It had been too long since I had done a rave weekender. The last one had been during the summer of 2003 and despite being more endurance test than 72 hour rave bender, was great fun, even if it did take me 4 days to recover. I could do with another weekend of chasing the music I love up and down the country, so I began planning which events I could hook up in sucession. After considering all the events that were taking place over the three days, I decided to limit them to events where my friends were playing out. This narrowed it down to three parties. Hardcore Meltdown on Friday, Luminous on Saturday and STS on Sunday. I werent happy at all about missing Hardcore Heaven on Saturday, but as Luminous was more birthday party than rave, then I could miss one big event on this occasion if it meant being with my friends. First on the list was Hardcore Meltdown.

A new event based in Chatham in Kent, Hardcore Meltdown was a totally new experience for me. On my way down there I realised that I have never been to a proper event in Kent before and that meant Pulse, the club where it was taking place, also broke new ground to me as it was my first time there too. The night was split into two rooms. The main room for old skool Hardcore and the second room for upfront Hardcore, mixed in with a few 95 sets for good measure. The only "Name" on the flier was Nicky Blackmarket but this in no way meant for a poorer event. The rest of the night was filled with a well thought out and talented DJ lineup, all of whome are working hard within the scene.
It all saw me skulking round the entrance to the club with a few other people just before 9pm. After sinking the first of many energy drink binges, we were let into the venue after a brief search by the friendly security. No messing about here, I was straight downstairs and into the hardcore arena.
Although it werent exactly big, it was good enough for me with a respectable lighting and sound system which was more than loud enough for the job. First up was DJ Crista, starting off my weekend in the best possible way, with a 95 set. I always have time for a good 95 set and this was exactly that. "6 Days", "On a Ragga Tip" and the awesome "Break of Dawn" all got a welcome outing and the early ravers responded in the best way possibel, by getting on the dancefloor and dancing. No pretensions or seriousness here, It was a set which was firmly in the "Fun" catagory and set the tone for the weekend in more ways than one. If the rest off the parties were as good as this, then I would be on for a blinder.
After the 95 madness, the only way forward was upfront Hardcore. DJ Deddley got down to business and played a solid hour of top notch tunes, including "Twist of fate", "Dark Shadow" and "Ecstasy 24-7". Even though I was having a good time, I will confess to leaving halfway through to catch the rest of Nicky Blackmarket's set. It was a departure from previous sets I have heard from him (And I've seen a few) cos it was an old skool hardcore set, not a jungle set. I'll probably neer hear him play "Trip to Trumpton" again and it'll probably be a while before I hear him drop "Just for you London" and "I'm raving I'm raving" as well. Nicky BM played a crowdpleasing set and it did just that. The assembled crowd were dancing away and having a good time.
Speaking of which, the crowd was definitely something to write home about. Too many new events don't make it past their first couple of promotions because of lack of adverstising. This was not a problem at this party though, if nothing else than for the sheer amount of posters stuck to every traffic light within a 3 mile radius of Chatham. This preperation was rewarded by party people coming through the door. Not just a few either, the place was full to the brim at one point and not just with ravers either. I saw more than a couple of beer boys going for it in the hardcore room. The sight of someone in newspaper print jeans and a 60 degree baseball cap going for it to Hardcore with a big smile on his face was definitely a worthwhile reason for attending.
Next set saw me firmly back in the hardcore room for Scott Devotion's set. I was expecting another hour of upfront, but was pleasently surprised to get another 95 set. Not that I was complaining, mind you. Scott gave the crowd exactly what the wanted with a tasty mix of tunes from back in the day including "Wanting to get high", "Thats my own", Brisk and Ham's Awesome "Rock the party", Now is the time" and giving "6 days" another outing.
After that was easily the set of the night. Phrendly went b2b with Fleece and gave the crowd a taste of Hardcore's flipside with an awesome breakbeat selection. I love my Hardcore breakbeats and as such I was going bananas during this set. With tunes such as "Breaking free", "Dont go", "Raver's choice 2" and "Whole world now" rocking the party. The only reason I stopped dancing was when I went to get more water.
While we're on the subject, this was one of the downpoints of the night. Some clubs prefer you to buy your water instead of filling up your bottle from the taps in the toilets. I've seen many methods of ensuring you do this, but the owners of Pulse are the first to remove the sinks in their entirity. This did **** me off as, as well as the bar running out of bottled water, but in fairness to the barstaff, if you asked for water and they had ran out, you did get a pint of water from the tap FOC.
It didnt really matter though, cos there was only one more set to go till the end of the night. DJ Vapour stepped up and continued the "Dont take yourself too seriously" theme of night with an upfront hardcore set. MC I.D.E. was on the mic and despite him MCing non stop throughout the night was more than up fot the final hour. The man has no off switch that I could see and he was just as innovative at 2am as he was when he walked into the arena. I was impressed. I was equally impressed with Vapour's efforts on the decks. No chinstroking here, just the most popular tunes of the moment such as "Definition of a Bad Boy", "Let the beat Drop" and "Bring me round to Love" mixed in with his own efforts which were VERY dancable such as "Danger Zone", "Bounce down", a daft but enjoyable remix of "Chariots of fire" and finishing on a tune which proves it is possible to do a decent remix of "Torn"
I went to this party for the reason of completeness. It was the only event on the Friday night of my weekender which was playing Hardcore which I could travel to, so I had to be there. Once I was there thoguh I was so glad I had made the effort. That Hardcore room had an atmosphere 10 times its physical dimensions and I was dancing because I was enjoying myself, rather than cos I felt obliged to. I werent the only one either, the place was full of dancing party people and I couldnt have had a better introduction to my first party in Kent. Top night out, if for no other reason than to hear Nicky Blackmarket play "Trip to Trumpton"

After a brief sleepover till dawn (Thanks guys) I made my way home and chucked my rave clothes in the wash. I then got my head down for more sleep as I had the second part of the weekend coming up. It werent a rave in the strictest sense of the word, but I knew Hardcore would be playing as most of the lineup consisted of my mates on the decks! and the dess code was "Full Fluro" and "If you aint dressed as a raver, you aint getting in!" Apart from anything else, it was Wendy's birthday and that alone was more than enough for me to give Hardcore Heaven the elbow, pick up Paul Zykotik and tear down the M3 at an inadvisable rate of progress. We had a bit of trouble finding the club, but after a few "Where the hell is it?" moments and a lot of guesswork, we found the EQ, on the roundabout I remembered it being on. Wendy had hired it out for the night and and had turned the bottom room into a ravers haven for the night. After a few drinks in a nearby and not sinister at all (Honest) pub we made our way to the venue.
When we got there, Wendy was outside armed with a guestlist. I finished off another quart of energy drinks and went inside. The bouncer wanted to search me so I assumed the position and he patted me down for weapons (Good thing he did too as I was really planning on stabbing my mates until I saw he was doing searches :roll: )
Anyways, when we got in the place was filling up nicely and while the DJs were getting stuck into their free drinks, I went upstairs and sorted out my earplugs. We were sharing the toilets with the 80s night in the main club room upstairs and it was worth it for the work the bouncer had to do "Shirts and trousers to the right, fluro to the left please"
Back downstairs it was only the start of the evening and as such the tunes were down in the realms of Hard House tempos. The less said about it the better tbh as the first DJ on played some absolute shockers. Hard House rips of classic hardcore tunes left Paul Z with his head in his hands at one point, but at least the next DJ, Squeeks, made up for it by playing some tunes with orginality.
The place was brought alive (IMO anyway) by the third DJ, the one and only DJ Loony. In a testement to the power of Hardcore, he dropped another welcome 95 set with the tunes getting me of my **** and onto the dancefloor in a flash. The Loonsta was also responsible for playing out some of the best tunes of the night by unleashing "6 Days", "Take you away", "Floor Friction", "Run these streets", "Hold me in your arms" and the awesome "Piano Progression". For the second night in a row, my night had started in the best possible way.
After Loony had finished his final tune, Paul Zykotik took his place and too a step back as well. Playing a 93-94 set, by his own admission, he had "Packed his Ratpack set" for the night, but it werent the same 50 tunes that they are famed for dropping time after time. Of course there were some, but for every "I feel this way", there was a diverse "Evapor-8" tune to make up for it. Each overplayed classic was countered by an underplayed but equally good tune. "Let me be your Fantasy" was met with "Ecstasy, it really gets me going". "Feel the heat" was followed with "Take me". It all made for an enjoyable set, Old Skool the way it should be played out.
After an extended Zykotik set to cover the absence of RizlaDizla, it was left to Wendy's better half, DJ Goat-E to play the final set. Finally relenting and playing upfront Hardcore, it was the only way to finish the night and Dan didnt dissapoint, playing a set crammed with crowdpleasers, just right for filling the the dancefloor and making everyone dance. And dance they did. Everyone got on their feet for the final set (After some gentle persuasion from the birthday girl) and stomped their guts out despite the daft heat and the steadfast refusal of the clubs A/C system to work. Goat-E dropped tunes like "Vigilante Hardcore", "Get ****ed", "John Peel is not enough" and finished the ony way a crowdpleaser can on the Immortal "You're Shining".
All that was left to do after that was to pack up the laser, Politely decline the afterparty, wish the birthday girl well, pick up any lift blaggers and get out of portsmouth as quickly as possible. I wouldn't have minded staying on , but my bed was calling and after that, the final part of the weekender.

After dropping Grob and Paul Z off I was flat out all the way home. I slept the sleep of the dead and with good reason. I had one more rave to get to to complete my weekender and it was definitely a case of saving the best till last. Up until Friday I was going to Old skool Euphoria, then Mark HB mentioned three little letters that changed all that.

STS.

There was no contest in my eyes and there is no need for any pre rave hype either. STS is a free party, does exactly what it says on the tin and consistantly impresses me with the promoter's dedication, organisation and attention to detail. To say nothing of our mutual fondness of the Hardcore sound. By the way Paul Zykotik and Kev Voltage piled into my car, I werent the only one who thought so either. This time it was a pleasent hack up the M11 till we turned off near Thetford. Eventually, after getting lost and asking for directions to a nearby landmark, we found where we were meant to be going and shortly after, the forest where the party was being held. We turned off where we were told to and stopped the car and listened. We could hear no bass, but carried on anyway. After about a mile of driving down a grass track we stopped again and heard a bassline dead ahead. After another 400 metres, we rounded an S turn and came across parked cars. We dumped the motor and walked the rest of the way. About 200 metres later and we encountered the heart of the rave. STS had done it again. The FULL stack, near 8 feet high and 10 foot across dominated the far end of the "Arena". Strapped to nearby trees was lighting equipment which accompanied the music more than effectively. Opposite the stack were the decks, together with more lighting and a monstrous UV cannon. In the middle of this were around 3-400 ravers going bonkers to the tunes. Best of all, the tunes were none other than upfront freeform hardcore. We had arrived at just the right time, Bedford Caine was halfway through his set and was doing a fantastic job of educating the STS crowd to the sounds of the Hardcore scene. No cheese, just hard and banging freeform and the crowd were lapping it up. It was an infectious atmosphere and I was suddenly overcome with an urge to get as many stimulants in me as possible. Caffiene tablets, Redbull, Lucozade, Dextrose tablets. They all flew down my throat faster than ever before. I know there are more effective ways of dancing all night, but this was good enough for me. In no time at all, I couldnt stop dancing for love nor money. The energy drinks helped, as did the atmosphere, but it was Caine's top notch tune selection that really got me going.
Tunes from CLSM, Nu Energy, Digital Beats, Camel, Elation, Stompin Choons and Tilted Recordings were all dropped. Specific names dont matter (Not that I can remember them anyways), all that was important was, once again, my night had started in the best possible way. It was all I could have hoped for and best of all there was plenty more to come.
All too soon, Caine brought his final tune "Faces of Angels" down and the crowd showed. Next up, as is usually the case at free parties, was an unamed DJ who let his music do the talking. Playing an old skool trance set, he initially brought the pace crashing down, but for no other reason than to build it back up all over again. One of his first tunes was a really weird one with bagpipes over the top, but it seemed to work as the crowd kept doing what they were doing. As his set wore on, he got harder and harder, dropping tunes like "Powerjam" and a tune that I only seem to hear at STS parties "Burn authority". Eventually he got back to where Caine left off in terms of pace and tune selection and I was lovin every minute of it.
After three hours of non stop stomping, I was just about finished. I had had a long weekend and my legs had just about given their all. At least I thought they had, until the next set came on. I had started the weekend with a 95 Hardcore set, so it was only fair that I finished with one. What a set it was too. Of course there were anthems, they were a part of, not the majority of the set. Tunes I have genuinely never heard before were mixed in with top tunes like "Take me to the top", "Piano Progression", "Take me away" and "The Stomper". I was having the time of my life to this set. Exactly the reason I came all the way to this party. You cannot beat old skool Hardcore at free parties, especially when it was as diverse as this set. For two whole hours it was like I had gone back in time and was there the first time around. By the time the last tune of the set was played, I was totally exhausted, but hungry for more.
Alas, I didnt get it. The next DJs stepped up and IMO destroyed all the hard work the previous DJs had put in. Playing a breakbeat set so slow and monotonous that I was intantly underwhelmed. When the bling bling vocals came on, I left the dancefloor in disgust. I was at an illegal rave in a forest, but the music was straight out of Destiny's in Watford. I was joined byPaul Z and Kev V who despite setting me straight with the music's origins (I was convinced it was garage till Kev told me otherwise) were just a dissatisfied. Still it werent the end of the world as we repaired to the motor, ate food and picked gems out of my music collection to pass the time. The set couldnt last forever and it had to improve afterwards. Unfortunatly it hadnt after nearly 2 1/2 hours so together with the the rain which was just as unwelcome as the music, we made a collective decision to make a move.
My weekenders always seem to end on a downward note and this was no exception. However, it should be noted that we turned up around 18 hours late for STS and the breakbeat came on 26 hours after the party started. Perhaps the lesson here is to turn up early and reap the musical rewards. What wasnt in question was the STS party being easily the best part of the weekend. No mean feat after the great times I'd had at the other parties.
STS is the Old Faithful of the free party scene and when they say they will put on a party, you can guarantee it will be worth going to. This party, despite the single dodgy set, was just as good as every other STS party I have been to. Anyone who has had the honour of attending one will know exactly what I'm talking about.
astraboy.

The weekend in numbers:
Miles travelled - 586
Hours spent in a rave environment - 16
Of that, the amount of hours spent in a forest - 6
Amount spent of entrance fees - 7quid
Amount spent on fuel (Petrol) - 83 quid
Amount spent on fuel (Redbull and Lucozade) - 9.48
Caffiene tablets consumed - 11
Weight lost in pounds - 7
Amount of square meals consumed - 2 (Thanks Dad)
Amount of 95 sets heard - 4
Amount of times I got bored with 95 Hardcore - 0
Amount of times I washed my rave clothes - 4
Rave injuries sustained - 2
amount of words in this review - approx 3300

 

oops forgot the shoutlist
Shouts to everyone who came with us on my mission. Paul Zykotik, Grob le Frog, Kev V, Mark EeezerGoode. Shouts to everyone who I met on my travels. Ripple & Cresta, Edd, Vapour, Deddley, IDE, Disrupta and his laydee friend, Scott Devotion, Wendy (Birthday girl) and Goat-E Dan, Loony, Jen, Bedford Caine and the organisational collective for yet another great night out. Shout also to everyone who I have forgot, I'm sure there are loads...
astraboy.