Slammin’ Vinyl

It was the 20th September and after a hectic few hours trying to diagnose a puncture in our friend’s car; we were heading for Bagleys once again. This time Slammin’ Vinyl were on their own and I wasn’t sure what to expect.

On arriving I managed to get parked for free as I said we were on the guest list, which saved me a much needed fiver (that’s one of the negative things about Bagleys!!) and we headed for the entrance. Jimmy J, Vinyltrixter and Alistair were there to deal with the guest list and we walked straight in which was good as the last time we went to Bagleys we queued for hours. Just as well because I didn’t fancy waiting in the cold.

The same as at many other venues (probably too many), ladies and gents has to go in separate queues once inside to be searched. This meant my partner and I had to meet inside. I didn’t have any bags or a cost so I didn’t have to worry about being searched, but I was told that the gents had a very strict serach. I waited at the top of the stairs for my partner only to see him walk in and stand chatting to Dream FM’s DJ Influence. After their chat we headed for the main arena.

The few times I’ve been to Bagleys before I wasn’t sure if I liked it as a venue and I was hoping Slammin’ Vinyl were going to make it into something more interesting. For those of you who haven’t been there before (and why not!!), I’ll try and describe the layout and style of the venue. To get to the main arena we went through the house arena and up some stairs. All that separated us from the happy sound was a set of double doors. Once opened the heat hit us and horns and whistles were blowing. We could hear MC Suicide on the mic and up in the DJ box were Dream FM’s DJ Energy. I could see that much of the arena hadn’t changed since I’d last been to Bagleys; the stage was still right at the front, the bar was still along the side and the DJ box was still high up and very dark. One difference was that Slammin’ had brought in a brilliant lighting system which included multi coloured lasers that I’d never seen before. These really put an edge on the atmosphere in the arena and ravers dancing on the platforms which had been added in the middle of the arena, loved reaching up whilst the colours were flowing. Hands were in the air, horns were blowing and Energy was taking the crowd by storm. We moved to the back of the arena where the merchandise stall was located. Slammin’ Vinyl had provided ravers with a whole range of merchandise from tape packs to white gloves and from what I could see, the prices were quite reasonable.

We’d only been there for a few minutes when Energy’s set came to a close. He’d played a whole load of wicked tunes which included ones like ‘Excitement’ and his new tune, ‘Hardcore Ecstasy’ (can you correct me Nick?). This went down with a bang and Energy got a massive response from the crowd, he seemed to be going from strength to strength and I think we can expect big things from this boy in the future.

Up next was one of Slammin’s main boys, Jimmy J who was joined by MC Ruff on the mic. As most of you will know, Jimmy plays in his own original style; normally hardcore, but the crowd were raving hard. The tunes were wickedly complimented by Ruff and it was good to hear him gracing the mic again and everyone was singing along with his rhymes. He really knows how to get the crowd hyped up, but the only problem was that we couldn’t see him; I don’t even know where he was standing. The stage was dark and smokey so all we could hear were Ruff’s lyrical rhymes coming from somewhere around us. About twenty minutes passed when Jimmy J suddenly stopped mixing and Ruff’s voice came over the mic saying that Andy C was going to take over. (We heard that he was going to be covering for Dougal who was away in Ibiza). At this point we would’ve gone into the second arena, but it wasn’t opened until 1am so we went downstairs into the house room. This arena is quite small with a bar running along the back and the crowd seemed to be loving the tunes being played. There weren’t any really special lights in this arena; it’s quite basic, but the music makes up for it. We couldn’t see who was playing so we decided to get a drink. It was £1 for a large glass of coke which I thought was brilliant value when you consider the prices at other venues. It was nearly time for DJ Spinback so we decided to move back up to the main arena.

I hadn’t heard Spinback play for a while and couldn’t wait to hear his selection. I definitely wasn’t disappointed and Spinback and Ruff seemed to be running things. Hearing the two together again made me more energetic than I can remember but again that was short lived. No sooner had the set begun than it was stopped and Kenny Ken took over. By now the second arena was open so we decided to venture in there.

Dream FM’s Tom Thumb was up on the decks and was surrounded by all the Dream FM crew watching intently and giving him support. The arena itself was blindin’ with UV fish hanging from the ceiling and an illuminous orange octopus was sitting in front of the DJ box. Tom Thumb was playing a wicked set with tunes like ‘Let It Lift You’ and ‘Tear My World Apart’. The disappointing thing was that there was no MC for a while and it was then that you begin to realise how important they are. As soon as MC Lively stood up and began rhyming the crowd was hyper again. (I saw you dancing Alistair!!) appreciating the DJ. There was plenty of space on the dance floor which was good and it was wicked to see a mass of illuminous jackets and white gloves back. All these things seem to have been missing at the last few events, but the atmosphere is so much better when they’re all there. This arena also had its own toilets which were the best ones in the whole venue and I advise you to use these as opposed to the outside ones if you ever go to Bagleys. Vinylgroover then took over from Tom Thumb and dropped ‘United In Dance’ by Force and Styles as his first tune of the night.

Back in arena two, surprisingly, Spinback was on the decks again and ravers were going ballistic. This set was probably one of the best I’ve ever heard from him play (except for Moondance at Club UN) and tunes like ‘Higher Love’ and a remix of ‘Santa Maria’ all went down with one almighty bang. The ones that received most response though were Spinback’s own tune ‘Feelings Of Desire’, ‘Here I Am’ by DJ Ham and ‘Toytown’. During ‘Toytown’ the whistles and horns were blowing like I’ve never heard before. ‘Here I Am’ got a good response, but was played a bit too much on the night. You appreciate though that DJ’s don’t know what others have played so that’s just a moan that can’t be helped.

We decided next that we should explore the outside area where I found that the staircase had been enclosed and that a refreshment van had been added. Many ravers had opted for a hot dog or burger, but as it was getting extremely cold I wanted to go back inside.

In the space of a few minutes it seemed that Slipmatt had taken to the decks. What we heard of the set was blindin’, but we wanted to venture down to the house arena where Richie Whizz was in the middle of a set. A tune which I think could’ve been called ‘Deeper Love’ and BBE’s ‘7 days and 1 night’ (?) got the crowd going mental and I wished the tune would go on forever.

Seduction’s set back in the main arena was also mad and the night was worthwhile considering the tickets were only £8. Massive respect goes out to the DJ’s who played extended sets or who were moved from one slot to another, you deserve every bit of it. Even though the organisation could’ve been improved and Dougal could’ve been there, the music played was brilliant and that’s what raving is all about. An appreciation for the music. The night proved that you don’t need big attractions to make a good night out and that it’s the music that’s important. It must be hard to organise an event for 3,000 people and you have to give respect where it’s due. Let’s just hope the Slammin’ Team will try it again!