Review: Above and Beyond - Group Therapy Tour
Following the release of their second artist album of the same name last June, Above and Beyond toured around the world and ended up finally in the UK. Starting in London on 7th April, the tour then had dates in a further five cities across the UK, with Liverpool being the third.
The last time trance really made an impact on Liverpool was back in 2007, when Kubik put on its last gig, since then, it’s not really had a presence in this city.
Although the recent influx of “bass” music now dominates the UK dance music scene, trance still has regular nights in Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds, showing that there is still a demand for the euphoric genre.
Above and Beyond started their set from around half 11, but it was clear the majority of crowd had been there from the start, by the various levels of intoxication that were evident by the sprawled bodies in the street (the “smoking area”), the foyer and of course, the main room.
The event sold out, but there was still a lot of space at the back of the club, and also on the balcony which allowed for space to dance outside of the tightly packed clubbers further towards the front, which did get a bit overwhelming.
It was confirmed that the crowd was predominantly made up of dedicated followers of the church of Above and Beyond by the loud and emotional singing along to each vocal tune.
There was a nice mix of material off their new album such as Love Is Not Enough featuring Zoë Johnston (whose voice is recognisable from the 2004 Above and Beyond hit No-One On Earth) and classics, such as Alone Tonight. They also treated the Liverpool crowd to a world exclusive by Russian producer and Anjunabeats protégé Arty.
Another notable tune that was dropped was Eric Prydz’s remix of Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus. Very different to their usual sound, it was refreshing to hear, and broke up the monotony of the generic trance sound. Jono Grant from the trio, explained the unusual sound in a recent interview with Cream, where he spoke of their inspiration from artists from the 80s, namely Pet Shop Boys and New Order.
The light show was impressive and the visuals behind the decks were at times, mesmerising. There was a keyboard linked up to the visuals, where Above and Beyond would write either teasers to the next tune or uplifting mantras, however there was a slightly bizarre ode to Titanic towards the end, which was confusing, however the crowd seemed to love it.
It was really good to hear trance back in the city, and by the response and volume of the crowd that view was shared. Above and Beyond have stayed true to their sound without becoming stale, which begs the question, why did trance disappear from this city?
Review: Cream Ibiza Opening Party
It’s twenty past eleven and I’m sitting on the free bus to Amnesia. I have to say, this trip to Ibiza and I’ve spent far less money on transport than I usually do. I think I’m getting cheaper the older I’m getting. The bus had been put on by Union, a London student night who had organised a post-exams package holiday to de-stress lots of innocent, naïve Ibiza first-timers. Also organised by Union and running alongside this package holiday was the “British Student DJ Championships”, now in its second year, with the winner of the 2011 title getting to play the opening set of the Terrace at Cream opening party. Impressive prize.
I arrive before the actual night begins, and I feel very ‘uncool’ getting there so early. Idiotically, I forgot to apply for a press pass so had my camera confiscated off me. Rookie mistake.
I walked into the legendary main room, and it was already getting fairly busy, filling up by the second. Sander Van Doorn was on the decks and playing some amazingly heavy tech-trance with some insanely good basslines, but Paul Van Dyk who came of subsequently played much lighter, very vocal trance, which didn’t really go. In retrospect I felt that had Sander Van Doorn played after PVD, the music would have flowed better.
Wanting to get a good feel for the place, I ventured into the Terrace, which was hosted by Mixmag. The winner of the British Student DJ Championships, whose name I cannot find anywhere, was just finishing up on the decks, making way for student DJs Union. They played a mash up of Electro, Dirty Dutch House and then, annoyingly, Dubstep. It seems as though they couldn’t distinguish between their usual student crowd in London, and a Balearic, Cream crowd. The most drunk people were having a good time, but generally it deflated the crowd. Thinking that Laidback Luke would save me from the Dubstep, I stayed in the Terrace, and for a while, he did. Now, you cannot fault Laidback Luke technically. He is an incredibly talented DJ and he most certainly stands out from those who just beat match, but his tune selection at times left alot to be desired. A few dodgy remixes of Kanye West, Adele and Rihanna followed by a lot of Dubstep just sort of ruined it for me. I felt he was playing maybe what he felt he should, rather than his true sound.
Overall, however, I really enjoyed the night. Although it was extremely crowded, as you’d expect from an opening party, there were lots of areas where you could sit down, get some air and relax. Although the music wasn’t what I expected from Cream, it still got me dancing, and it’ll definitely not be my last time there.
Published 21st June 2011
http://www.loveibiza.net/blog/cream-opening-party-2011-review
Review: Tidy Weekender Reunion
Coffins, Vagisil and, of course, a lot of Hard House. The Tidy Weekender had returned. Announced just a few weeks before Christmas, it took much longer to sell out than the organisers had hoped for; but just a fortnight before the event, the old Tidy faithful gathered together and eventually took up every last place.
I arrived at around half four on the Friday afternoon, and was shocked to see, contrary to previous weekenders, a huge lack of police presence. Previously you would have seen every single car stopped and searched with a dog, on sort of a drugs amnesty basis – anything they find, they take, you get cautioned and let into the event. This year they weren’t doing searches on the way in, but if you got caught inside the event, you were kicked out and arrested.
Within minutes of walking onto site, some intoxicated random hugged my legs in some curious form of compliment to my trousers. I was most certainly back on Tidy ground.
Unlike previous years, there was no booklet attached to the lanyards listing set times, site map or medic numbers. Instead we had just one, double-sided page of adverts, and a separate booklet, with all the aforementioned information. I’m not sure whose idea this was, but it wasn’t a good one.
After unpacking, setting up decks, and pouring the first drinks of the weekend, the waiting for the Tidy Boys opening set began.
Friday night eventually arrives and with the theme of “Twisted Circus”, there were many amazingly inventive costumes. Hard House followers have always been renowned for their imaginative costumes and outfits, and it was good to see this side of the weekender being as strong as Tidy’s heyday. With clowns, animals and general twisted ideas galore, my own imagination failed me and I chose a leopard print romper suit; surely they had leopards in the circus?
As the opening set to the weekender began, we were confronted with the words “Hard House Is Dead”, filling the backdrop of Arena One’s stage, which lead me to the question, is Hard House dead? Luckily for me I got to chat to Hard Dance legend Technikal, to get his thoughts on this question.
“Hard House isn’t dead. It’s no more dead than any other genre. I get asked ‘is Hard House dead?’ all the time, and I don’t care, I still do it! Who says it’s dead anyway? I can guarantee you if some musical lawyer comes along and proclaims Hard House dead, I’m gonna make a tune on that day, just to fuck him up!”
But why are people, including myself, saying this is a dying genre? “Hard House as a whole genre has shrunk into a nucleus of what it was, but that hasn’t taken away from the passion that people have about it. There is nothing quite like the Hard House crowd, they’re always very clued up. It’s always better to play to ten people who know their stuff, than to a thousand people who don’t have a clue.”
Nobody had to worry about playing to so few people this weekender though. The main arena was packed out at 10pm on a Friday night, watching two coffins getting carried onto the stage. Who has inside them? Lo and behold, Amadeus Mozart and Andy Pickles, our favourite Tidy Boys. It was a pretty impressive charade, and all night saw fire breathers, contortionists and other circus-themed entertainment. All weekend it was clear a lot of time and effort was put into choosing the acts, and it didn’t go unnoticed.
The best time I had of the whole weekend, was on Saturday morning. After a healthy four hour kip, I got dressed and marched down to the after party, which promised Vinylgroover, Brisk, Billy Bunter and Slipmatt. There is nothing like waking up, having a Berocca and going in search of Happy Hardcore, although a few of the promised DJs obviously got a bit sidetracked, and left Billy Bunter to play for much longer than his scheduled hour, eventually handing over the decks to Slipmatt for the last thirty minutes. This was a truly incredible couple of hours, and it seemed so civilised to take a fifteen minute break to wolf down a full English breakfast, before carrying on dancing. Only at a weekender.
Saturday evening’s theme was dirty, which saw me wearing a home-made garment with a nice bit of hardcore gay porn printed onto it. I was quite impressed with my effort, but it seemed to fall to the wayside when I saw a girl in a gimp mask and giant nappy, and a couple of men dressed as Vagisil, in times like these, there is no point being disgusted, you have to just marvel at the ingenuity of it all.
Sadly I felt that Saturday came with masses of attitude from the clubbers. I witnessed many people getting into arguments and generally having uncalled for aggro, which lead me to only staying in the arenas for a few hours. After a horrible incident in the toilets between two groups of girls causing unnecessary grief, I decided the best place to be would be back at a chalet party, which is much of what Tidy’s about.
By Sunday, everyone is looking quite sorry for themselves. Girls have all abandoned the idea of makeup and no matter how much people wash, there is a definite smell lingering in the air. I got a ridiculously large amount of sleep for such an event, and I still gave up even trying to look half way decent. The sun, however, was back, after hiding all day Saturday, which lead to mass amounts of clubbers congregating on the grass for various different chalet parties. Walking around the site on Sunday had a nice buzz about it; I didn’t feel any of the hostility of the night before.
The perfect way to finish the Weekender was the mysteriously unnamed last set being played by the daddy of Hard House, Paul Glazby, even though it was always claimed that he was in Australia that particular weekend, including an apology in the Tidy booklet. A nice little twist to finish off the weekend, especially as that was Glazby’s last set before retirement.
With another legend of Hard House ending his career, will Hard House see another golden era? I put this question to Technikal, who replied with, “Hard House isn’t getting played enough in the mainstream to get kids to like it. In a way though, it’s kind of cool, because Hard House was never about being commercial. Music doesn’t sell at all in anyway like it used to and that is the central reason for the Hard House scene staying underground, I don’t think things are going to change for the better until something big happens, and I can’t see anything big on the horizon”
For me, this was the best Tidy Weekender I’d been to. For others, it was still an amazing weekend, but it still lacked something. I don’t think I ever experienced Hard House at its best. Being only twenty-two, and starting my clubbing career in 2005, I barely caught the tail end of such an explosive scene. Hard House will always be around, but scenes and genres grow and evolve all the time. Chasing the idea of something that was amazing ten years ago just isn’t sustainable. People have grown away from the scene, but that has only made way for a new generation of clubbers, and it’s time now to find out what makes them tick, the way Tidy Weekenders did for so many, for such a long time.
Published 11th April 2011
http://www.ibiza-spotlight.com/night/reviews/2011/review_tidy_weekender_hard_house_i.htm
Preview: Tidy Weekender Reunion
So, the Tidy Weekender is back. I almost feel sorry for the folk of Prestatyn, who probably thought that they had rid themselves of this noisy, hedonistic demon. Alas, no. Bad for them, but amazing for all those who once thought that a reunion was just a dream.
Tidy last graced the chav-family, holiday haven that is Pontin’s back in October 2008, and clubbers up and down the country have been begging for its return since it’s replacement Atomik, didn’t quite scratch the itch Tidy left behind.
This weekender promises to go back to its routes and everybody knows nostalgia, like sex, sells. Mayhem, chaos and a lot of debauchery is clearly being planned by promoters and clubbers alike, but with this Tidy Weekender being run by Chic Festivals, the same company responsible for Atomik, will it be the same Tidy everybody knows and loves?
The line up has had mixed reactions. It’s got its old faithful; Andy Farley, Lee Pasch, Paul Maddox and of course, the Tidy Boys, but also relatively new DJs such as Rodi Style, who only started appearing on the line-ups from TW12, which begs the question, I thought this was a reunion?
Sure enough Amadeus (Mozart, one half of the Tidy Boys) is behind the weekender revival, it was him who started the “I Would Love To Go To A Tidy Weekender Reunion” group on Facebook, (the group which exploded with three-and-a-half thousand members within days, consequently making the dream reality) but it’s going to be interesting to see how much of an old school flavour is brought to TWR.
The finer details of the event are still quite shady, such as who, if any, will the entertainment be? Previous years have seen Timmy Mallet, Roy Walker and Pat Sharpe wowing the crowds, and the clubbers are calling for a similar calibre of z-list entertainer, with Keith Lemon being a popular, although probably unachievable, choice.
An incredible amount of Tidy Weekender virgins are attending this momentous occasion in UK Hard House, which could be seen as both a bad, and good thing. Bad for all those die-hard Tidy snobs who demand this only be a weekender for those who have racked up at least 40 days in those dingy uncomfortable chalets, getting their minds expanded in various, mostly illegal ways, and enjoying their favourite music with people they love. Good for those who see newbies as way to help this stale scene become fresh and exciting. The clubbers of six, eight years ago generally aren’t interested in clubbing anymore. Most of them now have too many children and mortgages to even consider squeezing into neon chaps and applying face paint.
It’ll be exciting to see if TWR is as good as it promises, but then again, how much of it is down to the organiser, and how much of it is down to the clubbers? This is the biggest thing to happen to Hard House in the UK for a while, and people are beside themselves with excitement. When I asked the collective what they were looking forward to the most, above everything was meeting friends and making friends. With sentiment like that, how can TWR fail?
Published 22nd February 2011
http://www.ibiza-spotlight.com/night/reviews/2011/tidy_weekender_2011_i.htm
Review: Paul Van Dyk at Gatecrasher Birmingham
After crimping my hair, donning a gold catsuit and applying impressive false eyelashes, I felt it was time to unleash this white version of Foxy Cleopatra onto the world. I was of course, getting ready for Paul Van Dyk’s monstrous six hour set at Gatecrasher Birmingham, marking the release of his latest album, “VONYC Sessions 2010”. It was, shockingly, my first time seeing Mr Van Dyk, it was also my first time at that club since Gatecrasher bought and refurbished it in 2008.
The Works, (what it was before Gatecrasher) was the first club I ever went to. Sixteen-years-old, and what a club to begin on. After dreaming about this hedonistic world for years before actually experiencing it from the inside, it lived up to, and exceeded, my expectations. Even after six years of clubbing, The Works remained my favourite venue. I was intrigued to see what Gatecrasher had done to my beloved club.
We arrived around ten o’clock and I sidled up to the VIP queue. The important-types with the clipboards couldn’t find me on the guest list, but after me smiling a lot and offering them the confirmation email (God love smart phones), without any trouble I got my gold “Posh VIP” wristband.
My initial thoughts of the club, was that it was a lot more luxury than The Works. The Works was very neon and spaced-age, GB was more reminiscent of a 1970s disco. There were so many rooms, and stairs and different VIP areas, it was a little confusing where you were allowed to go and where you weren’t. One of the side rooms, the Arkade, was really nicely done out and there were booths which you could sit at without having to pay for them! A refreshing and generally unheard of luxury in clubs nowadays. Unfortunately, though, you could tell that Gatecrasher opens its doors to a more commercial (and I hate to sound like a snob, but chavvier) crowd the majority of the time, by the damaged seats and vandalised tables. It’s a shame as it made much of the club seem a bit tired, and considering it’s been open in its current form less than three years, it’s disappointing.
The cloakroom was cheap. The drinks weren’t. After Ibiza prices though, anything under double figures is acceptable. Everything seemed to be one standard price, regardless of whether it was a beer, alcopop or branded alcohol and mixer, so either what you were buying was overpriced or reasonable.
The crowd was a funny one, I’d say over half the crowd were students, who frequented GB no matter who was on, and in all probability, had no clue who PVD was, but then you had the die-hard Crasher kids, who after fifteen years of boshing Ecstacy, looked a bit sorry for themselves, and interestingly were pretty much the only ones donning cyber clubwear. All that aside, everyone was really friendly, happy and just out for a good time. I saw no egos and no aggro, which is always welcome on a night out.
JFK was playing when we arrived, only to move over for the man himself at midnight, and what an entrance it was. There were exploding cannons of shiny things, pyrotechnics, smoke machines and fit-inducing lasers. It was all very epic, and all very exciting. As JFK had started quite hard, there was no other way for PVD to go, except to continue on this tempo. I was concerned that, although I do enjoy trance, I might get bored, especially with it being only one DJ for the majority of the night. I need not have worried. Mixing new anthems with old classics, he kept the dance floor moving relentlessly, if the crowd started flagging, he’d just drop another disgustingly good tune. All the old classics got played, including Delirium “Silence”, which, as I pointed out on the night, always gets said to be overplayed, but this was in fact the first time I had heard it in a club, and, overplayed or not, is amazing. He’d drop the occasional cheeky house tune too, including Steve Angello’s “Knas”, which reflects the tone of his latest album.
The night was full of those hands in the air, spine-tingling, euphoric moments. My first time seeing Paul Van Dyk, and I completely understand what the fuss is all about. He is without a doubt an amazing entertainer and a very, very talented man. This was the best night I had been to in years, and it’ll be a hard one to top.
Published 14th March 2011
http://www.ibiza-spotlight.com/night/reviews/2011/paul_van_dyk_gatecrasher_review_i.htm
Review: Cocoon at Warehouse Project
We arrived at about 11pm, and after a brief queue of about ten minutes, we walk in and were instantly met with a wall of people. It was only early and it was jam-packed already. It’s a refreshing change though, and reassured me that there is still a clubbing scene thriving in the UK.
All I could think was how cold it was! But if you will attend a party in an underground car park, in December, in Manchester, you should have guessed it would be pretty cold. As we struggled to get to the bar, I was dreading the prices. Having paid €14 for a Redbull in Ibiza earlier this year, I was hoping that the Warehouse Project stuck to its down-to-earth roots and when I paid £3.30 for a spirit and mixer, I was more than happy. Especially as they had spiced rum.
Ever the cynic, I expected the crowd to be either a really snobby, elitist crowd, or the cast of Skins and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, you did have alot – and I mean ALOT – of boys fashioning All Saints’ autumn/winter 2011 collection; but generally there was a good mix of people, all of whom wanted to get ridiculously sweaty and dance relentlessly. Right in the thick of it, the crush was insane, the majority of the clubbers who attended, seemed to all want to be in that exact same place, at the same time.
I’m not a connoisseur of techno, but you don’t need to be to know that the music was amazing. When you dance, effortlessly, all night, you know the music’s good. Anybody who dislikes the minimal side of techno needs to experience it in a club; in an environment like the Warehouse Project. I challenge anybody to spend five hours with Sven and friends, and deny they had an immense time. I know I did.
Published 20th December 2010
http://www.ibiza-spotlight.com/night/reviews/2010/cocoon_uk_winter_i.htm
All I could think was how cold it was! But if you will attend a party in an underground car park, in December, in Manchester, you should have guessed it would be pretty cold. As we struggled to get to the bar, I was dreading the prices. Having paid €14 for a Redbull in Ibiza earlier this year, I was hoping that the Warehouse Project stuck to its down-to-earth roots and when I paid £3.30 for a spirit and mixer, I was more than happy. Especially as they had spiced rum.
Ever the cynic, I expected the crowd to be either a really snobby, elitist crowd, or the cast of Skins and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, you did have alot – and I mean ALOT – of boys fashioning All Saints’ autumn/winter 2011 collection; but generally there was a good mix of people, all of whom wanted to get ridiculously sweaty and dance relentlessly. Right in the thick of it, the crush was insane, the majority of the clubbers who attended, seemed to all want to be in that exact same place, at the same time.
I’m not a connoisseur of techno, but you don’t need to be to know that the music was amazing. When you dance, effortlessly, all night, you know the music’s good. Anybody who dislikes the minimal side of techno needs to experience it in a club; in an environment like the Warehouse Project. I challenge anybody to spend five hours with Sven and friends, and deny they had an immense time. I know I did.
Published 20th December 2010
http://www.ibiza-spotlight.com/night/reviews/2010/cocoon_uk_winter_i.htm
Review: Global Gathering 2010
So I arrive at Long Marston airfield at around 5 o’clock. The roads were clear and there was no queue to get in. I naively thought that I must have chosen a really good time to get there, but after entering the festival I could see that had been created on a much smaller scale than the years before. First impressions were not great. After avoiding British dance-only festivals since 2007, and only going to such amazing events as Glastonbury and Dance Valley in the Netherlands, I think I expected Global to match, or attempt to match that standard.
Funkagenda was on the main stage when I arrived, and although the main stage was much smaller than before, the visuals were just as impressive, and the crowd were already having an amazing time by the look on their faces. To make the moment perfect would have been to have a nice cold drink, but was there a bar in close proximity? Urm. No. There was a distinct lack of alcohol available, although there were men walking around with backpacks full of beer and cider who sold pints by the cup. This was a pretty ingenious idea, not one I’ve seen before, but there were not enough of these men, and the actual bars, when you found them, only sold bottles for £4. Anyway I got my pint of cider off a man in a backpack, carried on dancing to Funkagenda for a bit, who impressed me a lot, and then decided to roam about. Flitting between all of the tents, and getting a good range of the music it made me realise; what Global lacked in decor and pizzazz, it certainly made up for in choice of DJs and artists.
Digitalism and 2ManyDJs were two acts which really stood out for me. 2 Many DJs came out on a boat, and proceeded to play an insane mash up, as expected, made up of ‘Love Is In The Air’ by John Paul Young, ‘I Feel Love’by Donna Summer, my favourite dance track of all time, and a good old death metal tune, interspersed with their Soulwax remix of Chemical Brother’s ‘Hey Boy, Hey Girl’ and Mr. Oizo’s ‘Positif’. You get the picture. It was messy, but only in a bizarrely wonderful way.
Listening to the buzz going around the festival, and it seems Faithless and Eric Prydz came up trumps, but surprisingly not one mention of Armin Van Buuren, who was the only trance headliner on the Friday night.
So to summarize the event, it wasn’t the Global I knew and loved. It was much smaller and much less impressive. Apparently, around 12000 people attended the Friday night, compared to the 40000 people overall who attended my first Global in 2005. The economic downfall has unfortunately hit the British dance music scene very hard, and it’s a shame to see a festival you know and love struggle. I really hope Global continues, and I hope it gets stronger in the years to come, because they know fucking good music and ultimately, that’s all that matters.
Published 12th August 2010
http://www.ibiza-spotlight.com/night/reviews/2010/global_gathering_2010_i.htm