Slammin Vinly Presernts
Tranz-Mission 2009 - the return
Alexandra Palac
London
Saturday 11th April 2009

Slammin Vinyl hit the capital to present Tranz-mission 2009 – The return. It has been 2 years since Slammin Vinyl have held an event at this prestigious venue in the nation’s capital the Alexandra Palace.

Tranz-mission is one of the biggest indoor rave festivals with 5 arenas featuring over 75 of the best artists from the Drum and bass, Hardcore, Oldskool and Hard dance world offering plenty of variety at this massive multi arena event.

The Alexandra itself is situated in the north of London and is surrounded in vast Greenland space and very easy to locate. Having attended the previous two events held here it was quite easy to locate and there was plenty of ample parking onsite within the security patrolled car parks.

Once parked up we headed up to the Alexandra Palace and was greeted by a massive queue that was swiftly moving along queuing didn’t take no time at all. There were plenty of search tables making the searching time quite minimal.

The layout inside the Alexandra palace was similar to that of the previous years with the hardcore arena located inside the grand hall and the drum and bass arena west hall.

We found ourselves in the Frantic arena and AWsum records duo Andy Witby and Matt Lee were on. The party was well and truly underway in here Andy Whitby and Matt Lee  where rocking the crowd with plenty of bouncy tracks including ‘Rokk your body’ and ‘Rock It’ which went down a treat. Headed over to the Hardcore arena and was greeted by a sea of ravers bouncing to the sounds of Scotlands Number one Scott Brown.

The production on the massive stage was mind blowing as can be expected from the Hardcore Heaven crew. The stage was gigantic similar to that of a concert with numerous plasma screens placed above the DJ booth with a further two massive LED walls. The centre piece of the grand hall had been covered up tonight as the stage had been brought forward but I don’t think many people really noticed.

Hardcore head honcho Hixxy and Re-con were stepping up next alongside MC Storm. Storms arm was in a sling but yet still took to the stage a true professional that he is not letting down the thousands of hardcore ravers that have come down to see him tonight.

Hixxy was running slightly late so Re-Con started the proceedings with ‘I can’t help myself’ remix. Better late than never Hixxy joined Re-Con and the pair rocked the Grand hall of the Alexandra Palace with tracks such as ‘Takin me Higher’, ‘Why does my heart’, and ‘Living in a dream’

The crowd were bouncing throughout this set as Storm hyped up the crowd with his infamous lyrics that they were recited along with him. Storm took full advantage of this massive stage rocking the crowd from left to right.

Hixxy and Re-Con continued to showcase their new tracks from their respective labels as the duo played ‘Tell me’, ‘Face in the crowd’, ‘bitter Sweet symphony’, ‘Pump up the noize’ before closing off with a remix of the hardcore classic ‘Take me away’.

We made our way over to the drum and bass arena whilst passing the a number of indoor funfair rides along with the massive Slammin vinyl merchandise stall.  Plenty of bargains on offer here with past packs and albums at discounted prices. The Alexandra Palace was implementing a token system on the bar. There were a number of porta cabins located around to buy tokens from and didn’t take long to get a drink.

Over in the One nation arena was the award winning Chase and Status. Lots of their own material being showcased including their award wining track ‘Take me away’ along with ‘Smash TV’ ‘Hurt you’ and ‘Streetlife’.

MC Fearless was rocking the ravers inside the West Hall as he kept the party people hyped up. Fearless ensured no-one was left standing still with his catchy lyrics that the ravers knew.

Chase and Status rolled out with drum and bass favourites ‘Ruffest gunark’, ‘Timewarp’ and ‘Nightflight’ before flipping the switch with some dubstep including ‘Cockney Thug’, ‘Saxon’ and ‘Eastern Jam’.

Round the corner from the Drum and Bass room was one of the orginal rave promoters Raindance. We were just in time for the godfather of rave DJ Slipmatt. The arena was ram jammed with everyone bouncing around to Slipmatt mish mash of oldskool and rave break classics.

Slipmat was playing his rave breaks remix of the all time classic ‘Breakin free’  along with ‘Tricky Disco’, ‘Papua new guinea’, ‘I feel this way’ and ‘Cookin up your brain’.

The raindance arena was dressed head to toe with plenty of Raindance flyers from the past 20 years. At the front of the arena was an inflatable Raindance man whilst the lasers lit up the arena, brining that Se One vibe to the north of London.

Accompanying Slipmatt was Charlie B his partner in crime the pair really put on a great performance tonight. Charlie B was rocking the crowd with his infamous lyrics as he hyped up the crowd throughout.

Slipmat continued with his mashup set of rave breaks and classic olskool throwing in a number of prodigy classics such as ‘Jericho’, ‘G-force’ and ‘No Good’ which saw the crowd go crazy before he closed off with ‘Blow out’ the all time jungle anthem ‘renegade snares’ and finally a remix of the infamous ‘On a raga tip’.

Back in the One Nation arena and drum and bass legend DJ Hype was on. There was lots of material from the numerous producers that are on Hypes Ganja imprint. Hype got things underway with Original Sins’ ‘Therapy’ which saw the crowd erupt into a mad frenzy.

Hype rolled out with a number of slammers including ‘Shining’, ‘Pyscadelic’, ‘Mr happy’ and ‘Machete’. IC3 entertained the crowd with his catchy lyrics and hyperactive style with plenty of crowd interactive throughout.

The Ganja man was showing off his scratching skills that he has been renowned for over the years. Hype continued to drop ‘Seen’, ‘Can you feel it’, ‘Warface’ and ‘One finger test’.

Over in the Hardcore Heaven arena playing the penultimate set of the night was Twister records very own DJ Squad-e alongside breakthrough mc of 2008 MC Enemy. There was lots of euphoric uplifting beats being played by Squad-E tonight including ‘Tricky Disco’, ‘Phatt bass’, ‘Crusin’ and Sorry’.

Enemy was rocking the packed out arena keeping the ravers on their toes throughout the penultimate hour. A rather energetic style of mcing from Enemy as I think he hardly stood still during the set, whilst taking full advantage of the massive stage here.

Enemy has been in the studio recently with Squad-E tonight was the perfect opportunity to showcase their new collaboration entitled ‘Twist’ which went down a treat. Squad-E continued with a number of crowd favourites including ‘Come running’, ‘Doesn’t matter’ and ‘Cry’ before he finally finished off with ‘I can’t help myself’

Vibes and Livelee closed off the proceedings over in the Raindance arena the pair got a grand reception from the crowd. Livelee rocked the crowd with his infamous lyrics that the hardcore ravers were reciting with him throughout.

Vibes was playing a more 92-94  breakbeat set with tracks like ‘Euphoria(nino’s Dream’, ‘Gonna be Alright’ and DJ Unknown Vol 1 (Let me be your fantasy’, ‘Champion sound’ and the timeless classic ‘Music so wonderful’.

What a wicked night down the Alexandra Palace really miss raving here definitely one of my favourite venues and it was great to be back once again. Really love the layout of the big arena raves the production was spot on only qualm was the missing stained glass window that the Alexandra palace is famous for.

There wasn’t many problems here tonight compared to the previous years as each year Slammin vinyl have improved the event especially with the sound leakage and also the general organisation, ensuring everyone has a hassle free night.

Massive shouts & respects to Grant, Micheal, Darren and the Slammin team, Fearless, Whizzkid, Storm, Andy C, Sy, Unknown, Squad-E, Static, Re-con, Brisk, Scott Brown, Slipmatt, Vibes, Livelee, Charlie B, Jilted Generation crew, Hixxy, Gammer Dougal, Casper, IC3,  Harry Shotta, Shauny C, Xero, Mat Kotr, Andy Legs, Chelsea, Fi, Gsus, Amelia, Annabelle Lucy, Sketchy, Charlie and James, Sam Up the Cut, Gemma, Mitch, Pikey, Chris Mental, Gemma, Taha and everyone else whose names I don't' know but faces I recognize