Originally Posted by astraboy

With the Hardcore scene growing the way it has been recently, its hardly surprising that a glut of new events have appeared as new promoters take on the challenge of putting on an event which will attract ravers. However, when "True Hardcore" was announced, it stood out from the crowd and then some. It might have been due to the suspisciously high quality lineup for a new promotion, it might have been because of the use of Club Mist in Wisbech, a club which is underused for Hardcore events, but ideally suited, but the main reason it got everyone talking was due to the promoter.

One MC Storm, fresh from winning "Best MC" at the Hardcore Heaven awards for the second year running had turned to arguably the most difficult job in Hardcore, promoting a large scale first time event. However, it was clear that a lot of thought had gone into this party and when the flyer finally landed in my hands, the first thing that stood out was the lineup.

If there was one thing that made this party exceptional, it was the lineup. For a initial promotion and a 4am finish, the lineup was rammed with the biggest names in Hardcore. Raverbaby took centre stage with Styles, Breeze and Hixxy all making deserved appearences. Alongside them were similar big hitters, with Dougal representing Essential Platinum, Brisk fronting Next Generation, Seduction making sure Maximum Impact was namechecked and last but by no means least, Sy flying the flag for Quosh.

If that weren't enough, then the Lineup for the second room was composed of the finest up and running talent on the circuit. Gammer and Dave On-it headlined this arena, alongside the other DJs such as Pettrucio, Mick and Love and the Jedi masters.

Lastly, the MC lineup was the icing on the cake for this event. I didnt think this department would go wanting and I was right, from the biggest and the best of MCSquared's Storm and Whizzkid, to the meat and potatoes of Hardcore's vocal talant such as Odyssey, Wottsee, Rude and Smiley. Not forgetting the likes of Scotti-B and Doc-E in arena 2. It was safe to say the vocal aspect of the rave was not wanting in the slightest.

However, the lineup, venue and promoter were not the reasons I went to the party. I was there for one reason only. True Hardcore is a new event and new events deserve as much support as you can give them. They are an important part of the scene and I make the effort to get to as many as possible. Even if it was a two hour drive to get to the party.

As it turned out, it werent that bad a drive to the party, Picking up a certain MC Sykee and Niki on the way to spread the petrol cost and for the company was also a good idea. Once we got to Wisbech, we took a small drive round to find the place, but the corrogated tin bulding plastered in UV lighting with a huge skylight parked outside it took little finding. After dumping Sykee and Niki outside the venue then parking in the nearby supermarket carpark, I made my way to the venue.

After a small wait and search free entrance, I made my way to the main arena. The long thin arena was notable by its impressive lighting and decor, not to mention a couple hundred Hardcore ravers who were already on the dancefloor, appreciating what the DJ and the MC had to offer.

Although I arrived too late for Dougal, Breeze had taken his place and the 10-11 slot. He was making an early start to the night with Storm and Whizzkid pairing up for the first MCSquared appearence on the night. Plumping for a crowdpleasing set, Breeze got to work whilst the MCs and crowd kept their end of the bargain up by busting out quality lyrics and dancing like crazy. I quickly got into things myself, normally it takes a while to really get into the music and let it take over, but on this occasion I was well away by the third tune. Not difficult, with Breezy keeping it uplifting and vocal with tunes like "I adore", "Fly away", "Heartbeatz", "Electric" and finishing his hour with "You're Shining"

For the 11-12 set, it was the turn of the Uproar crew to shake the place up. Seduction on the decks and Rude on the mic usually means an entertaining set, but this time there were a few surprises in store as well. Not only were the popular tunes given a knowing nod with "Fly away" getting another airing, but Seduction also showcased a lot of new material. It just so happened I was raving next to Paul Compulsion who helpfully named a lot of the tunes for me, then told me he was responsible for most of them! Amongst others, "Energy", "Retro Tings" and "The Outlaw" were all creations of his that got an airing during the set, as well as a nice remix of "Fly away" and another tune which I utterly failed to name which finished his set. The crowd was growing by this time, with more arrivals making a beeline for the dancefloor as Sedders and Rude did the business with alarming ease. I was dancing all the way through this one as well.

Even though it was only midnight, I was well into things by this point. There was onyl two things on my mind by this time. Getting water to cool me down when too much raving had heated me up. I could have stopped raving, but this was not an option with the next DJ up.

Hixxy was up next, alongside another helping of MCsquared on the mic. By this time the place was nicely full with the opening of the second room doing nothing to thin out the party in the main arena. About 900 people were in the building when midnight came and most of them were on the dancefloor, waiting for Hizzy to entertain them, including me.

Not one to back down, The three of them went for it simultaniously, Hixxy busting out tune after tune, with Storm and Whizzkid having to share the only mic, but making the best of a bad situation and hyping the ravers despite this. Starting out with another selection of crowdpleasers, The VERY up for it crowd were raving away as the tunes were played out. Starting off with tunes like "Crazy Love", "Better than Life" and the most arresting remix of "Eyeopener", the set was going well until system problems produced a lack of music. However the crowd were more than ready to make their own entertainment at this point and without prompting started up a spontanious chant of "Hardcore, we want more!" which was quickly picked up on until most of the arena was chanting it. When the sounds returned, Hixxy picked up where he left off and continued the rest of this set in a similar vein, to the start, going for ""End of Time", "Turn up the music", "Take me away" and "Pretty green eyes" to finish off his set.

Taking the peak time set of 1-2 was the Next generation crew. Brisk and Wottsee had arrived in plenty of time for their set and when it was their turn the relieved their counterparts of the Mic and decks and went to work. I knew what to expect and the crowd and I got it by the bucketload. It was another exploration of the tougher edge of the Hardcore envelope as the Next Gen crew went on a rollercoster ride which everyone else was invited on as well.

Wottsee was right there for us when he was needed, MCing as fast as the tunes were and Brisk was contunally upping the pace as his set progressed. The ravers on the dancefloor couldn't get enough and just danced harder and harder. Tunes like "Hardstyle beats", "Lets move those feet", the "We will rock you" Rip, "Crazy Love" and a sidestep into the vocal sound with "Just be happy" wera ll well received before Brisk could resist the temptation no longer and slipped a Gabba tune in to finish the hour off.

After this, I realised it was 2am and criminally, I had not set foot in the second arena at all! Luckily, I knew Gammer was up next in there so took a trip to the second arena to solve the problem. the best thing about this arena, apart from the Venue plugging graffiti and bumper sound system was the fact that is was cold! Very cold in fact, this helped to keep me cool, no matter how hard I danced. But when you have the newly crowned "2005 Breakthrough DJ" on the decks, dancing hard is compulsary, not an option.

Gammer didn't let me down with a highly dancable set which comfirmed why he had walked his award nomination with such ease. Numerous hops within the Hardcore sound, he didnt stick to one particular style, with a fast party selection which got the discerning crowd in the arena raving from start to finish. Providing the lyrical backup was a trio of MCs who always work well on the mic, with Smiley taking centre stage, whilst occasionally pimping out the mic when Odyssey and Spenno felt the need to make their presence felt.

All this combined to make a highly enjoyable set with a raving astraboy on an ever present constant within the room. The DJ and the MCs worked in perfect harmony and dispite the slight feedback on the mic, the tunes and the lyrics got me dancing till Gammer's final tune. Smiley was in his element when Gammer dropped "Ordinary people", I was going crazy when the upfront remix of "Injected with a poision" was given an airing, Odyssey was bang on it with "Hungry for the mic" while "Back to the front" was being played out and Spenno was going great guns with "Back to reality" as the awesome "3000 Cycles" made me go goosebumpy. Not from the cold either. Finally, Gammer brought the second room to a close with another airing of "Heartbeatz".

As I stepped back into the main arena, i saw that little had changed. Not surprising with Styles and Whizzkid doing the business and the crowd lapping it up. After I had got some more water, Styles was on his final tune, the ever popular "You're my Angel" emenating out of the system which was complimented with Whizzkid going beatbox crazy over the top of it.

For the final set of the night, there is only one PROPER way to finish things up and once again, Sy and Storm stepped up for the final set of the night and with the second arena powered down, everybody who was left in the building was in the main room, waiting for the Power Hour to start.

Right from the get-go, it was a set to be proud of. The ravers expect and every time I have seen them, Sy and Storm deliver. The energy from the tunes and the lyrics compell every raver worthy of the term "Hardcore" to go for it and not stop for nothing. the place was a sea of dancing ravers, each of them determined to see it out till the end. I didnt see the dancefloor fade and even though I hung around near the exit (all the better to get an early copy of the ravin eye) I didn't see many people use it. It had to be from the tunes cos I was loving every one of them. keeping the remixes of classic tunes to one side for the moment, Sy plumped for only the freshest and bounciest tunes areound, including "Rock ya Hardcore", "Neckbreaker", "Only your love", "Just be happy", "Take me higher" and "making me wanna dance" into the first half of his set. Storm was also on the case, dropping the most appropriate lyric of the night with "I'm True Hardcore" during the remix of "Free your mind".

Always with a sense of occasion, Sy leaned on the classic remixes for the closing stages of his set, dropping "Discoland" and finishing off the evening with an appropriate caning of the remix of "4AM" just as the clock passed the same hour and the night came to a close.

All that was left to do was confront the flyer massive outside the venue, grab a copy of the Ravin' Eye and pick up a copy of the NEW RAVIN EYE CALENDER (Available from a mere 10 quid from the shivering Whizzkid and Odyssey outside the entrance) scrape the 2 inches of frost off the car and put the heater on full blast for the trip home.

Things I liked:

Sound - It did take a little while to sort out, but when it was properly EQ'd, the system in the main arena was very loud indeed.

Atmosphere - New promotions often take a little time to establish themselves, atmosphere wise. Not this one. The crowd, whilst not composed entirely of Hardcore ravers, were not backward in coming forward in terms of atmosphere.

BarStaff - A lot of of them were wearing whistles and horns whilst they were working, they were also bopping away to the Hardcore on the several occasions I went to get water too. The best one was the laydee behind the bar in fluffy boots. I got talking to her later on in the night and asked if she worked here "I'm the Bar Manager" was her reply. Excellent

Lineup - You cant deny the biggest DJs and MCs in the land were all at the party, but the second room also deserves a shout. It had the very best in upcoming and underbooked talent as well.

Branding - A lot of events dont bother with this, but you were in no doubt as to where you were from the decor at this party. Loads of big "TH" logos were suspended from the ceiling, each namechecking a different DJ and MC who was playing at the party. A very original take on decor and branding, I really liked this. Even thought about nicking one

Things I liked less:

Dancefloor. As the night wore on it got wetter and wetter and as a consequence, slipperier and slipperier. I saw quite a few people fall over as well. Not sure what can be done about it, but it deffo needs sorting out, it was getting dangerous towards the end.

4am finish - 8 out of ten ravers who expressed a preference, said they preferred a 6am finish when it came to their raves.

The mic situation - MC squared put better performances in when there are two mics for them to use.

For a starting promotion, the effort that went into this rave was clear to see. No "Start small and build from there" tactics here, thank you very much, it was out to impress from the word go. Multi arena event, with a very impressive DJ lineup in both rooms with impressive sound and production to boot. Every aspect of the party had been thought about and whats more, you could tell it was all worth it. Only the best parties generate raw atmosphere and this one had it in boat loads. The crowd were definitely of the stomping variety and the music impelled them to dance, doubly impressive when you consider they were not all 100% Hardcore ravers.

If thats not enough then there is the ultimate endorsement to fall back on. The Legend that is Raver Paul turned up like he does when there is a Hardcore rave on in the area. You know the party is worth going to when he touches down in the place and he was there alongside the rest of the Hardcore faithful that you see week in week out at parties up and down the land. Its what makes the scene what it is and rocking it down with all of the crew to some serious music made this party all the better. If the next one is half as good then I am well up for making another two hour trip to be there, despite the girly 4am finish.
astraboy.