing "Get Hard" is always gonna be a winner for me, the crowd seemed to think so too, cos despite emptying out at the start of his set, they were all back on the dancefloor by the end of it.
Energy - Kev Energy was meant to be playing at the start of the night. Luckily he had his set changed and played 3-4 instead. Good thing too, as he played a blinder and it would have been a shame to miss it. Kev played hard and fast freeform based stuff, once again, with the Shark on the mic. I went bananas when he dropped "John Peel is not enough" by CLSM and the rest of the set was equally as good. Damned if I can remember anything about it though
Sharkey - Sharkey was one of the 45 minute crew but that just meant he had to cram more quality tunes into less time. The set was none the poorer for it either though. Smiley was on the mic for this one and complimented the rock hard and tightly mixed selection well. Another one to play "John Peel is not enough", you could tell he was enjoying himself with his looning about behind the decks when the vocals came in. Its always nice to see DJs taking the time to appreciate the music they're playing to the ravers.
Dougal- Blinding set. Absolutely mint set. Cant remember a thing about it. **** all. Nothing. Loved it. Stomped me guts out all the way through.
Marc Smith - I almost forgot about Smithy being there, till he came on that is. Good thing I was there though as Marc definitely played the set of the night. Similar in style to Kev Energy's set, yet harder and very, very dancable, me and Davespice were having it hard all the way through. Especially when he played "Identify the beat" and best of all "Liberation" OMG, I was rushing that hard to it I thought my head was going to explode. Like I said, easily the set of the night.
Paul Zykotic - Pretty much the only set out of the hardcore arena which I caught, Paul was playing up in the up and coming room 12-1. This meant missing Brisk and Stu Allen, however, the upside was catching one of the most unique sets of the night. Bouncy techno is not played out enough, end of chat, so I was was really enjoying this set. Rizla Dizla and Wildcard did the business on the mic too. Never intruding, and complementing the dacabilty of the set nicely. The only reason I left the dancefloor was to cool down, then as soon as I did, I was straight back on there. Never one to resist it for long, Paul finished on some Gabba lunacy, 240bpms worth of "****face" was a double hard end to a really enjoyable set. Nice one mate.
After Paul's set, we had been promised something special. The Vibealite hype machine had once again worked overtime and what we were expecting was meant to be something that would blow our minds. This was made doubly interesting by the fact that no-one had a clue what it was going to be.
At 1.30 the lights went down and so did the music. This stayed the same for a while till we worked out it was a technical hitch. The ravers talked amongst themselves till it was sorted and the surprise began.
What we were greeted with was a UV tinted display by a performance artist called "The Wizard" using black velvet and ultraviolet lights, he put on a display which seemed to defy the laws of physics, making fish, dragons and ***** of light dance in midair to trippy ambient music, he then proceeded to pull strip lights out of his mouth, spin around the middle of the stage and rip his own face off and make it dance in midair. A lot of the ravers didn't seem to appreciate it, but you couldn't fail to be impressed on a "how the hell did he do that" tip. Daring to be different is a Vibealite trademark and this was defenitley different.
10 September 2003, 10:00 PM
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After The Wizard saw the musical portion of the 10th birthday surprise. DJ Rush came on the decks and Peta Pan joined us on the mic. Together took us from Vibealite’s beginnings to the present day. Playing a sublime oldskool selection, he had obiviously thought hard about his set, taking great care to up the pace of the tunes gradually till he reached the speed of the present day. During Rush’s set, Paul tapped me on the shoulder and brought my attention to the video screens, they were playing old footage from the Venue 44 raves back in hardcore’s golden era. This gave the set real meaning for me and I finally realised what Rush was doing. He was taking the ravers on a musical journey through hardcore, from its beginnnings, through its various mutations and coming to rest in the present day. Once again, a lot of ravers didn’t appreciate it, but I noticed that the ravers that were dancing through the set were the more senior members of the crowd. It was a defninte highlight for me as well.
All this would have been good enough for one rave, but Vibealite were hell bent on exceeding expectations for this night. Their live stage acts put the icing on the cake for this rave. Ranging from the welcome return of the robot stilt walkers, to the impressive technical ability of the Mountain bike bunny hopper, through to the slightly arousing sight of a bendy wendy acrobat doing strange stuff 20 feet off the floor and finishing with the disturbing act from the parformance artist harpooning herself with various household objects, this had just about everything you could want from a rave. Musically, or otherwise.
It also had the best stagedancer in the business on stage. It was great to see Vinny again and he was on top form too. Another level from the other “wiggle my **** looking bored for five minutes then have a rest” girly dancers, Vinny tore round the stage none stop for a solid hour wearing green rubber skin and pointy ears as he let off glitter cannons, stomped so fast that his legs broke the sound barrier, and generally hyped up the rave as only he knows how. The Jaffa orangy bit of the whole Vibealite experience.
Things I liked.
Only one here: The way EVERY problem that Summer Sensation had been totally sorted out. Waft sound system in the old skool room? This time it was a monstrous stack I couldn’t get within 6 feet of. Unbearably hot in the main arena? This time it was icy cold. No set times up on the walls? This time it was lineup city. Mic blaggers everywhere? This time the stage manager was on it all night. Its nice to go to a rave run by a promoter who really does care.
Things I liked less:
Could have been a little busier.
Erm…. there has to be something else….
No there was nothing else. I’ve missed out so much of the night, but I’ve gone on for too long as it is. This was a really, really good rave. One I’m proud to say I was at. One that knocks the second Hardcore Heaven in May of my personal number one spot for “best rave ever” The next rave I go to will have to be amazing to even come close to topping this one. If nothing else its decided where I’m going for NYE.
I’ll see you at Vibealite.
Astraboy.
Shouts to: Davespice, Laura, Rizla Dizla, Matt Wildcard, Sharkey, Grob Le Frog, Paul Zykotic, Matt Eeezergoode, Sal, Benson, Dodgee, Ronin, Slammin sam, Immz, Sorcerer, Dezmond, Smiley, Storm, Whizzkid, Kev Energy, Marc Smith, Vinny, Scarlett, Mouse, James and Charlie Kitten, Andy M, and all the squllions of people who have left my memory in a blur of caffiene abuse. You know who you are.
All this would have been good enough for one rave, but Vibealite were hell bent on exceeding expectations for this night. Their live stage acts put the icing on the cake for this rave. Ranging from the welcome return of the robot stilt walkers, to the impressive technical ability of the Mountain bike bunny hopper, through to the slightly arousing sight of a bendy wendy acrobat doing strange stuff 20 feet off the floor and finishing with the disturbing act from the parformance artist harpooning herself with various household objects, this had just about everything you could want from a rave. Musically, or otherwise.
It also had the best stagedancer in the business on stage. It was great to see Vinny again and he was on top form too. Another level from the other “wiggle my **** looking bored for five minutes then have a rest” girly dancers, Vinny tore round the stage none stop for a solid hour wearing green rubber skin and pointy ears as he let off glitter cannons, stomped so fast that his legs broke the sound barrier, and generally hyped up the rave as only he knows how. The Jaffa orangy bit of the whole Vibealite experience.
Things I liked.
Only one here: The way EVERY problem that Summer Sensation had been totally sorted out. Waft sound system in the old skool room? This time it was a monstrous stack I couldn’t get within 6 feet of. Unbearably hot in the main arena? This time it was icy cold. No set times up on the walls? This time it was lineup city. Mic blaggers everywhere? This time the stage manager was on it all night. Its nice to go to a rave run by a promoter who really does care.
Things I liked less:
Could have been a little busier.
Erm…. there has to be something else….
No there was nothing else. I’ve missed out so much of the night, but I’ve gone on for too long as it is. This was a really, really good rave. One I’m proud to say I was at. One that knocks the second Hardcore Heaven in May of my personal number one spot for “best rave ever” The next rave I go to will have to be amazing to even come close to topping this one. If nothing else its decided where I’m going for NYE.
I’ll see you at Vibealite.
Astraboy.
Shouts to: Davespice, Laura, Rizla Dizla, Matt Wildcard, Sharkey, Grob Le Frog, Paul Zykotic, Matt Eeezergoode, Sal, Benson, Dodgee, Ronin, Slammin sam, Immz, Sorcerer, Dezmond, Smiley, Storm, Whizzkid, Kev Energy, Marc Smith, Vinny, Scarlett, Mouse, James and Charlie Kitten, Andy M, and all the squllions of people who have left my memory in a blur of caffiene abuse. You know who you are.
11 September 2003, 10:20 AM
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nah I dont write for a mag mate, none of them would be interested in hardcore anyways. These are for the review section of a hardcore website I go on and I bung em on here for a laugh.
UB,
I remember posters on the walls at the last TG advertising a weekender, but its all a bit hazy mate
Best have a look as www.tribalgathering.co.uk
cheers,
astraboy.
UB,
I remember posters on the walls at the last TG advertising a weekender, but its all a bit hazy mate
Best have a look as www.tribalgathering.co.ukcheers,
astraboy.
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11 September 2003, 11:21 AM
#8
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Maybe 
A couple of my peers here went to the Manchester event and said it was really good. So a little posse of us *may* make a return trip!
UB
A couple of my peers here went to the Manchester event and said it was really good. So a little posse of us *may* make a return trip!
UB
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