Uproar and Helter Skelter presents:
The Resurrection
Q Club
Birmingham
Saturday 29th September 2007

Uproar and Helter Skelter joined forces for a one off night, to host an event in one of the most historic venues in raving folklore, the legendary ‘Que club’ in Birmingham.
The Que club has been shut for over 4 years. Until finally this summer after being brought by new owners, it was granted its licence.

The Que club is smothered in rave history, having hosted numerous events in the past including Flashback, Atomic Jam, Slammin Vinyl to name but a few.

Heading down to Corporation Street shortly after 10pm we were greeted by a mammoth queue that stretched down the road. There was a heavy police presence here with the venue having just being granted its licence. Walking into the foyer we were greeted by the security team who were conducting searches.

Venturing firstly into the Chapel bar, which was being hosted by Déjà vu, we found that this arena has changed considerably since we were last there, as they had removed the tables and seating and had replaced by a large stage. It was filling up in here noticed a number of old faces from the past, sadly it looked like we had just missed Nicky Blackmarket. Midlands oldskool veteran DJ Pilgrim was playing a banging belgian‘92 set, reliving those memories from Flashback days. Pilgrim went on to drop numerous classics such as ‘Dominator’, ‘Mentasm’, ‘Radio Babylon’ and ‘Anastasia’.

Following up came DJ’s Twista and Faydz, Twista got things started as it looked like Faydz was running late. Twista opened up with Rachel Wallace’s ‘I feel this way’, and ‘I need relief’, he continued to mix up the set with a number of nu-skool breaks tunes.

Heading into the main arena to find, once again, the production team had gone to town. There were plenty of inflatables that littered the high ceiling, and numerous banners across the walls. At the front of the arena was a raised main stage where two large projector screens were placed either side, backed up with an impressive laser system.

Next Generations records DJ Brisk was on and this was his first ever appearance at Uproar in its 4 year history. I managed to catch the tail end of his set with MC Wotsee, who was doing the mic duties and getting the crowd rocking on this magnificent stage as the main arena was starting to fill up slowly.

There was a large security presence inside the main arena with bouncers dotted around the balcony and sides. What I did notice was that there were signs placed up warning people not to dance around the balcony and upon the seating area, which I thought, was very odd. Understandable for health and safety reasons but I did think that it was a bit over the top.

Following on from Brisk was a familiar face to the Que club, the Quosh trio of Sy, Unknown and MC Storm. The trio were rocking the crowd with lots of material being showcased form the forthcoming True Hardcore album as they dropped ‘Scratchin’ remix, ‘Caught up in your love’ and ‘Time of our lives’. Storm was on fantastic form bouncing around on this magnificent stage and entertaining the ravers.

Mid way through the set I decided to head back to the Deja-vu arena as the mighty Top Buzz were on. They performed a great set playing a classic 92 set, dropping crowd favourites such as ‘Charly’, ‘Hardcore heaven’ and ‘Sweet harmony’. It was great to see the oldskool arena rammed and the ravers battling through the heat. Mad P was on fire, getting the ravers to recite his lyrics. When Jason topped off the set with ‘Living in Darkness’ as Mad P announced that this was his X-Factor karaoke moment !

Next up was another legend from the ’92 golden era, as Mr Nex of Altern-8 fame stepped up, accompanied by another midlands legend from Amnesia house MC Man Parris.
Mr Nex was dressed in full chemical warfare attire including his infamous luminous yellow dust mask.

Mr Nex opened up with the Altern-8 Classic ‘Evapor-8’ and carried onto play a number of ’92 classics ‘ Frequency’, ‘Bombscare’, ‘We are I.E, and ‘Dance the Dream’ which the really crowd enjoyed. Man Parris complemented this set very well without chatting over the tracks sitting back and allowing the music to do the talking.

Midway through the set I headed back to the main arena as DJ Re-Con was on. The main arena was filled to capacity not only on the dance floor but along the sides and the balconies too, just how I remembered the Que club back in it’s hey day. Odyssey was working the crowd, hyping them with his lyrics whilst carrying out his vocal scratching. Re-Con was playing a bouncy selection whilst dropping in a number of Raver Baby favourites with the likes of ‘Power of love’, ‘Sure feels good’ and ‘Angel Eyes’ remix.

Uproars very own DJ Seduction stepped up next, with Whizzkid MC. This was the first time that Whizzkid had mc’ed in the main arena of the Que club and he was loving every single moment. The crowd loved Seductions selection with Whizzkid MC hyping up the ravers with his lyrics and beatbox style and Seduction dropping ‘Show me the way’ remix. Midway through the set I thought I’d have a wonder around the venue and ended up getting lost !

What I love most about the Q club is the number of corridors that run behind the main arena, the venue is a maze, I managed to bump into numerous people who I’d not seen in years! The upstairs arena was closed, so the chill out room was moved downstairs and was playing some cartoons and other videos. There was also a large merchandise stall in the back room selling past recordings from Uproar events and other raving paraphernalia.

I finally ended up in the oldskool arena and caught the tail end of Clarkee’s set. I was gutted that I didn’t catch more of it as he was playing a 93-94 darkside set with both Ribbz and Mad P keeping the ravers entertained. Clarkee finished up with Goldie’s infamous ‘Terminator’ an awesome track from this era

Following up next was the ravers choice DJ Vibes, who rolled back the years and played a classic set that would have been well remembered from Helter Skelter days. Vibes was littering his set with classics such as ‘Follow Me’, ‘Eternity’, and ‘Jumpin Pumpin’. There was no one on the mic during this set allowing the music to breathe whilst the ravers bounced through the heat.

After Vibes’s set I decided to spend the rest of the night in the main arena, Whizzkid MC was on with DJGammer. I really enjoyed this set from Gammer, there was a lot of bouncy tracks being played ‘ Bust’, ‘Sacrifice’ and ‘Report to the bassline’. With Whizzkid being on the mic, they performed a little PA featuring one of the tracks off the forthcoming True hardcore album ‘You’re my XTC’.

Penultimate set of the night was a special oldskool set featuring the hardcore legend DJ Dougal alongside MC Man Parris. This set was quite unique as Man Parris announced his retirement from mcing at the end of this year. Dougal ensured the legend bowed out in style with a classic ‘96 set.

Man Parris took to the mic and sat back whilst he mc’ed, unfortunately the new crowd prefer an mc that takes the main stage and was not used to this style of mcing. Dougal’s set featured lot of vocally tunes from this era were being played with classics such as ‘Heart of Gold’, ‘Here I am’, ‘Steam train’ and ‘My way’.

Unfortunately midway through the set the power from the main speakers went out and there was no sound in here for a good 10-15 minutes. Power was finally restored and the Raver Baby Duo of Styles and Storm took to the stage for the final set.

The duo rocked the crowd early into the morning with Darren playing an upfront vocally hardcore set. Dropping belters such as ‘Sunshine’, remix, ‘I Believe’ and ‘Silver waters’.
Storm ensured no-one was left standing still for the remaining 45minutes, doing what he does best by hyping up the crowd raving on the dancefloor and those on the balcony. When Darren dropped ‘Cruising’ the crowd went wild, he continued to play ‘Feeling fine’ before closing the night with ‘Dance’

What a night !!! Finally returning back to the Q club after 4 years, the club itself hasn’t really changed much both structurally and in appearance. I liked the idea of the chairs in the 3rd room being removed, which allowed for a large stage and more dance floor space. The main arena was still untouched with the large organ left intact. The seating around the balconies still makes a great view to watch the ravers on the dancefloor.

What let the night down was the security. When we approached the venue there was a massive queue that stretched down the road, but this queue was moving very slow. It seemed that security where quite slow in searching people and getting them into the venue. They were required by law to carry out stringent and thorough searches, and with the new smoking ban in full effect there was also a large police presence at the venue. This was the third event held there since the Q club reopened earlier this month. All in all, I felt they could have had more bouncers carrying out the searches, which would have helped speed things up on the door.

It was quite amusing to see signs asking people not to dance on the balconies and the security trying to enforce this, but come 1am when the arena was completely full no-one seemed to care. This was one of the main features that many people, always remember when they talk about the Que club, being able to dance on the balconies and having a dance whilst watching those down below on the dance floor.

The sound system in the main arena was also a bit disappointing as it cut out briefly for a few moments and then went completely dead. Though the sound system in the oldskool arena was fantastic and you could feel the bass vibrate your insides!

It’s understandable and inevitable that when a club this size opens up there are going to be teething problems to begin with. I do feel with the right security team, the venue is still potentially one of the best venues in the UK.

Overall the night was excellent and great to see the venue back in action, whoever would of thought of having hardcore all night long in the main arena Q club all those years back ? It was great to see the main arena full to the brim once again and also the oldskool room was busy all night too.

The atmosphere tonight was brilliant as the crowd themselves were definitely up for it all night, with plenty of people who were making their first visit to the venue, complementing on the sheer size of the main arena. There was a nice range of ages out in attendance tonight including those who were able to experience the Que club first time round.

There were a number of great sets being played throughout the evening, I particularly enjoyed Topbuzz and Altern-8 ‘92 selections in the oldskool arena. Also the Scratch off from Sy, Unknown and Storm and Darren Styles’ set closing the night.

It’s a shame that Uproar won’t be using the Q club in the near future having been let down by the club management. I do feel that once the teething problems have been addressed and ironed out the venue will become a great raving Mecca that it once was.

Massive shouts to Seduction, MC Rude and the Uproar crew, Storm, Whizzkid, Mad P, Pilgrim, Glenn Aston and Luke, Man Parris, Re-Con, Sy, Unknown, Darren Styles, Mr Nex, Brisk, Gammer and Birdie, Wotsee, Odyssey, Twista, Faydz, Breeze, Vibes, Joey Riot and Abbie, Dougal, DJ Kurt, Smythy, Charlie B, Slipmatt, Ribzz, Clarkee Charmy and Flyin.

Big Respects to Shaun, Lozzy, Lisa-Jo and Phil, Ric Reaction and Dave Manikular, Andy Legs, Danny Smithers, Nick Xero, Mat KotR, Charlie and James, Izzy, Sarah, Emma and Annabelle Lucy, Sam, Lee, Tessa, and Stu GT, Stacey (Happy Birthday) and Rob, Charl, Carris, Foggy and Gemma, Daz Rampant and Petrecuio, Savage, Gemma, Sharl, Ronney and the Shrewsbury crew, Claire, Rudeboy Rob, Damo, Kev Pikey, Michelle, Amanda and Nathan, Mairead and Rickey, H-100, Astraboy, Gsus, Hiney, Olly Thumpa, Mel and Laura, Obie, Hardcore Mark, Marky, Mark Heffers and Hanna, Saz, Jonno, Turkish, Loopy Lin, Phil Friction, Emma, Wookie and Jen, Wilfee C and Dave Control, Gem and Mitch Ush.net and DSI crew, and everyone else whose names I don't' know but faces I recognize.