astraboy

Since my last visit to Jellybeanz (Which was admittedly was quite a while ago) a lot of changes have taken place. Mainly involving venue changes.

From the wicked little venue in Northampton, to Club Teeze (which I never made it down to), this odyssey eventually led out of Northampton and to Milton Keynes and Club Empire.

However, it was not the location that made me want to attend (although moving closer to London is never a bad thing) , once again, it was the lineup.

Although it was not as good as when it had the extra dimension of a second room back in Northampton, damn it was close.

Despite a lack of a second room, This event, dubbed "A new adventure" was not confining that sense of adventure to the new venue. The lineup reflected it too.

Top of the list, as expected, was an apprearence from Sy and Storm, booked in the only acceptable way, to finish off the night with one of their "Power Hour" sets, not to mention Kevin Energy to bring the unique sounds of Nu Energy to the party.

As well as that, a distinct leaning towards DJs who's talent outweight their bookings was present in the form of Sketchy & Compulsion, as well as Storm and Spinback.

Lastly bridging the gap between the two was Gammer, with another well deserved set to prove to his doubters that he is still as innovative as ever.

We arrived at 10ish, the hour long drive from london being rapidly eaten up, but the thought of getting there, as well as the fact that I knew exactly where I was going. Even so, when you arrived, it was nice to park barely 50 meters from the venue instead of the 250+ you do when Helter touched down.

The only real hitch was not actually knowing where the place was! However, this was sorted out with the well placed signs directing people to the entrance. No nonsense here, a big HARDCORE and an arrow let you know exactly where it was.

Turns out the venue was, as expected, the top room of Empire where Raverbaby and HTID held its second Hardcore arena. Entrance was via a side exit and entry to the venue was only after a hit and miss search, a hello to the friendly promotors at the door and a lot of stairclimbing.

When we got into the area, we were on familiar territory. Last time I was here I spent the majority of the night in this place due to the awesome music on offer. I expected no less on this ocassion too. Prefering to leave the decor to a few well placed backdrops and fluro fabric suspended from the ceiling, the money had clearly been spent in the right place, getting in the best DJs to entertain the crowd.

I knew I was in for great things when I arrived and Bristol bad boys Sketchy and Compulsion were on the decks and getting the evening off to the best possible start. Playing a nice and varied set, they were clearly in control of proceedings from the outset and I enjoyed their set. Lots.

Best of all the inclusion of a seriously talented MC was a good idea too. Never seen Hypervibe on the mic before, but I have to say I was impressed. Too many MC's mumble, not enough project what they say. Hypervibe firmly belongs in the "legible" catagory . I could understand everything he had to say and not only that, was impressed with what he came up with.

However, the DJs were determined not to be eclipsed by anyone, even if I had finally found an MC whith something different to offer. I have seen Sketchy and Compy play out before and always go away with a smile on my face and my heart rate elevated. With the West country crew dropping "Make it bounce", and remixes of "Edge 1" and "Lets fly" tonight was going to be no different. Especially when they elected to go Hard on us for the last part of the set with "Like a maniac" and "Pull it to the left" getting dropped.

Next up were Jellybeanz residents Mantra and Scottie B, both gracing the decks and mic respectively to show what the JB crew are capable of. Mantra had more than impressed me at his last showing and I was keen for more. However, after a Trance influenced start to the set to bring us down from the Gabba madness before, I was pulled away to take part in a DVD interview, so didnt get to see the majority of the set.

But that took nothing away from what I was in for when I got back, I walked into the arena and There it was, "Chemical Love". Breaks mix. I got myself onto the dancefloor quick smart and let the rush that overtakes me each and every time this tune is played take control.

As well as that, an executive decision to finish his hour with a trip back to the turn of the millenuim saw "Gonna get you" and "up all night" finish his set and also saw me with a big smile on my face. Its not often you get to dance to those tunes and I took full advantage.

After Matra had finished, DJ Gammer, with another well deserved booking stepped up to entertain the (sizeable) crowd. With Scottie B and Hypervibe on the mic, he got to work and as is nearly always the case when this guy gets busy, got me dancing and loving it in no time at all.

Best of all, he started off his set with the best comedy tune of the moment, Compy's "The Call". As the lurid proclamation of "I like you, I want to touch you in the pants!" emenated from the speakers, the ravers got down to business like their lives depended on it.

Gammer reciprocated buy playing a set which typified his eclectic nature. Everything got a look in. From the weird (see his first tune), to the serious (Re: Crazy Love), to the happy ( Next stop Party time) and all the way from the sublime (**** your style) to the rediculous (Donkey Punch) which he used to bring his set to the close.

It was 1 am at this point and not only had the Lineup drawn me to the rave, but it clearly did the same to lots of other people. The place was nicely full and by the time Kevin Energy and Odyssey were up to do some damage, Nu Energy style, all of them were ready for what he had in store.

In a very welcome return to the most popular Freeform set structure of the moment, Energy held back on the 180bpm **** bleed stuff at the start and elected for a vocal based start. No complaints from me though, even though I could ID none of it, I found it VERY easy to dance to and a good prelude to what was in store.

As is usually the case, I quickly immersed myself into the music. It didnt matter that the only tune I could recognise was Ravegirl's "Freedom" and the only Lyric I can remember Odyssey dropping was "Ride the Rhythm". The entire of the set was focused on Energy gradually increasing the pace till the full on stuff made a welcome appearence at the end.

Next up was a real treat for me. Its not often enough that DJ Storm plays out, and especially when he goes b2b with his IMO partner Spinback. I had to be there for this one as I have said so many times before Spinback got me into Hardcore and Storm can write a tune or two. The upshot being that I was looking forward to what they had in store, espeiclly with Smiley and Scottie B on the mic.

Going for it on an eclectic and varied tip, not only did Storm and Spinback keep faithful to the Hardcore with "Ultimate High" and "Crazy love" (breaks mix too, suits you sir!) they also dipped their toe into Hard Dance with nice Hardcore remixes of some very well known Hard dance tunes like "Turn me on, turn me out" and best of all "Find the feeling".

As well as that, The MCs were going for it throughout, entertaining the crowd with Smiley dropping his Immortal "Ordinary People" lyric and Scottie B getting all political on us and going off on a slate-a-thon of certain websites and their member's outspoken views.

To finish off the evening was the frankly, compulsary, finish to any good rave, namely Sy and Storm. Arriving literally at the last minute, both DJ and MC set up in record time, and as Storm and Spinback took down their final tune, got to work as only they know how.

Most of the crowd seemed to know what was next as the surrounding areas emptied out and the dancefloor rammed out for the final hours madness. Of course, the bouncy sound dominated throughout.

No preamble, no buildup, Sy ripped straight into his favoured style with a vengence, Storm was right behind him on the mic and both were most definitely earning their money during this set.

Tune after tune is a pre-requisite of any Power Hour and in no way did Sy let us down. The DJ was playing tunes with the sole intention of making the ravers dance and dropping "Slide away", "D.E.V.I.L", "Makin me wanna dance" (Which was duely rewound when the crowd went nuts), "Show me happyness" and the ever pleasing remix of "Pacific Sun" definitely got me and the rest of the place going.

Storm was well into the zone too, mixing it up on the dancefloor with the ravers like the rest of the MCs on the night, he was taking no prisioners for his single and only hours work in Milton Keynes, especially when he caned his "Hardcore Family" chat during the remix of "Free your mind".

Lastly, as is only appropriate with a finish of this time, Sy let the rave play out to the sublime remix of "4am" and after it had played out and the ravers had stomped thier guts out for the final time, Storm wished the crowd a safe journey home. All that was left was to leave whilst laughing at the police standing outside twiddling their thumbs cos they had no fights to break up.



Things I liked:

Lineup - For a single arena event with a 4am finish, you couldnt have asked for much more. Big names, up and comings, up and runnings as well as the best MCs in the land.

Music - This was a reflection of the well thought out lineup. If you book innovative DJs, the tunes will follow suit. This night was a prime example

Ravers - This was the best part of the party. Lots of ravers in the place, but ALL of them were totally up for it in a way I havent seen in a long time. Totally ******** free as well, not one person was in the area for any other reason than to have a good time.

Free stuff - A bloke handing out free icepoles on the dancefloor is always nice. They werent frozen, but they were cold and that was good enough for me. Also, the post rave sweeties Bubble was handing out were nice too.

Things I liked less:

Sound - The sound in that Discotheque arena is always a bit hit and miss. No exception tonight either. Sometimes it was fine, but on other ocassions the volume seemed to noticably dip.

People getting kicked out for falling asleep - maybe we should organise a few fights next time so security can have something to do. *Bundles Compy to the ground*

4am finish - *Shakes fist at girly 4am finish*

Having not been to a Jellybeanz for a while, I didnt know what to expect as it had been so long since the last one. Handily I knew from the moment I set foot in the door that nothing had changed at all.

Once again a nice mix of DJ talent and names to pull the crowds in. Once again a top party atmosphere in the place and once again, an easygoing crowd with absolutely no pretenders, hangers on or anyone not there cos they love it.

This was what made the party for me, although the new venue was interesting, the lineup pleasing, the music engaging, it was the crowd that made this rave stand out from the rest. All the cool people you see week in week out were there, as well as the locals who always touch down for a Milton Rave, not to mention a fair few people who dont come out as often as they could.

The best part of this was all of them were up for a rave and this combined with the top notch music made for a perfect night out. Looks like I'll be spending a fair few nights in that top room at Empire, if this rave was anything to go on, I'd be mad not to.
astraboy.

Shouts to:
Nix, Sykee, Samuel Claus, Andy M, baby D, Kickin_K,Big Smithers, Mark HB & Gaby, Charlie and James, martin, Stu8, Bedford Caine (Happy birthday dude), Tom U4EA, Mrs U4EA, Sammy P, Big specticle crew, Gillian, Fishgeffo, STS Dave, Mad Vic, Overlode, LB (claw cartel), Mayhem, Skampy, Spacekitten, Paul The Legend, Bean, Koochy ( nice to see you again), Mulla (ed), Bubble (thanks dude!), Mantra, Sketchy & Compulsion, Energy, Odyssey, Smiley, Storm, Scottie B, Smiley, Sy, Gammer, Spinback & DJ Storm (Gentlemen, the pair of you) and anyone else I may have forgotten.