astraboy

8 weekends of non stop raving were starting to take their toll, I was starting to get burned out. The symptoms were as unwelcome as they were familiar. Longer recovery times, general rattyness during the week and worst of all, the music was starting to get under my skin. When it got to the point of me taking off my walkman and going to work in silence because I couldnt stand it anymore, I knew I had to do something about it. In the past when this happened, the best soloution was to go out to a non Hardcore night. It reminds me that Hardcore is not the be all and end all to things gives me a break from the music and generally it is slower as well.
Handily enough, Moondance was kicking off in the SE1 on that very weekend. I had already made plans to go places for the weekend in question, but I decided that moderation would be the better course of action for this weekend. After making plans with a few friends to cover for my absence from certain events, I was all set to go. I needed a break from the Hardcore and Moondance would provide it.
Its first multi-room event for quite a while now, Moondance's music policy is more mainstream than most, with this event seeing an Oldskool, Drum and Bass, House and Nu skool breaks room inside the arches under London bridge station. I had not been to a Moondance for a long time, so depite the ominous flyer statement of "You WILL hear your favourite party anthems" I gathered a few friends and headed off for a relaxing weekend.
All this would be academic if I couldnt get tickets! Most of the London record shops had sold out and I was starting to panic. Much as I wanted to go, I didnt want to pay 25quid on the door, so a quick phone call to an associate secured 15quid concession guest list places. I was happy, the event looked like a good 'un, lets get on it.
As we approached the venue, the familiar queue could be seen stretching out towards the entrance. We slid in when we sighted a friend and waited for the venue to open. In the event, we were in for quite a wait. After about an hour and a half, we still werent in and the queue was stretching back almost the entire length of the tunnel. After getting severely pissed off at the wait and running out of things to talk about, the queue finally got moving. Very slowly. After getting to the head of the queue, we were given a quick pat down from security for weapons. After sorting out a brief misunderstanding with the bloke on the door, we were in.
The Se1 is now familiar terratory, but the arenas were being used for different music so I still had a bit of an explore. The main room was the moondance arena and that was nicely done up and decorated. a tasty green laser took centre stage and that was surrounded by a nice lighting rig which was more than up for the job. The DnB room was the middle arena and it was obivious that most of the money on this one had gone towards the system. Lighting and decor were minimal and the bass was booming. The third arena was given over to the Freedom to Dance "History of House" room.This benefitted from a shedload of UV and raised dance platforms. Lastly, straddled by the toilets and the cloakroom was the www.epidemik.com arena which for its troubles was the breaks arena and was decorated in their own inimitable manner.
When I got in I was immediately confronted by the House arena, History of House was right, on the decks was an unknown DJ who was playing club classics such as "Dreamer" "U Sure Do" and a tune which I dont know the lyrics too, so I call it "Cheesewire" It was cheesy and slow as hell, but I was enjoying myself. it was a long time since I had Danced to those sort of tunes and it made the start of the party just as enjoyable as the rest of it.
However, I was on a mission to see another DJ who I had not seen for quite a while, so I bundled into the Main arena and was just in time to see Squirrel take his place behind the decks. It was a while since I had last seen him, but his set structure had remained unchanged. Crowd pleasing Old Skool all the way with lots of tunes which made me get up and dance like "Out of Space", "Feel the Heat", "Let me be your Fantasy", "Everytime I see the girl" and loads more. I was having a great time during his set for no other reason than I had not partied to old skool for so long. It was nice to be back.
Next up was Billy "Daniel" Bunter in the old skool arena. I stayed on and kept on dancing, simply cos his set was effectively an extention of Squirrel's. Happy party tunes were still forthcoming and abely assisted by MC's Ice and Spenno, it was a set which saw me get even further into the swing of things because I danced non-stop to it from start to finish. Easily done with tunes such as "I feel this way", "Far out", "Shine on" and "Free to feel good".
After that saw another hour in the Old Skool room. Why? Cos the Isotonik crew were in the place and I have a lot of time for them. Perry K, Lukozade and MC Ice controlled proceedings throughout their set, with it being split into two parts, the first half was more of an intro to the event that was splitting their set, the Nomad Live PA. When they say live, they mean it this time, with a nice piano mix of "Devotion" being overlayed while the original vocalist (I failed to catch her name) freestyled over the tune. Unfortunatly, MC Mark DD was not there for his half of the tune, but the performance was so good that no-one really cared tbh. It really was 100% live and you could tell it was too as she was freestyling all over the place as well as doing what she does best "I wanna give you Devotionnnnn" She only did the one tune though and after she was finished and had vacated the stage with a big cheer behind her, we were treated to the second half of the Isotonik crew's set. This was the better half IMO with more of my favourite tunes like "Roots and Future", the awesome "4am" and "Hold me in your arms" all making welcome appearences and keeping me rooting to spot, rushing my tiny little mind off.
Next up was a change of pace and saw me making a welcome trip to the History of House room. I am not too up on the big names of the house scene but even I knew who Rob Blake were and I werent going to miss him for anything. It was time to slow it down. However, even though the pace of the tunes were lower than I am used to, the quality was as high as ever. An up for it party crew were in the place with all creeds, colours and orientations getting down to the tunes that were being provided. Miniskirted laydees danced next to scary Gothettes with multiple piercings, massive body builders danced next to emaciated hardcore ravers and every style of clothing, from immaculate moshino to trashed techno tramp was out there somewhere. The vibe out on the dancefloor was mirrored in the tunes that Mr. Blake was pumping out. I can only quote the vocals (as bloody usual) but you'll know where I'm coming from with tunes like "Feel the Vibe", "Where love lives", "Push the feeling on", "Finally it has happened to me" and "2 can play at that game" all getting an airing.
When his last tune had been taken down I was at a loss. Even though I was in an anthem oriented rave, I was determined not to see the Ratpack. Their performance at Slammin last week has convinced me that although when you first see them they are amazing, their work is limited to a near perfect introduction to the rave scene and little else.
I actually found myself dancing in the DnB room for a bit. Not because I had nothing else to do, but because it was relatively bling free and more importantly the lack of an MC gave me a chance to actually hear the music for once. for near on 15 minutes it held out till eventually the tunes were, as usual, drowned out by someone who was more interested in the sound of his voice than what the DJ was playing. Still, it was nice while it lasted.
Eventually there was nothing else for it, I had to go into the Oldskool room,but as soon as I did, I was in for a shock. No Everson Allen or Lipmaster Mark, and best of all, Snypa was still on the decks! No anthem bashing here, exactly the opposite in fact, I was rushing like a madman when "Pennywise" came in and was doing the same when "XTC, it really gets me going" came on too. Nice set, and if nothing else and good break from the norm.
However good it was, the main event of the night was just about to start. The Jedi master of the old skool sound and widely acknowledged as "The Godfather of the Hardcore sound" Slipmatt stepped up and pulled the set of the night out of his bag. Well known and overplayed the tunes may have been, but he also played tunes that the rest of the DJs on the night overlooked. Slippers filled the gap nicely and dropped them in in a workmanlike manner. "Put on my Ravin Shoes", "Charley", "On a ragga tip" and "Way in my brain" all had me going bananas on the dancefloor and the rest of his set was just as arresting. Eventually Slipmatt's hour came to an end and we were facing the end of the night. What better way to end it than with Nicky Blackmarket? His old skool jungle sets are well known and he did exactly what everyone was expecting to with pretty much a set that you could name before he put the next tune on. Not that I was complaining, mind you. It had been too long since I had seen a set from Blackmarket and I was more than happy for him to come up with the goods again. From the outset, it was true to his usual form,with "Chopper" mixing into "Original Nutter" and the whole crowd shouting the vocal out, including me Also in the area for the set was "Badass", Exodus" and the everpleasing "Fugees or not" tune. I was loving it at this point, but about 20 minutes into the set the DnB MCs got carried away again and in not time at all they were off, talking a million miles an hour and IMO, ruining the set. I decided to vote with my feet and spent the remainder of the rave in the House room. Richie Fingers did an admirable job of taking me and the remainder of the crowd home for the rest of the party. It was a case of dancing till the last tune had finished and I did it cos I wanted to.

Things I liked:
The Music - Yes it was an anthem fest, yes more than a few tunes were played more than once. But it is nice to listen to them and I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would. I even danced to House.

Security - Once through the door, I dont remember seeing them all night. They kept themselves to themselves and IIRC the night was trouble free.

The sound systems - DnB, House and Oldskool. They were all firing all night long and not only were they loud, but they were very clear as well. The Oldskool system did take a while to be sorted out, but once it was there it more than made up for its earlier quietness.

The crowd - Easygoing and up for a party, a good night was made better by a happy party vibe created by the ravers. Also, I werent the only raver there with white gloves and a dayglo on, so I was a happy man

Things I liked less:

The Heat - SeOne's "Air movement system" was a little overpowered by all the party crew in the place. Some areas it was nice and cool, others were hot enough to see me throwing water in my face to cool down.

The DnB MCs - Ocassionaly they would shut up and let the music do the talking. Not often enough though. IMO Nicky Blackmarket's set was a lot poorer after they turned up. Respect to the REAL MCs like Ice and Spenno for keeping it real and letting the music have the space it deserves though.

The queue - It was too long a wait to get in, really and truely.

Moondance shares similar properties to a Chicken and Mushroom Pot noodle. You know what you are going to get before you get into it and once you do it does exactly what you expect it to. However, they are nice to eat, every once in a while. Moondance is nice to do, everyonce in a while too. I went to it to get myself back on track and ensure I enjoyed my birthday weekend the following week. However, I also enjoyed this party far more than I expected to as well. The History of House room was particularly enjoyable and I was surprised how much time I spent in there. As for the Oldskool room, well it was a 10 hour anthem bashing session, but I knew what to expect and as long as you do you can enjoy yourself. I know I was having a good time when certain tunes were dropped and I deffo went away happy. If you eat too many pot noodles, you start to get sick of em, so I wont be back at Moondance for a while yet, but the next time I get the urge for a nice night out with no Hardcore in the Equation, I will be looking out for the next MoonDance, you can be sure of it.
astraboy.
Shouts to: Barticle, Cresta, MC Spenno (Cheers mate!) DJ Snypa (Nice set) and finally to all the people I let down by going off to a random rave and not turning up where I said I would. I can only apologise and assure you that matters are all in hand.

Fantom

oldskool hardcore is quite simply the best music to listen to in a club! I grew up listening to it but was far too young to ever go to a rave. Was only about 11 when I started listening. Theres so many tunes that are just so uplifting.
Seen ratpack at our normal "garage" club but they were a bit disappointing as they just played all the stuff that "normal" people might have heard of. I was looking for all the underground stuff that they always miss out.
The only proper old skool night I've ever been to was at the palace theatre in southend. they had a d&b section and an old skool one. Ellis D, Altern8, cant even remember who else. However it was the ****! only even the big dj's played the same tunes as each other and stuff. best thing about it though is the wicked attitude you get from people. Everyone is happy instead of lookin for a fight.
Would love to go to a proper old skool rave, but none of my friends are even slighty into it really.
One thing I wish I could do before I die is go to Fantazia at castle donnington. Got the video to that rave and I'd love to have been there!!!

Steve

astraboy

heh, I go to raves on my own all the time mate, so do a lot of other people I know too.
Next raindance is on the 25 september at the SeOne under London bridge station.
15 hours long with Old Skool, Hardcore, DnB and 88-89 house as well.
Altern-8 are doing a set mate, as well as a whizzkick livePA. it could be right up your street as well.
Giz a PM and we'll meetup if you want.
astraboy.