astraboy

A return to the infamous Royal Bath and West Showground was always on the cards for Slammin Vinyl. The only organisation brave enough to take on this huuuuge venue down near Shepton Mallet not once but TWICE during 2004 saw strong showings from the most important aspect of the party, namely two packed out Hardcore arenas throughout the length of both parties.

With this in mind, I was more than up for going back for more. Even though the time I was there saw the volume under strict control from the council, by holding it down for the first party, the promoters played a tactical game and ensured future parties were given the green light on the basis of the first one being complaint free.

So with this party earning its approval with the council, the flyers were released. Subtitling the event "WESTFEST" and promising more attractions than most other events put together, including Hardcore Heaven, One Nation, Slinky, Bionic, Frantic, United Dance and Funktion One it was a safe bet that this event would be well attended.

But guaranteed attendence was earned on the basis of two things. First up was the annual turn out of the Hardcore Heaven awards, the chance for the ravers to vote for their favourites within the scene. And the second? Well that was the promise of a "Main Stage", which would play Hardcore, Hard dance, DnB, and Hard house as well as individual arenas for the aforementioned sounds. I had heard a lot about what raving in "Skylab 1" was like, at last I was going to experience it.

The night in question seemed to leap out of nowhere, with busy working weeks leavin no time for anticipation, but I didnt care, I was just happy to get back down there again. This time Mupster was driving, so as well as being able to have a few cans on the way down, we also go there seriously quickly.

Pulling into the familiar carpark field, we found somewhere to ditch the motor then made our way to the queue. This was our first shock of the night. No queue. Not even a little one, all we had to do was show our tickets and we were into the search warehouse. Here was a bit of a queue to get serached, but it went down quickly enough, with only 15 or so minutes between joining the back and gaining entry.

Once inside, we headed towards the complex. Having been there before, I thought I knew where the Hardcore arena was. As it turned out I was right and wrong. ALL the arenas were mixed, with Hardcore and DnB sharing the mainstage and the Hardcore heaven warehouse. This meant lots of changing around to see the sets I wanted to, but I didnt matter, I was well up for tonight and the least of my problems was extra shoe leather expenditure, especially as I was moments away from my first raving experience where it mattered, Mainstage.

When I had fought my way through the massive crowd, The Tidy Boys were just about finished. After that, Breeze, Styles, Storm and Whizzkid took over and got the rave going just the way I like it. Hardcore.

This was what it was all about. The Hard house, the DnB, the techno, it all took a back seat when Breeze and Styles and MC Squared came in. The Hardcore was played out and the ravers stomped their guts out. Everyone of them making the most of a moment that hadn't been seen for many a year. Needless to say, each of the performers rose to the occasion magnificently.

For the DJ's efforts, they brought the upfront sound to the rave like they are famous for. Dropping only the biggest and best tunes such as "I believe in you" and "Elysium", as well as acknowledging the micmen by playing out "Dark like Vader" and "Nightmare", providing each half of MCSquared with a platform to perform to the (massive) crowd they were in front of. Fantastic.

After the RBC crew had finished with the main stage it was time to have an explore. Even though i was familiar with the complex, I didnt know where the artists were playing due to the numerous arena swaps. Like I said, an explore was in order.

With the Mainstage being easy to find, the Bionic and Slinky stages were just as forthcoming in the far cowshed. The other cowshed was a mixed arena, but with Hardcore Heaven logos all over it, it was easy to work out where the HH awards were to be presented.

The Building to the rear of the mainstage was also split, but on two levels. The ground floor was the VIP arena playing House music all night long, with upstairs being another mixed arena, with (IMO) the most diverse lineup of all three mixed stages.

Lastly, the barn to the rear of the Fairground was the wicked United dance stage. This arena was the old Skool/ techno arena and with its minimalist decor and almost pitch dark lighting, had the most underground feel to it, especially when the music was of the rough and ready techno variety.

Speaking of which, the next set I caught was exactly that in the UD arena. Exploring a complex of this size took time, but it was worth it to walk into the UD arena to see Scorpio and Producer working the crowd into a frenzy.

Together with the unmistakeable micwork of MC Ribbz to accompany them, they took the crowd on a jorney through new and older Hard techno, as well as some choice Gabba selections. With two hours to play with, the DJs in control of the decks worked the crowd nicely. Going from soft (well, relatively speaking) to progessively Harder tunes as their set progressed, with the only tune I recognised being "Where it all begun", a relic of that infamous Future Dance Scorpio tape which first introduced me to the sound.

Inveitably, the tail end of the set gave way to the dutch sound and as the awesome (but unidentifiable) gabba bled out the speakers, the crowd went crazy all over again. Top set that one, it was nice to find room for techno in the party.

After some hard as nails techno, I was well up for more diversity, luckily I knew just where I could find it. Gammer was just about to start in the upstairs Hardcore arena so chucking a left at the main arena brought me to the place I wanted to be. Front and centre, just in time for the start.

Together with Smiley, Storm and a brief showing from the one and only Sharkey during his set, it was safe to say the lyrical side of the performance wouldnt go wanting, but it was the music that really made the set for me. I wanted diversity and boy did I get it.

Gammer played a freeform set. No, not freeform music, but a freeform set. There is a difference. A freeform set is one where the set takes different directions as the DJ sees fit. This is exactly what Gammer did and the music benefitted as a direct result.

Starting off firmly in the upfront sound, Gammer kicked off his set with some top tunes such as "Heaven in my arms" and "Cry". Shortly after Storm made his presence felt by introducing a new tune with his lyrics. Notable for two reasons, firstly because it was a joint venure with the DJ behind the decks and secondly becuase it featured a montage of his favourite lyrics. I'm reliably informed that "21st Century Rush" will be heard out a lot more in the coming months.

The second half of Gammers set was a real showcase for his eclectic nature. With Smiley replacing Storm on the mic, the music took the ravers on a journey and the party people on the dancefloor lapped it up. Tune after tune rolled out with party tunes like "On & On", "Feel so real" and "Nightmare" going head to head with "State of emergency" and a new remix of "Crazy Love".

Next up (after bumping into loads of people who I had travelled with, was meeting down there, didnt know were therebut was just as happy to see. I love mixed arenas) was a return to the UD warehouse for another Dj I wanted to see. I handnt planned on going to see Vinyl Junkie, but my opinion was changed when I downloaded a mix from him a few weeks back. Dark and underground breakbeats? Some of that. In I went.

As it turned out, it was more than what I had heard via the internet. Some would say it was better with an awesome Happy Hardcore set to start his hour off. The arena was still pitch black but I didnt mind one bit. Neither did I mind that the set was totally MC free. The rest of the ravers in the place and myself did what was obligatory. Immersed ourselves in the tunes and danced the night away.

With the first half of his set consisting of the best of the best with "Partytime", "Techno round the world" and "Love and Devotion", I was happy to be there at the right time and just didnt want it to end. However, VJ was one step ahead of me and brought it crashing to a halt, before devoting the rest of his set to the reason I had come to see him in the first place.

Obscure breakbeat driven Hardcore, with a smattering of DnB thrown in for good measure. For a set I thought could get no better, it was sure having a good try. The BPMs took a bit of a downturn but I werent complaining, with "I get high", "Wake up and Smell the Coffee", "Into my mind" all featuring within his set. Lastly he finished with an eye for Nicky Blackmarket who was on next, dropping a remix of "Valley of the Shadows" to finish off with. Nice set.

For the Hardcore Heaven arena, I had spent precious little time in there. It was time to make amends though, with Dougal making a 4am appearence and prompting me to fight my way into the arena and make the very unique journey that that arena demands, namely a good few minutes walk to get to the front.

The closer I got, the warmer it got. But Dougal, along with Smiley on the mic was worth losing a few pounds in sweat for, not to mention the super loud sound system that had been set up in there. The combination of this make the place go crazy, Dancing ravers were not in short supply during this set.

Dougal kept it upfront and mainstream throughout his set, playing the party anthems the crowd would easily recognise and love all the more for it. I know I was going for it when he dropped "Sound without a name", "Extreme", "21st century Rush" and "On and on" in his set, well, at least until I overheated and had to chill out round the back. But I was happy enough watching the longest arena in Hardcore make the most of it while I cooled down near the exit.

For the last set of the night, it was back to where I started. The Main arena was going to bow out to Hardcore and I was on a tight schedule. Normally I would have been there right to the bitter end, but not this time. With one of my crew taking a turn for the worse, I had 30 minutes to make the most of Sy and Storm's set. I werent happy about it, but I made the best of what I had.

It was easily done too, with both MC and Sj on top form for yet another firing "Power Hour" set. The place hadn't thinned out a bit and I was right amongst the thick of it until the final moment. I knew it was going to be a while before this happened again so I raved. I raved like it werent going to happen again. Sy and Storm were more than forthcoming when it came to supplying the tunes and lyrics.

Like I said, I had to compact a power hour into 30 minutes, so I went for it right from the start. With Sy dropping lots of unknown tunes to start of with, before going for it on the remix tip with a remix of "Just a feeling" while Storm let rip with "Bass fire". I knew I had to finish on a high, so as soon as "Makin me wanna dance" dropped I knew I was at the end. I danced till it mixed out, then ran away from the arena as quick as I could. I didnt want to know what the next tune was cos I knew I would have had a hard time leaving if I did. I got out just in time and 15 minutes later we were on the road back home.

Things I liked:

Music - Great sets from both Gammer and Vinyl Junkie on the night, with the rest of the night being equally well supported on a musical tip.

Sounds - Last time I was at Shepton the system was under the watchful eye of the council. This time it werent and as a result it was louder, lots.

Venue - Bath and West. You just cant beat it.

United Dance - Probably my favourite arena on the night. Pitch bloody dark, I couldnt see a thing. It was in a barn too. Felt like a free party. Wicked.

Security - Whilst not quite as over friendly as the scottish crew from last year, security were polite and courteous, if a little paramilitary in appearence. But thats not a bad thing, cos they were safe.

Lucozade behind the bar - Great idea for the ravers who were powered from what they could buy behind the bar. Yum.

Lineup cards - Suspended above the entrances to the arenas, high enough to stay there and not get nicked, but big enough to be read from that height. Nice one

Things I liked less:

Heat - This was a killer in the Hardcore Heaven Cowshead. I saw two people collapse during Kevin Energy's set and during Dougal I had to jack it in cos I got just too hot from stomping too hard. not good at all.

Sound - Most of the arenas were really well balanced. No complaints from United Dance, Top floor of the westex suite and ESPECIALLY none from the HH arena which was mindblowing. Main stage was a different matter though, I saw the entire rig trip the breakers twice when I was in there and when it was running the definition towards the front was not all it could be.

Crowd control - Although I was a big fan of chasing round the complex in search of my chosen sound, crowd control was a big problem, especially where there were a lot of bottlenecks. When Hype kicked out and Kev energy started up, there was an especially bad crush with security nowhere to be found.

Aggro - I was on the receiving end of it this time. More than once. Not what I came to Slammin for, but I didnt let it ruin my night.

The Rain - For not letting up till we were 10 miles clear of Shepton. Grr.

leaving early - I had to go early cos one of my group was unwell and had to get home. It meant missing half of Sy's set, Gutted, but I'll catch up with his work next week, if on a smaller scale.

Despite it being a wet one, in no way did it get me down. I know a lot of people have slated the the constant room changing, but I kinda liked it. For one thing it meant Hardcore got get a shot in the main arena (and like it or not it wouldnt have happened without it) but as well as that, with four arenas to look out for, I had to plan my night out, and more importantly it meant I could do so and taylor it to exactly what I wanted.

This meant I got the privilidge of seeing:
Hardcore in a MASSIVE main arena,
a top notch Gammer and Vinyl Junkie set,
and lots of socialising when I bumped into people en route to and from said arenas.

I like doing something different. When you go to raves on a weekly basis, its always nice to see an event go to the effort to distinguish itself and even better when it does it in a way that reminds me of how it used to be, even if the various sub genres are a world apart these days. I enjoyed myself cos I had to use my brain to find the sets that piqued my interest and while I was doing it, bumped into more people than I would have done if I had stayed in the same spot all night like I usually do. So I did and I was and my night was all the better for it. Here's to next year at Bath and West. I'll see you there.

paul-s

I went to this too, thought it was a blinder, even though it was a 100mile drive (not long in the scoob ) loved the venue, loved the arenas, especially United Dance set of the nite was andy c playing Pendulum's remix of Voodoo People to a packed main arena.

couple of pics below