astraboy

United Dance has been a long time resident of Bagley's Warehouse, so it was only natural for them to hold the last ever party there before the venue changed hands. Thereafter, an uncertian future was, according to the bumf on the flyer, resolved by successful negotiations with the new owners to hold further events there. Whether you believe all that or not, the upshot was another United Dance touching down at the newly refurbished Bagleys, now named CANVAS. I didnt really care to be honest, I was just happy to see Bagleys (cos thats what everyone Still called it on the night) re-opened and my second most attended event back there. With a well thought out and interesting lineup, I was happy to go increase the number of times I've been to a UD.
When attending Bagleys, there is a certian order to things. Pre rave drinks in the Offshore Bar are pretty much compulsary, as is something hot n' junky from the greasy spoons in Kings Cross. Going up to the venue is best done in a group to avoid unwanted set-tos, before making your way through the gates to join the queue which usually stretches round the side of the building. This time it was different. The gates were closed and we were re-directed to the next road up. We were greeted by a reasonable sized queue, but it was located on the approach road. When we got to the front we received another shock. Gone were the gorillas, in their place were polite and reasonable security, who were giving patdowns for weapons before letting the ravers into the complex.
No more queuing for the night for us, we walked straight round to the ticket booth , handed over our tickets and walked through. The fire escape stairs were closed, so for the first time, we walked into the venue through the main entrance.
CANVAS has been on the receiving end of a supposed extensive refit. The whole venue had been kitted out to "Drag it into the 21st Century" and I was particularly interested to see what had been done, particularly to the soundsystems, lighting rigs and aircon. However, the first thing I noticed was the Chandeliers at the entrance! But the rest of the venue had also benefited, including the hardcore arena. Gone were the wimpy speakers hanging from the ceiling, in their place were big EAW stacks on pallets in each corner. I looked up and saw aircon ducting,. I looked to the right and saw an air movement unit which blasted cold air into the arena all night. The Cloak room had been removed and in its place was a sull on stage which was dominated by large monitor speakers for the DJ. Judging by the clang free night we had, they worked as well.
All in all, it was a vast improvement over the original Bagleys. In particular, the aircon actually made sewating worthwhile and I never got near overheating all night.
However nice the venue was, I was there for the hardcore. Previous UDs have had accusations of the lineups being to formulaic, with the same DJs turning up event after event. On this occasion, the headliners were joined by Ramos and UFO who played a very good trancecore set which included some awesome acid techno tunes and DJ Ham who, whilst not going for the full on breakbeat set which I had hoped for, turned in a solid performance and kept the party people stomping throughout his set.
Set of the night goes to Scott Brown though. Nothing especially different from Scott, but I have been enjoying his sets more and more these days and this one was no different. Amongst other tunes, he played the sublime "Elysium" and I seem to remember "let the beat commence" as well, but dont quote me on it. Scott did what he does best, Playing Trance influenced hardcore from the beginning of his set, then increasing the pace till the inevitable takeover of Newstyle Gabba brings it to a close.
Other sets of note include the two hour b2b special from Breeze and Styles. Hixxy was notable by his absence, but the two remaining RBC jocks turned in a good set. Playing quite a few tunes I hadnt heard before and loads of tunes I have but cant remember to save my life :roll: The only complaint I have is they didnt have "Angel" when I asked for it. Which was a shame cos I love that tune.
Things I liked:

The freshly refurbished CANVAS which has taken away all the bad bits and made them good. Looking forward to going back there.
Safe, polite and reasonable security all night.

Soundsystem, while not perfect, was a vast improvement over the original.

Ramos and UFO playing Acid Techno. Totally wicked.

Air con. It was really good to dance right under a constant blast of cool air.
Things I liked less:
Lighting setup. Okay it werent bad, but compare it to the second drum and bass room which had TWO lasers and THREE plasma screens... All I will say is that it would be nice to share em out a bit fairer.

Phil Reynolds. In the past, the first set in the UD Hardcore arena was traditionally taken by an up and coming DJ who was always appreciated. I would have preferred to see that tradition continue.

No Bagley's Burgers van. Mark HB was not happy about missing his double cheeseburger with extra Botulism hit.

Despite the war of words which has raged on after the event, I can honestly say that I really enjoyed the night. The whole thing went by in a flash and I cannot remember any of the tunes that were played. Always an indicator of a successful night out.
Hopefully UD will return to Bagleys ASAP. I will attend when they do.
astraboy.
Shouts to: Grob Le Frog, Paul Zykotic, The bad boy Doc-e, Dan Desire, Cris-E-Manic, Sweetstar, Uplift, Lord Peter, Barticle, Mark HB, Ponder, Kickin_k, MC Smiley, MC Storm, MC Whizzkid, LM Pheonix, and the latecoming Kev Voltage.