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Right where do we start/ “At the Beginning” I hear
you say - well can you say it a bit louder so the
promoters will hear you?! 7pm-7am it said on the
flyer (thought that was a bit early for a World
Dance, but then the last one started at mid-day so
who am I to argue). We arrived at 8pm, which is way
to early for any self respecting Junglist so we
expected the place to be deserted - how wrong can
you be, the World Dance ‘massive’ where being held
in a massive queue!
The venue had not yet opened and no-one seemed to
know the reason why. I was alter told that there was
a problem with the electrics in one of the arena’s
and of course with safety being of paramount
importance they wouldn’t let us in until they had
been given the all clear by the fire brigade (that
the official line - sounds good eh? We just wanted
to get dancing!) It would have been a good idea to
let the door staff know what was going on so that
they could have spread the word. The raving
grapevine is a wonderful thing, if you tell someone
at the front of the queue, an unbelievable game of
Chinese whispers would commence and still no one
would have been any the wiser at the end of the
queue but at least we would have had something to
do! They eventually opened the venue at 9 o’clock
and by now were were freezing. Once through the
frisking tents we entered what looked like a mini
outdoor rave, with an arcade, little tents housing
the cloakroom, and a merchandising stall selling all
the usual stuff. In front heaven is a place on Earth
- the World Dance TEA TENT!! If you’ve never been to
a World Dance - go - the tea tent is worth the
ticket money!! Through the flaps we burst to some
extremely loud, extremely dodgy music. Don’t know
who was in charge of the tape selection in the chill
out but it ranged from old House to just plain
ridiculous (hey hey we’re the Monkey!? A few
strategically removed speaker leads helped with the
volume. After a delicious thawing cuppa, we were all
set to enter the throes. The first room was the Old
School area 4. This has a bar serving alcohol (if
you’re into alcohol), a lovely wooden floor (if
you’re into floors ) and big white sheets wrapped
around pillars to break the room up a bit. At first
there was a big of a strange atmosphere in here but
later on it really livened up with the likes of Food
Junkie and Dean Lambert taking you back in time.
The main arena was split in two and while the first
half was full of heaving sweaty bodies all night,
the second half had plenty of space for those who
really waned to tear it up. There was a balcony
running the whole length of the venue for those who
wanted to watch the laser show and 7000 odd rave
having it large! When the main man Mickey Finn
lifted the crowd with the classic “Love Don’t Live
Here Anymore” the atmosphere in this arena was
electric. The scratch master Hype continued the flow
and delivered yet another wicked set to lift us even
higher.
The inimitable Ellis Dee played a very individual
set, changing the pace slightly. With the booming
bass from the master - Kenny Ken, the innovative SS,
Favio and the godfather - Grooverider the Drum and
Bass massive were well catered for. MC MC on the mic’
early on in the evening was replaced by Stevie Hyper
D, unfortunately no Fearless or GQ, it somehow
didn’t feel like a World Dance without them. No
Nicky Blackmarket either, he played the first set to
an empty arena, shame it couldn’t have been piped to
the queue!
Into the Hardcore arena, DJ Spinback on the one’s
and two’s. This man seemed to be playing all night,
covering for Hixxy and Seduction who turned up late.
The sound quality was not as good as in this arena,
full credit to all the DJ’s including Slipmatt, Sy
and Vibes who battled on with dodgy needles and
jumpy decks. Professional dancing on the night from
“Geeza’s and Babes” and “Children of the Bass”,
unfortunately anytime anyone moved the record would
jump which is fine as long as no one decided to
dance (isn’t that what we’re here for?!).
This room obviously wasn’t as full as the other but
it’s nice to see the “happy Crowd” in the World
Dance house. The House and Trance arena appeared to
be where most of the production money had been spent
(sorry Jay, Chris, Daz + Paul but that’s how it
looked to me!) There was a fair sized stage and a
large circular backdrop. The atmosphere in here was
kickin’. Professional dancers, wearing only body
paint and thongs appeared a various times during the
night to give the men something to ogle at. There
was also a dancing nun (!) and a muscle man for the
ladies.
At midnight the fireworks went off, at two minutes
past midnight the fireworks finished. Well that was
a BIG BANG - NOT!! What happened to the spectacular
firework shows of old, come back Lydd Airport all is
forgiven! DJ’s in this arena included Nancy Noise,
Andy Morris and Andrew Galea who kept the crowd
rockin all night.
To summarise, our crew were 30 strong with musical
tastes across the board. I can persuade anyone to go
to a World Dance, they have something to appeal to
everyone. World Dance always brings out the “old”
crew who loved it and cant wait for the next one.
The House crew were very impressed with their room
and the overall atmosphere at a “big” rave. The
Happy Hardcore section, most of whom had not been to
a World Dance before - did not get any of the
attitude they’d expected. The Drum and Bass /
Junglist / World Dance regulars found it very
strange, a weird kind of evening, not like a World
Dance at all. The entire venue is absolutely wicked,
shame it will be lost in the Millennium celebrations.
On one point we are all agreed p sort out the queues
- 2 an half hours in the rain ain’t no joke.
If you’re reading this review ‘cos you were there,
you’ll have you own opinion of the night and it’s
probably very different to mine but I’ve tried to
cover every aspect of a long night which bloody
hard! If you’re reading this trying to decide where
to go for New Year or whether to give World Dance a
go, my advice would be - try it for yourself. Every
raver should experience a World Dance production.
They are in a league of their own, there’s the Drum
and Bass scene the Happy Hardcore scene, the House
scene even the Techno scene - then there’s World
Dance. Whatever your taste in music you should
sample the WDO delights, ‘cos you never know what
new delicacy they’re going to serve up next.
Reviewed by Nicolette (the moaniest raver in town)
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