Slammin vinyl
Outdoor Experience
9th august 2003

What a scorcher.

This was the first time that something different was done by Slammin Vinyl at the Denbigh leisure centre. As the planned Rockingham outdoor festival was cancelled, Slammin had a lot to make up for what would have been an outdoor hardcore and jungle rave.
Introducing back the Rollers warehouse, along with the Sanctuary and Fastrack warehouses, and the addition of an outdoor stage, this was a rave really not to miss.

Well with the extreme temperatures of this summer, the trains were limited on their speed they could travel at so we didn't arrive to Milton Keynes until 6:30. As we walked to the Denbigh leisure it was amazing hearing MC Storm across the road from the dual carriageway whilst queuing up also hearing Heartbeatz whilst queing,Hixxy must of been on. People were really anxious to get in as you could hear the music whilst queuing up, some people decided to have a little dance.

Entering the complex I was greeted to by a huge stage with lights and strobes kitted up, the production of his stage was good. There was a green laser behind the DJ booth, as this lit up the night's sky later on the evening.

Well I headed direct to the stage and was greeted to sounds of Hixxy playing what seemed like an Oldskool 96-97 set playing some classic hardcore mixed with a few new tunes , I only caught the last 15mins hearing the Force and Styles classic paradise and dreams, along with the Braveheart tune, this was awesome hearing thes tunes in the glorious sunshine. Hixxy then finished off with the Praga Kahn oldskool classic Injected with a poison remixed raver baby style. Storm and Whizzkid were mcin keeping the crowd hyped, with the soaring temperatures it was gonna get sweaty.

Up next was the oldskool don's the mighty Ratpack, recently when I've seen the Ratpack they've been playing oldskool jungle but tonight they were back to their ways playing oldskool hardcore with some new stuff. The found a café was played along with Can you feel it and their new remix of sweet harmony with promise land vocals, along with the prodigy classic Charly They finished the set with the Ratpack classic Lord of the dance (captain of the ship). It was good to see Ratpack on the stage, as this is what it must to have felt like, to rave back of the early days of Fantazia etc.

Well it was Andy Farley up next playing house, which people didn't seem to be enjoying much to as much, at this point I thought it was good to have a wander around. Near the entrance they had an outdoor bar with a mini beach with deck chairs to sit on. The sanctuary was also opened as it was serving drinks in there.

Back to music and Mark Eg was on, this bloke is crazy as he was going off on a mad one jumping around the stage, at one point he started to thump the stage as he always like to entertain the crowd.

After the mad nutter it was the Evolution Records live PA hosted by Scott brown along with MC Whizzkid. Scott brown was kitted up with a sequencer and a cd deck playing some new ad old tunes, had a vocalist who sang Scott's new tune also sang to Scott brown's Turn up the Music.
Well after listening to the hardcore it was time for some jungle drum and bass from the Tru player DJ Zinc. First half of the set he didn't have a mc which was good in a way to appreciate the music. Skibadee arrived late, Zinc played some heavy tunes including the remix of Ready or not also the crowd pleaser twist em out. I enjoyed Zinc's set as I missed him at global gathering 2 weeks ago.

Skibadee was later accompanied b the full cycle mc Dynamite as the Ram man Andy C was on next Andy C played a scorching set dropping some heavy tunes. As the sun started to set and night fell the green laser lighted up the sky. Andy C dropped tunes like turbulence also the Basement track from high contrast, Screamer and the rawhill anthem Mo' Fire. The set was finished unannounced as they cut off the sound, s it was time t move onto the fastrack and Sanctuary to finish off the night's festivities.

Well Birmingham's very own DJ Hazard was on in the Sanctuary he was accompanied by Skibadee. Hazard was playing some good tunes, as he's joined up with Hype and started to produce on the Tru- playaz label. The sound system during his set was quite low. The production in here was quite well with the stage being at the back, rather than facing the balcony. There were two massive video screens situated at each end of the stage.

Hype took over from Hazard, Hype doesn't seem to scratch as much as he used which is a shame as he once represented England in the DMC's, Hype played a similar set to that of Global the other week, playing the remix of ready or not along with the new Chopper remix. Dynamite and Eksman were keeping the crowd, as the temperature inside the sanctuary started to rise rapidly.

The heat started to take its toll so I headed to the Fastrack and was greeted to the sounds of essential platinum's Dougal. The production inside here tonight was quite amazing but not really on the same level as the drum and bass.
His set was quite stompy and vocally he played his tune with Jenna and MC Smiley ordinary people, which went down well. Also he played the new remix of the hardcore anthem Love of my life. The sound system in the fastrack wasn't up to scratch at times, as the sound level was quite low.

After this set I decided to take a rest as the heat within all arenas started to make it unbearable at times. After a break I decided to catch Mistress Mo as she was playing oldskool drum and bass from '97-99. Playing some classics from few years back. Including 26 bass, tune your bass also the Shy FX remix of Wolf. The heat inside here was like a sauna the sweat dripping from ceiling.

I headed downstairs and Bryan Gee was on accompanied with MC Presha, as Fatman D and Foxy Still havent turned up . Bryan gee played a good set, but the MC's weren't really up to scratch. Bryan gee dropped the Chopper remix also the Trust me remix which really cant touch the original's along with Nosher VIP.

Up next was the man from Virus Ed Rush, Ed Rush played a techy style set with some good unknowns along side some anthems included dillinja's bad bass. During the set some people were getting annoyed about the poor mcing that the mc was getting booed. MC Presha took over waiting till the next mc arrived.
Well Swift was up next and finally some lyrical geniuses arrived in the form of IC3 and Fearless. Swift was double dropping like crazy as he only does. Half was through his set I thought it would be good to check out Seduction in the Fastrack as Seduction's back playing hardcore.

Well Seduction retired from playing upfront hardcore back in '99, hereturned in late 2000 to play oldskool and now he's back on the hardcore tip. Some of his tunes he was playing were quite interesting as well most hardcore DJ's now mix off cd. But he did throw in some classics including imagination, which I've not heard for quite along time. Storm was mcing for Seduction, hyping up the crowd as he can do, but the sound system in the fastrack was quite low. His new material does sound quite good, but I think with time the tunes will get better.

After Seduction was Next Generation's very own Brisk, he was accompanied by Odyssey mc. Brisk was playing a bouncy set but not as hard as he once used, but it was banging. I didn't recognise many of the tunes as he playing new material.
I quickly popped into the sanctuary and Swift was still on, looks like he was on for 2 hours.

Well up next was the Scratchmaster SY, this was one of the better sets of the night. It wouldn't be Quosh hour if Sy weren't accompanied by Storm. Sy played some good new tunes as he's been recently playing a lot of up'n'coming alongside his stuff, which is good new for the up'n'coming producers.
As SY can be different from a lot of the other DJ's and experiment with his sets, he did play the Quosh remix of Bring me round to love.

Nicky Blackmarket was on in the sanctuary accompanied by MC MC and Shabba D,
I do feel that MC MC should have been on earlier rather than last set. But MCMC was wicked mcing and hyping up the crowd, at times Shabba looked like if he forgot his lyrics as he did stutter on the mic. Blackmarket played Dual Voltage also the remix of Grimey as well.

Well I thought tonight was a good night as the weather was right for the outdoor stage. Raving to hardcore being played in the sweltering heat outdoors is something you don't really get anymore. It was good to see the mixture of people raving to both hardcore and jungle when the stage was on. As I feel that raves shouldn't be segregated with different arenas for hardcore and jungle. I do think that set times should be made available as they weren't on he merchandise stall.

I hope that we get an outdoor all dayer hardcore and jungle rave hopefully next summer, as I think tonight was a success.

Anyways Massive shouts to Storm and Sarah, Whizzkid, Fearless,Mistress Mo MCMC, Jason Spinback, Ratpack, Hixxy, Zinc, Justin at Koollive
Massive respects to the Ravers, Leanne, Gaz, Shaun, Zoë + Collete, Astro, Ross, Olly, Mark plus the Lichfield mob, and to everyone else that I've forgotten.