astraboy

Since its explosion onto the rave circuit , Uproar has risen fast and is now approaching the top of Hardcore scene's best party promotions. Partly becuase of its innovative lineups, partly because of its well known stance of doing near on anything to please its paying customers, the ravers. But mostly because of the breath of fresh air it has given to large scale raves. A wise man once said "There is nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition" and although by certain people's words and actions, not everyone would agree, the general opinion is that a good part of Uproar's contribution to the Hardcore scene is causing fellow promoters to raise their game to keep up with them.
Never one to rest on their laurels, the Uproar crew are always two parties ahead of on the one they are about to put on next. However, although their return to the events birthplace, The Brunel Rooms in Swindon, seemed like a backwards step for some, the chance to party at the place where it all began was definitely tempting, as was the lineup. I wont lie though, IMO the better lineup was in the old skool room. Ramos and Supreme dont play out much and as such I was expecting good things from them, as well as the god that is DJ Druid. ANd not forgetting Vibes for an inevitable cheesefest.
However, the main room held good attractions, Such as a plethora of my favourite DJs. You dont get many chances to see Stompy, Marc Smith and Uplift all play out on the same night, as such it was had to resist going. Not that I was resisting particularly hard, of course
Pulling off a Navigational miracle and getting there early, I was a bit stumped as to how I could find the place, having never been there before. In the end I asked some locals and they pointed the place out to me. Having got in early (Thanks Steve), I went round saying hello to familiar and not so familiar faces and enjoying Uplifts set in the main room. It was about this point that I realise the published set times were different, and I was in the middle of a set clash. Druid was playing downstairs. Decisions, decision.... In the end I went for Druid as it is always nice to start up the evening with a bit of old skool. A respectable crowd of people had the same idea as me and the room started to fill up with early ravers as Druid worked his way through his set. It was a pity he was on first as he played a blinder which should have been heard by more people, but those with any sense had made the effort to get there early and a beeline for the second arena when they realised who was playing. Playing a classic 95 set, Druid mixed in well known anthems like "6 days", "Higher Love" and "Is there anybody out there" with tunes that you dont hear often enough such as "DJ in full effect", "Rock this place" and best of all, "Got the Whole World now". It was easily enough to get me dancing, no mean feat with a gallon of energy drinks still in me.
After a cracking start to the night, things were well in order for the rest of the evening. The only way I could make sure it continued was to get my **** upstairs and into the main arena for Dougal's set. I have been loving my EP based sets for quite a while now and with Whizzkid on top form at the start of a lengthy MC marathon which lasted most of the night, it really couldn't get any better. Vocal based, rushy tunes are never bad, but when they include "Be my sweetheart", " Star tonight", and finishing on the classic "You're Shining" then it definitely made for a continuation of the great start Druid had made to the party. The Skillsnaps helped too.
The addition of some nice production touches was also helping the party along too. The venue is usually a normal nightclub, so something had to be done to turn it into a "Dance Paradise" for the night. The Club's plumbed in lighting rig was more than up to the job, but the decor was sorely lacking . This slack was taken up by some cool backdrops, hanging from every available point. Stretchy fluro fabric casted strange shapes from the ceiling whilst glowing vividly under the job lots of UV lights. A powerful green laser dominated the left hand side of the stage, whilst some inflatabel palm trees stood over the DJ booth (Dance paradise, Geddit?). The rest of the clubs facilities were just as good, albeit different from what most hardcore ravers are used to. The revolving bar was a novelty, as were the comical drinks prices once you got to it. Small wonder I spent most of the night filling up my bottle from under the taps. On the upside though, security were friendly and unobtrousive all night long. They seemed to enjoy the fact they didnt have anything to do all night as well.
Next up after Dougal was RBC Jock, Darren Styles. Playing a similar style to Dougal before him, Styles set was dominated by popular upfront tunage. Dropping anthems like "Angel Eyes", "Takin me higher", "Ecstasy 24-7" and "Heartbeatz", his set was good, but nothing new, with one notoable exception. Halfways through, without warning, he spun "Pendulum", a drum and bass tune with an awesome breakbeat to it. It was a total departure from te rest of this set and was all the better for it. I was going mental when the kicks stopped and the breaks came in, really enjoyed it.
Playing the midnight hour was Seduction. In all honesty, I cant remember much of set at all, part from him and MC Rude rocking the joint and the ravers going mental all the way through. Tune wise, the only ones I remember are his first tune "Into the sound". He also mixed in "The one that I Adore" but thats all I remember, so it must follow that I was enjoying myself cos I can never remember the tunes from the best sets cos I am dancing too hard to remember. Jobs a goodun
For the 1-2 set, there was only one place to be. I could miss Hixxy for one night, especially when Ramos and Supreme were playing a rare outing in the old skool room. I was down those stairs faster than a greased rattlesnake and was rewarded when I entered the second arena in the best possible way, "Journey" was being played and that one tune set the tone for the rest of the set. Everyone was having a great time during this one. Andy M, Emily, and Tony Res joined me up on stage where it was a little cooler and we all got down to getting down to what was undoubtably the set of the night.
Leaning heavily on the breakbeat sound with no complaints from me at all, Ramos and Supreme Tore the place apart from start to finish, including "Terminator", "Broken Wings", and best of all "Incognito" into their set. I danced non stop from start to end on this one. Easily the set of the night. Easily.
After the set of the night, I had to make the worse decision of the night. During the last hour, Ribbz and Vibes had turned up and were due to go on next. But Stompy was on in the main room. In the end I plumped for Stompy as Vibes, although good, would have had to have played a set of a lifetime to better Ramos and Supreme.
Upstairs, the Stompster was doing a grand job during his set. Playing upfront, yet not forgetting his happy roots, he played a really enjoyable set, consisting of lots of rushy euphoric tunes like "I'm in euphoria", "Star tonight", "With you I'm in heaven" and even dropping a nice breakbeat tune into his mix. Finally, he finished off his set with the incomparable "Now is the time", proving that you cant keep a good happy jock down. Top set. I had it all the way through to that one.
Next up was another DJ that I dont see often enough. Its always a pleasure to see Marc Smith play out and it was doubly so on this occasion. Although Ramos and Supreme took overall set of the night, Marc Smith undoubtably played best set in the main arena. Why? Cos after 6 hours of good, but relatively soft hardcore, I knew he was gonna give me the stompathon I was gagging for! It was a well structured set too, starting where stompy had left off with "It takes me away" before moving onto tunes like "Hardcore, you know the score", Stormtroopers very dancable tune "Hitman" and Wottsee's "Huggermugger". Finally he finished with another classic, "Boom and Pow". The onyl bad thing about it was it was on at 4am and that meant I was worn out by the time he came on. I was totally destroyed by the time Marc and Whizzkid finished with me though. My legs could barely support me and dancing was out of the question by the time the clock struck 5am.
But you can't sit down when Sy is on! Its against the rules! I had to flyer at the end of the night so I also knew I only had 30 minutes left till my time was up. I "Appropriated" some glosticks and let Sy and Storm get on with what they do best. The 1/2 hour shot by in a blur of raving as Sy provided what he is famous for and Storm did likewise on the mic. It was only 30 minutes, but it was more than enough to send me downstairs with a smile on my face.
Things I liked:

Good DJ lineup with lots of my favourite DJs. Even if they tended to be on at the same time in different rooms.

Sound system. Nice, loud and clear in the main arena. A little TOO much volume in the second room, but thats always preferable to not enough.

Venue. I said it on the night and I'll say it again. Almost too nice for a Hardcore rave. But it was nice to have the option of somewhere comfy to sit down. Speaking of which....

Things I liked less:

Lightweights. "Yeah I went to Uproar last night, it was really good" "Yeah? so what did you get up to then?" "Nothing much, sat down all night" Sort it out, its a rave ffs!

Set clashes. Marc Smith and Whizzkid v. Vibes and Ribbz. You had to sick in the head not to find that a hard decisison.

Drinks prices. 2.60 for a bottle of water? I thought we were in Swindon, not the West End.

Despite the attendence being a little down, this was still a good party. The Hardcore faithful turned up en masse yet again and didn't let up till kicking out time. The lineup was up to Uproar's usual high standards, particularly in the oldskool room and the atmosphere on the night reflected that. The atmosphere in the old skool room was particularly good and I hope that when Uproar has finished with the Sanctuary, that it has the capacity to do an old skool room as well as a techno room. Top night out all round this time though, cant fault it at all. Especially the way its made me look forward to their next party, the party of the year, next month at the Sanctuary The last hardcore rave there before its torn down. I'll see you near the front row.
astraboy.
Shouts to: Steve Uplift, Moron, Bouncee Buncheez Thumpa, Immz, all the Northern Ireland crew (Safe as!), Bubble, Oli G, Gammer, Peachy, Smithers, Stompy and Cakes, Shauny C and Lianne, Sketchy, Tony Res, Spenno, Andy M, James from Ravin' eye (In da place!!!!!!), Druid and Mrs Druid, Ribbz, Sal futurevibe, Storm and Sarah, Whizzkid, Rude, Seduction, Sedders laydee friend ( ), Paul the Rave legend and whoever was on the end of the phone when the security picked it up to ask if I could flyer inside the venue. Saved me from freezing my conkers off outside. Respect.