astraboy

London raves rule. They do. When you're never more than an hour away from any venue in central London, you appreciate it all the more when a big night pitches up and provides the music you love within easy distance of getting home in the morning.

This, amongst other reasons was why I wanted to go to HardcorKix. The other reasons were just as good as its geographical location though. For starters, the venue.

I have been to the SEOne more times than I can count, but during all those times I can only remember Hardcore getting played in the main arena once. Even then it was only a couple of sets. This made HardcorKix, which had the main arena to itself all night all the more appealing.

Not only that, but the DJ lineup looked like a winner with, not only a FULL compliment of the best MCs in the land, namely Storm Whizzkid, Odyssey and Smiley, as well as a DJ lineup of equal calibre. In that respect AMS, Kev Energy, Darren Styles, Sy Hixxy and event promoter ZipO were all scheduled to spin.

Lineup look a bit thin for an allnighter? They'll be a reason for that, not to mention another reason I wanted to go. ALL the DJs had been given 90 minute sets. I really like this idea as quite often it feels like a DJ has only just gotten into his stride before he's replaced by the next one. Not here, this was an opportunity to expand on what they usually come up with.

With the prospect of expanded sets from the best in the business in the best arena in the largest rave venue in london, well, I justy had to be there.

Pitching up at around 10pm, a conspicuious lack of a queue made getting in easy. Or so I thought. I was thoroughly searched and then told in no uncertain terms that I werent getting in with my orange dayglo! I asked why and was told security were also wearing orange dayglos and they didnt want anyone mistaking me for them.

I asked whether security had "astraboy" written on the back of their vests. It didnt go down well. Probably the reason why they insisted I hand it over instead of keep it in my pocket. That and the head of security was that moody asian guy I had tangled with in the past. I reluctantly handed it over and went in. Feeling naked.

Once inside I soon lightened up, with the grey arch homing a large inflatable boxing ring and the main arena already fully into the swing of things. I rounded the corner and took a look at where I was going to be spending the night.

The main arena SEOne has gone through many transformations, but this latest guise, with airmovement and nice (not to mention non slippery) laminte flooring gives it a touch of swank as well as grime. All you have to do to remind yourself you are in a railway arch is look up, but your legs dont leave caked in mud like they did in 2001.

All this was helped by Kev Energy who was making an early start to the night with the one and only Odyssey on the mic. Starting out an evening with Freeform is always an odd one for me, as the top end BPMs are often difficult to get into first thing. However, Kev was a mile ahead of me, starting off his set with some of the more sedate and vocal based tracks in his repotoire before moving up to the Hard stuff.

Sandwiched between all this was not one, but two lyrical dons on the mic. Odyssey was very much in control of proceeding, but with the aid of a sneakily smuggled into the crowd mic, Storm soon made his presence felt, culminating in an extended voice scratch battle from opposite ends of the arena.

The only downside of his set was that it was a complete mystery to me from a tune recognition point of view. However this is not uncommon, or a bad thing now you come to mention it. Freeform is my pesonal crossover between Hardcore and Techno in that sense. You can go for a long time listening to both without IDing a single tune, but that dont stop you from loving it. As long as you keep stomping to it you can appreciate it. I did and I did, esp when he got near the end and dropped the Epic "Adagio".

Next up was another from the Nu Energy Stable, the man behind the cleanest Mixdowns in the business, AMS. I'll be honest with you, I was expecting another 90 minutes of Freeform Hardcore, not that I was complaining, but yet again, the man behind the decks blindsided me with a surprise.

Playing an "Impact & Resist" set for the assembled crowd, it was a complete departure from what I have heard from AMS in the past, but together with Storm on the mic, believe me it pushed all the right buttons when it came down to stomping to it.

As well as that, it was ANOTHER set which consisted of lots of unknown material. I feel really slack at only being able to name the anthems in his set such as "I adore", "Dido R.I.P" and "Close your eyes", but I made sure I pulled him to one side after he had finished to ID my favourite tune of the set, the one with the "Stupid Fcukin Experts" sample which according to the man in charge was called "Check this out" I suggest you do what the title says.

Next up was one of the highlights of the night. I was interested to see what Styles could come up with for his hour and a half and in no way did he let me down. Too many people have accused this man of being boring and predictable, so it was a shame there weren't more people there to witness this set. I was more than happy to be there when he got down to business though.

Together with a full compliment of MCSquared on the mic, Styles tore through his 90 minutes at a breakneck pace. As well as playing all the tunes he is caining on dancefloors up and down the country such as "Dark like vader", "Slide away", "getting better" and my personal favourite "Feel so real", he also slid in a few cheeky tunes which definitely raised my eyebrows.

Top of the list was a nice remix of "Angel eyes", as well as that, there was a VERY nice remix of "24-7" which I was more than happy to stomp to because I love that tune to bits. However it was the breakbeat mix of "Timebomb" that was the real icing on my rave cake for this set. Top tunes, quality mic work (esp. during the 24-7 remix, oh my word) and lots of surprises. Nice one.

For the final set of the night, it was the turn of event promoter to step up to the decks and show us what he was made of. DJ ZipO took over from Styles and took the rave home while the ravers on the dancefloor made the most of what they had paid money to do. Seeing as I had never heard this guy play out before, I was more than happy to dance to his music.

Starting off in an unusual manner with a rip of Pulp Fiction's Ezekiel 25/17 reading, ZipO soon found his feet, alongside MC Whizzkid on the mic. Initial tunes within his set were designed to keep the ravers on the dancefloor, with "Keep it Hardcore" the remix of "Set you free" and "You're shining" all getting played out.

However, even though it was the final set, the surprises didnt stop there, a special guest MC in the form of the diminutive MC Mel SD (great name) had been promised and in due course she stepped up and took over from Whizzkid.

I hung back near the rear stacks to see what she was made of. Too often MCs have an imbalance between talent and ambition, but on this occasion, it was refreshing to see someone who actually had some ability take over.

Heavily influenced by the DnB style, sometimes she did rip off a few well known lyrics, but her own lyrics were nevertheless constructive and free of babble. Occasionally she did go over the top and chat over the breakdowns and mixes, but for the majority of the time she knew when to keep quiet and when to let rip.

What was really impressive was the way this tiny girl ( a good foot shorter than me) was strutting round the stage with total confidence. It takes more nerve than I have to get on stage and a lot of MCs dont display confidence which is an important aspect of their stage presence, Mel SD had no such problems. Okay her lyrics were a little raw and her delivery and timing need work, but there is definitely something there.

Eventually MCSquared took over from Mel and the night was taken to the end with ZipO dropping the tunes the ravers wanted for the final hour. Only the bounciest and crowdpleasing tunes made it onto the setlist, with "Makin me wanna dance", "Electrik" and the remix of "Free your mind" all getting played out. Despite the fact they were not playing to thousands of ravers, Storm and Whizzkid gave it 100% as they always do, dropping only their finest lyrics such as "We dont care" and "Stone cold" during the final tune, "Heartbeatz".

Things I liked:

Venue - I cant remember the amount of times I've been to the SEOne, I can remember the amount of times Hardcore has been in the main arena all night. One. HardcorKix.

Sound - The sound is a bit hit and miss at SEOne, raves sound quality range from fantastic to unlistenable. This one was firmly in the former realm. Crisp, loud and clear. The mics were at the perfect volume too. Nice one.

90 minute sets - This dont happen often, but its really good when it does. This was one of those ocassions. Fantastic music from ALL DJs on the night with surprises forthcoming from every set.

Video screen - This was showing video footage of the Uproar Collossus event. Never got tired of watching it.

Things I liked less:

Security - I knew I was in for trouble when I saw that moody asian guy hurtling towards me. Its a sad day when you go to a Hardcore Rave and you cant wear a dayglo vest. Doubly damning when there was another bloke wearing an orange one all night and he didnt get hassled once. Dayglo UNDER my tshirt next time I think.

Attendance - There were only about 100 ravers in the place. For a venue the size of SEOne, more were needed.

Early finish - mmm, dodging muggers is great when you're turned out at 4am.

Its a shame more people didn't turn up for this one cos the attendance was the only thing that let it down. Why? Cos every other area was totally sorted. Venue was what I had always dreamed of, Sound was spot on, DJs given room to spread their wings creatively and MCs were on top form and were clearly having as much fun as the ravers.

Thats another thing that was good about the night. even though the dancefloor werent rammed, the party crew in the place just didnt give a damn and were still determined to have it hardcore as they do every single week. I know I was loving it for no other reason than on a musical tip. Musically, this night was off the hook in every sense.

I for one hope the promoter didnt get his hands burned too much and will be back for another one. Cos with some proper advertising, a venue better suited to the amount of ravers and a retention of the promoters artistic integrity, this could be a seriously good night out. Fingers crossed for another one, I had a great time.

HTID 10
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If that weren't enough for one weekend, there was more to come on Saturday night. A little bit further afield this time, but a trip to birmingham is never wasted when it means going to HTID.

I had not had enough sleep from the night before at all, but that didnt matter, you dont miss the flagship event in the Hardcore calender for inconvieniences like that, besides, the lineup was more than enough to perk me up on the long drive up there.

This is the good thing about HTID. All three arenas of Air in Birmingham are always used and put to good use. This event was no exception with Hardcore till I Die in the main arena, The Harder They Come in the second and Old Skool Till I Die (with a little bit of upfront breakbeat for good measure) in the Carbon lounge which had again been converted to a dance arena.

Within these three arenas was the best lineup I had seen for quite a while. This is another good thing about HTID, with so many artists on offer and the set times printed on the flyer, its easy to tailor your night to exactly who you want to see and what sort of music you want to hear. As always with me, it was as much variety as possible.

hurtling up the M1 and chucking a left at J5 of the M6, Air hoved into view soon after and after parking the car and walking inside search free, we were in.

This party had been themed the same as most previous HTID events. As it was summer, the promoter saw fit to throw a Hardcore beach party which was why I saw two swimming pools, a coconut shy and a barbeque with the EC beef mountain stacked up behind it. Still, nice though it was, I was there for the music and the main event was just about to start.

We had got there just shy of 11pm and that meant getting into the main arena just as Sy took to the decks for his very first kick off set, alonside Storm and Whizzkid on the mic, naturally in green light MCSquared mode.

It actually felt a little weird starting off when the kick off set did, but that was soon left behind as Sy dropped his first tune. I actually didnt recognise it, but soon after it melded into a remix of DJ Kurt's "Rock ya Hardcore" and things were back to normal.

Lots and lots of material which was new to me was forthcoming and the VERY vocal crowd were going crazy at this point, helped in no small part by MC2 on the mic.

After the new material (which I cant ID, sorry) had been and gone, it was business as usual from Sy. His ability to rock the party is unparralelled and this was a return to peak form for him. I went from a stanstill to raving like a madman in less than 10 minutes with him in charge. Fantastic.

The music was designed and selected to make you move and thats exactly what it did with "Slide away", "Hold me forever" and the remixes of "pacific sun" and "free your mind" all making a well deserved appearence.. Good though it was, this was just a prelude to the real highlight of the night.

Lou Lou made her presence felt by getting up on stage, She was clearly meant to be there as Storm handed over the mic without question and Sy started up the reason she was there. None other than to sing the vocals to "makin me wanna dance" 100% live.

Having said that, she was pretty much redundant during the main verses as the crowd probably knew the lyrics better than her! It was still something special though and its nice to see something done live and properly every now and again.

Thereafter, the remainder of the kick off set belonged to Sy, Storm and Whizzkid, each of them giving it their all and the crowd lapping it up. It was so good that from after the live performance to the finish I can only remember one tune, but it was the finisher, "Peace deep in my soul" so it was all good, not to mention a blinder of a start to my evening. Could it get any better? Only one way to find out.

That meant going up to the top of the building and into the Carbon lounge for Pilgrim's set. Never seen him play out before so I was curious to see what he could come up with. A trip back in time to be proud of is all I can say.

Totally MC free and all the better for it, Pilgrim went for the super happy 97 route and this was how he equalled (if not quite bettered) Sy's set from the previous hour. Not much of a crowd to appreciate his work, but Xtra-C and I were loving it from start to finish.

Not difficult when the man behind the decks was dropping tunes like "Party Time", "Music's so wonderful", "Heres another chance for me to dance with you" and "Living in Darkness" within his set. I was having such a good time rocking it down that the whole hour shot by and before I knew it he was pulling up his final tune and I was legging it down the stairs again.

Why? Cos Clarkee was on in the "Harder they Come" room and it had been ages since I saw him last. I dont remember much of the last set I saw, but within two tunes I realised why I had made the trip to see him. Techno. The good stuff as well.

I am no authority when it comes to techno, but I know what I like and Clarkee was coming up with the goods tonight. Together with Sharkey and Ribbz on the mic, the three of them took me on a voyage of discovery which was notable by the way I couldn't identify a single tune. The only sample I recognised was a rip of "searchin for my rizla", the rest of the time I was behind the door in my mind with the big "T" on it. Not to mention raving hard and getting very sweaty indeed.

Next set saw a return to the main arena, together with a return to one of my favourite genres, the Freeform sound. Sharkey and Odyssey were all set when I got there and together with a few hundred close friends, we got down to business as one.

Sharkz was in his element at this point, with Freeform being his speciality, the ravers were treated to a display of the finest quality. Odyseey had the mic in his hand and for his troubles was proving, once again why he's the only choice when it comes to freeform specialist MCs.

Tunewise, I only recognised "Check this out" and the excellent Gammer Remix of "Get ****ed", the rest was an unidentifiable blur which is not a bad thing, the main point was Sharkey's set continued the trend of the evening with every forthcoming set surpassing the last. This was also the reason why I went upstairs anf back into the carbon lounge when he'd finished

Luna-C was on next. There was only one place to be and that was on the dancefloor and close to the speakers. This guy has never let me down and I knew he'd do the business for me tonight too.

Luna-C is known as a breakbeat DJ, but I'm not sure why because he played everything in his set. You name it it was there. With no MC to hinder him he fully explored the Hardcore Envelope in his hour, leaving no stone unturned for the final set in the third arena.

Starting off with a few tunes that were, once again, new to me, the only one which lept out was the one with the vocal "The Great beast of London". Thereafter, he returned to familiar terratory for my uneducated ears, with "Fugees or not", the remix of "Timebomb" and his classic remix of the Beatles "help" for good measure.

But the best thing about watching this guy is the way he lulls you into thinking you've got him sussed and then he pulls another trick out the bag to surprise you and make you laugh at the same time. This time it was mixed with revulsion as the goddamn Crazy Frog played out! The crowd started booing, but Luna-C was well ahead of them, with a chorus of "WRONG!WRONG!WRONG!WRONG!" following it in the same tune that big ben plays. Fantastic

From then on he concentrated on the tunes and less on the surprises, but there really was no way to top that, not even with a close enounter of the cheesy kind, when he dropped "You're shining", Eyeopener" and "Elektrik" in quick succession. His final tune, bringing proceedings to a close in the upper arena was his label's "Styler Style". It was only after he stopped that I realised how hungry I was for more music. Off downstairs with all speed.

Straight into the second arena as well, I knew exactly where I needed to be to see Marc Smith play out and I weren't dissapointed. Thats because Marc never dissapoints me and after this set, he still hasn't.

Thats because high energy yet euphoric tunage is his speciality and I just cant get enough of it. He was going full tilt to an appreciative crowd as well, with plenty of vocal support to back him up to.
Marc's tunes were good, no doubt about it, with the remix of "Just get raw", "sensory vision" and my personal favourite "Gravity" all getting a look in, but the star of the show was none other than MC Sharkey on the mic.

In a return to the days of old, Sharkz was not even meant to be there, Odyssey had graciously let Sharkz get on it and in return he gave the ravers a performance of a lifetime. Its only on rare occasions that you see an old skool Sharkey performance, but that just makes it all the more special when it does happen. In the Zone doesn't even come close either.

"My mum can gurn better than you!" "Everyone hop on one leg!" "Make some noise if you think Dougal looks like Badly Drawn Boy!" As well as long conversations with the ever present rave Badger, it was pure comedy gold, priceless to watch, not to mention truely special as everyone there knew it wouldnt happen again for a long time so made the most of it while they had the opportunity.

Its safe to say I'm not a fan of MCs hijacking DJ sets and taking centre stage, but this was good enough to see me going to buy the tape pack for this set alone. Easily the set of the night, Sharkey was spotted leaving the building with the show tucked into his back pocket. Investigations into its theft are still ongoing.

For the final set of the night the rest of the arenas were shut down and all remaining ravers (or at least all that you can call Hardcore) piled into the main arena for the "Morning Glory" set, hosted for the first time by Billy "Daniel" Bunter and hosted by the ever present MCSquared. The final set of the night is always an event in itself and as such I was looking forward to it.

I knew it was going to be an anthem fest, but thats the best thing. I hadn't heard any all night, so I was more than up for some classics, judging by the energy the crowd had left in them, I werent the only one either.

Getting off to the best possible start with "Toytown" and "Rainbow high in the sky" whilst Storm cained "I'm true Hardcore" and Whizzkid followed it up with "My sexy baby", the set moved on at breaneck speed, stopping at all stations in and around the area of Greater Hardcore Classics. No stone was left unturned Bunter's efforts to hype the crowd.

From then on, it was a distinct alternation between modern and older classics, with "Lets fly away", "Getting Better", "Making me wanna dance" and "you're shining". The final tune of the night was one I didnt recognise, but that didnt stop a shedload of ravers leaving the building soaked in sweat and smiling at the end of it all.

Things I liked:

Musical variety - My set list for the night included, bouncy, 97, techno, freeform, breakbeat (and everything else), a Marc Smith set (only way to describe it) and an anthem infested morning glory set. Show me somewhere else where you can get that in one night and I'll be there like a shot. Till then HTID rules.

Atmosphere - I've noticed this having been to both. With saturday parties, the crowd are wilder, noisier and have more energy to expend than on a friday. This saturday party was full of an HTID crowd at their best.

Theme party - Always good for a laugh, I cant remember the last time I saw a coconut shy at a rave. What will they think of next?

Sharkey - A rare return to Old Skool MC Sharkey and Marc Smiths set was all the better for it. Find a thesaurus and look up the words "astounding", "visonary" "inspired" and for the sake of completeness "Trashed" to get an idea of his performance on the mic. The man is a living legend and he proved it beyond all doubt during this event.

Things I liked less -

New talent: The up and coming (and running) DJs were all crammed at the start of the night. Tony Wizbit was on at 8.30 in the evening. I arrived too late for all of them, but then I couldnt have been the only one.

Erm, erm, thats it really.

HTID is the most consistant party on the circuit atm. Its actually quite difficult to put together the things I liked & liked less parts as there are so many given facts that a normal occurances at any HTID like the tearing sound and the full on production and decor that it gets a little dull mentioning them each and every time. However the important aspects of the night were all taken care of and then some.

The music. Oh god the music, it was too good for words. I was forever traipsing round the place going from one arena to the next to see the next DJ I wanted to see. Not one second of the 7 hours I was there was spent even close to being bored, there was too much to see and do.

As well as that, the raw atmosphere that the VERY vocal crowd was producing was definitley something special. If it gets Bunter out of the DJ stand and onto the stage to thank the ravers for their participation during the Morning Glory set then you know its a worthwhile endeavour. The only thing that is not exceptional about it is the way HTID effortlessly produces mindblowing parties on such a regular basis. I intend to be at the next one to see if that can be maintained. I dont think I'm going to be dissapointed.
astraboy.

astraboy

Shouts to: Lord Peter & Emsties, Saiira, Matt, Kas, Emma, Tina baby, Legs, Minay, Charlie & James, Pikey, Shauny, Immz, Gurning girlie, Bag, Buzz-B, Gareth & Gillian (eventually), Cat, Compy & Sketchy, Mad Vic, Chit chat, Gim Overdrive, Cruze & Hev, Xtra-C, Obie, Lisa, Sallie & Sarah, Incy Wincy Cyber, Paul the Legend, Niki, Ronnie, John Mcguinness, Matt King of the Ravers, Darwin, Mad Maz, MC Trev, Dreamscape forever, Matt & Colin (nice to meet you), The Lowestoft crew, Andy M and the rest of the safe merseyside crew, Big specticle crew, MC Mel SD (both nights as well), Thumps, The guy who was dressed in pretty much identical clothes to me, Sharkey, Marc Smith, Odyssey, Luna-C, AMS, Smiley, ZipO (thank you very much), Scorpio, Flyin, Impact, Kev Energy, Bunter, Whizzkid, Wottsee, Storm, Styles, Jo @ HTID (Last minute crew, thank you) and everyone else who I met over the weekend.