Koncept
8th May 2004
Dance Factory, B'ham

Well after the success of the last Koncept back on the Easter bank holiday, tonight we welcomed the Tru Playa Zinc and 1 Xtra's Bailey, along side Koncept's residents.

I arrived to the club just before 11 and to be greeted with a short queue, once inside it was already busy with a fair number of people already inside brocking out to the sounds of DJ Escape.

After the last event the main criticism was the sound system but I was glad that this was rectified as the system was booming inside here. Again the décor and lighting in here were perfect for this night. There were video screens on either side of the DJ box and a mad green laser going off. Smoke machine his time round wasn't overused which is a good thing.

Resident MC Smilee accompanied DJ Escape and he got the crowd going as it was a bit early here, you've got to remember that this party was on till 5 in the morning. I enjoyed Escapes selection as he was playing a lot of upfront tunes and making full use of the CD deck (at one point he stopped the music accidentally whilst changing tunes…)

Next up was Technique recording's Drumsound, they were playing an upfront set playing some nice rollers including Floodlight by Fresh, the Pulp Fiction remix and the monster anthem off Ebony - No 1 that went down a storm. Maveric was Mcin' for this set, during the later part of the set I ventured into the UHT room to find DJ Pace was on.

Pace was playing a '93 set with a mixture of oldskool hardcore and jungle tunes, playing tunes such as Music's So Wonderful and one of my favourite tunes from that era the Suburban Base timeless classic, Dark Stranger.

Back to the main arena and Drumsound were finishing up and Biggie was Mcin'. Next up and it was time for some Bingo sessions from the 'Tru Playa' DJ Zinc. Zinc had Biggie Mcin' for the first part of the set until GQ turned up.

Yeah that's right GQ did actually turn up!!! I do think that after letting down so many promoters in the past that he is now starting to make mends with them. For the past few years he has been doing his thing with his own label EMCEE recordings. Well it was great to see him again rolling the lyrics and hyping the crowd the way GQ does best.

Zinc played an awesome set playing tunes such as Follow the Vision, Murderation and a few other tunes off Bingo beats. Zinc also played my favourite tune of the moment True Romance by D Bridge and Vegas, which is an amazing tune and with GQ rolling over the top of it, it just complemented the tune perfectly.

Well after 90 minutes from Zinc and GQ it was another 90 minutes from 1 Xtra's DJ Bailey. Bailey played a wicked set playing a lot of upfront material and he was also making full use of the CD deck. Biggie, and Accapello were Mcin' for this set.
What annoyed me in this set was that some idiots thought that they could take the mic and caused a small problem on the stage. Security and Biggie finally sorted everything and Biggie soon got the crowd going again. At this point I caught he remainder of DJ Raskel playing in the UHT room, I used this time to chill out in there, as its quite cosy with the large sofa's and soft lights.

Well after Raskel it was the turn of Birmingham's Glenn Aston and DJ Nexus of Raindance and Quest fame. PM was Mcin' for this set though he was only on briefly as his voice was going. Nexus started the set with Leftfield's 'Not Forgotten' as they played 89-91 set. Other tunes played included; FSOL - Papua New Guinea, Pefecto - The Gonzo, and the Belgian classics from Beltram, 'My Sound', 'Energy Flash' and 'Spirit'. This was definitely one of my favourite sets of the evening, I just wish I could take a time machine back to the M25.

This was the last set of the evening and they wrapped up the set with Quadrophenia and N-Joi's 'Anthem'. I didn't realise that the main arena actually finished early as I walked out of the UHT room to find it completely bare!!!!

I found out from a friend as I was leaving that they closed the main arena slightly early as there was a gunshot close by the venue???

In conclusion I thought it was a vast improvement compared to the last all-nighter. It's all a learning curve, and they had certainly improved the sound system on last time. It was a good crowd apart from the small incident on the stage but it didn't ruin anyone's night just got the promoters slightly frustrated. There was a nice vibe, and this hopefully should be something regular for the Birmingham heads to look forward to each month.

Best sets for me were Zinc and GQ also Glenn Aston and Nexus.

Massive shouts to Justin at Koollive, The Koncept Crew, The UHT Crew, GQ, Zinc, Glenn Aston and Nexus, Pace, Helical and Dodgee, GT, Astro + Faye, Donni at Dirtybeats, Faye aka Chili, Ross, Wallace, Zoë + Collette, PM, Alpha, also to everyone else whose names I don't know but faces I recognise.