I had seen Tasty on the party circuit for quite a while now. For recent events they had even included a hardcore room to compliment their Trance and Hard dance based events. On that basis I should have got their a lot sooner than now. Trouble was that the previous four events had all fallen on the same date as another event I wanted to go to. So, near on 6 months after the party had included hardcore, I was finally able to go to a Tasty cos the usual thought that accompanies looking at Tasty events, I.E. "Why the HELL are they putting it on that night?" was absent.
I hoped the wait would be worth it. On the basis of lineup alone it looked very good. Split into two distinct catagories, the bastions (Look it up ) of the Hardcore scene were well represented with Sy, Seduction, Kev Energy and Darren Styles all scheduled to spin. The other catagory, aptly entitled "Not booked enough although god knows why" was well filled with CLSM, Luna-C and rising star Gammer booked to show. Party promoter Billy Bunter was also there to do an exclusive happy/trancecore crossover set. Storm, whizzkid, Elmo and Tasty resident Spenno were more than capable to plug the lyrical gap and this was just one room!. The rest of the party was equally well stocked, but as Hard dance and trance are a mystery to me, I will leave them to themselves. I can only assume they were just as good from the names I heard of on the lineup: Mark EG, Jon Doe, and Bunter headlining the main room for a second set.
Free stuff is always good, but free tickets are also better. For reasons best known to themselves the promoters put a ticket inside every flyer, promising free entry to anyone who gets to the front door before 11pm. If that werent enough then apparantly you get in for free if you are the first 200 through the door. On this basis questions are asked as to how the party makes its money back, but if they do it to create a better atmosphere then it has to be all good.
So there I was, with my fellow cheapskates outside the venue more than a little early to guarantee getting in for free. A pen went round and the compulsary stubs were filled in (Theres one way of making your money back ) and after a while the queue started to reach the end of the railings. I got on with the energy drink overload while the rest of the party crew soaked up the fading sunshine.
Eventually I was pulled out of the queue to go in early on the guest list and as such I was not searched at all. When I got in I climbed the stairs and made my way to the hardcore room.
The smallest of the three rooms is not a problem for the hardcore room as it was still fairly sizeable. About the same size as the Electrowerkz main arena but a lot more plush, the proximity of the bar and the toilets made it easy to stay where you were for the entire night and not miss a single tune unless you walked out of the room. Suits me down to the ground then.
Before I knew it the first DJ had stepped up and started off the night. Gammer was meant to kick off, but due to illness was not able to make it. Mikey K was standing in in his place and as warm up sets go, did a creditable job of getting the rave going. Together with Spenno, they entertained the arriving ravers and in no time at all there was a gaggle of dancing party people in the place, going for it like it was the last 30 minutes, not the first. Tune wise, he was fairly varied in his tastes. Dropping welcome old skool tunes like "Here I am" and "The Power of Love", Quality remixes of popular tunes like "Party time" and "No Good (Start the Dance)" and even pulling a bit of Gabba out of the bag with "Icecold" getting an airing. All in, it was a cracking start to the night, mostly due to the old skool, but thats just my opinion.
Next up was one of my personal highlights of the night, Luna-C stepped up for the 11-12 set. Never one to play a set that even comes close to the word "Dull" Luna pulled the rabbit out of the hat yet again and played a set which left you not dancing, but wondering what he was going to come up with next. Why? cos a lot of the time you genuinely dont know, but when it happens its exactly what you are thinking about and what you are looking forward to dancing to. Thats one reason you should listen to Luna C when he plays, another is because he plays tunes that noone else has the guts to and more importantly, they are the best tunes you can think of. A sweet as remix of old skool classic "Take me to the top" left me breathless and the remix of "electric" had me raising an eyebrow. I was stomping like a madman when Jeee HA! came on and I was laughing out loud when he played a comedy sound clip of the Big Brother narrator saying things he wouldnt get away with on National TV. Only one set had me doing all this in the space of one hour and Luna C was behind the mixer when it happened. Once again he deservedly takes set of the night because of that and if nothing else for making it seem so damn easy.
If that werent good enough then on right after him was another DJ I made the journey to see, CLSM. In a complete departure from Luna C's set of nice touches and clever interludes, CLSM put aside all pretensions and went about the business of making the ravers dance. Spenno joined in on the mic, providing the lyrical foil to Jon Doe's tunes and hyping up the party more as a result. CLSM werent lacking in the music department though, every one of his tunes were picked to get the party jumping. "Driftin Away", "Turn Up the Music", "Wicked MC", "Dancing the night away", "Hardcore Hustler" and finishing with "Transmission to Mars" I was going for it throughout and I werent the only one either.
Next up was Seduction, playing a set I have very few memories of. I was well away at this point and Sedders took me even further with a set that although I cant remember much of, I loved to bits. Its kind of strange how I cant remember specific tunes, but I can remember being blown away by the variation in the music he chose. This is always the sign of a good set and as such I am willing to trust my instincts on this one.
The next set was RBC regular Darren Styles. Unfortunatly, I was not bowled over by this set, even with the addition of Spenno, Whizzkid and Storm on the mic. I just couldnt get into it no matter how hard I tried. It was doubly strange as not a few weeks earlier I was loving it with bells on with exactly the same person at the controls. Weird how subjective these things are isnt it? It was also safe to say I didnt like how I was feeling at all so after a while I jacked it in and went to find a quite corner to find the ravers reset switch and begin all over again. Shame eh?
Fortunatly I was lucky enough to return at the end of Styles's set and see Bunter take over. He took me off from the start again with a cracking happy hardcore set, just as promised. Storm was just as good as he always is it was nice to see him MC to tunes that originally got me into the hardcore sound all those years ago. Tunes like "Higher Love", "Now is the time", "Love of my life", "Toytown", "Bodyslam", "Rainbow high in the sky". By the time the happy tunes were over I was raring to go once again. At this point, bunter moved into the trancecore/freeform sound and as such my tune IDing fell through the floor. I do remember dancing so hard that I overheated and had to move so I could dance under the cold air of the aircon units, so it had to be doing it in one sense or the other. I'm willing to bet the "Good" sense had something to do with it though.
Bunter's move to the more experimental side of hardcore also paved the way to the arrival of Nu Energy's finest, Kev Energy. Another set I have no memory of apart from a few snippets, Kev wasted no time and immediately let rip with a set he is famed for. The only tune I remember is "No one can compete", the rest were a mixture of dark and obscure (For me anyway) freeform tunes, accompanied by a god-like performace from Whizzkid on the mic. It was fast, hard and totally amazing. I had to take a break and eat a free orange from downstairs at one point I was so utterly out of Energy (Pun Intended!). Kev must be comforted by the fact that he can always fall back on sponsorship from the British Heart Foundation should DJing not become lucrative enough on its own. I was defintely ensuring I will not get heart disease for the foreseeable during his set. Arthritus is another matter though. Probalby due to excessive stompage.
Last set of the night went, as usual, to Quosh Maestro Sy and his usual partner Storm. I think I should clear a few things up with this guy. I see him every week and every week he tears the place apart wherever he goes. I should by all rights get bored and start picking holes, but I have seen him on a weekly basis since 2001 and it hasn't happened yet. On the basis of this performance, it aint going to happen for a while either. Sticking to what he knows with no complaints at all from me, his usual sublime blend of upfront crowdpleasers and remixes of well known classic flipped all the right switches all over again and with Storm going into voice scratch overload, the lyrical aspect of the performance was just as polished. Blinding remixes of "Free your mind", "Discoland" and "4am" coupled with upfront tunes like "Bring me round to love" and "Hardcore Hustler" saw me stomping to the final tune and giving the DJ and the MC a final cheer to finish off the night.


Things I liked:

Lineup - Nice and varied with no emphasis on one style of hardcore. This resulted in a good variation in the music.

Atmosphere. I had heard good things about the Tasty atmosphere and they turned out to be true. It was party time in Mass on saturday.

Security - Friendly and most importantly unobtrusive. The only time they made themselves known was to clear the stairways. When they did that it was with courtesy.

Venue staff - Bent over backwards to help me. I had a raving injury which needed a plaster. I asked and within five minutes two plasters and an alcohol swab were in my hands. Respect is due. On a similar note the toilets were kept clean and tidy all night. These people should work at more places in London.

Things I liked less:

Heat - It was very hot in there. The aircon units were not doing their job very well. I didnt know that you could get pass outs to go and chill out on the grass outside though. I will next time.

Sound system - In general it was good. But it was a tad bass heavy and the mic was too loud. However clarity and midrange were all well EQ'd. Loud too.

The party was well worth going to, all in. I was surprised how full the hardcore room was all night and the atmosphere was tip top as well. Not a bad acheivement for the smallest room on the bottom floor of the venue. The best part of the night was the way our brothers and sisters from the hard dance and trance fraternities came down and had a dance in the hardcore room. Quite apart from building bridges and creating hardcore converts, it was nice to see different people in the hardcore room as well as familiar faces.
When you add to that a first class lineup, well thought out production and the genuine possibility of getting in for precisely nothing if you are sufficently organised, it creates a cracking night out. Dancing to Hardcore from the best jocks and MCs in the land for gratis is definitely something to write home about.
Its a pity I had to wait so long to experience what Tasty was all about. Hopefully, from now on the promoters will consult the calender of events and put future productions on when there is a free night. Although, on the strength of this party, it just might be a worthwhile venture to give certain raves a miss and come to this instead. Especially at the entrance price they are asking for...
astraboy.

 

Shouts to: Mark, Paul Z, Kev V, Androo, Alan_M, Martin, Stu8, Maron, No_23, Spenno (Cheers mate!), Tenz, Sara the stage dancer, Jess, Lady Angelic, Emsties, Disrupta, Mayhem, Bubble, STS Dave, Rob 19387562, Cheeky chick, Delusion and Mrs Delusion, Kiyoko, Bunter, Kev Energy, Jon Doe, Elmo, Storm, Whizzkid, and the scary Polish bird with the lip piercing and the grade 4 all over (Yikes!) and to all those I forget too.

 

Can you repeat that, I missed it?

 

Seen a few of your reviews on Gurn. Good review, keep up the good work.

 

dont know what you're talking about mate
astraboy.