Universe/Big Love – 13/14th August

This party by Universe was billed as a 24hr event and was to be the last Universe gathering of 93. After experiencing the Tribal Gathering earlier on in the year, (April 30th) we hoped that Big Love would live up to all expectations, Universe parties are always BIG, this one was to be no exception, 30,000 tickets were printed.

The DJ line up was once again uncompromised. Quality and Quantity again second to none, with the music from Techno to Jungle in arena one and DJ’s from USA and Europe playing for the Universe Massive. Even Paul Oakenfold taking time off from the U2 tour to play in arena two.

Arriving at the site we were pleased to see that problems incurred last time of parking and entry to the site had been rectified. Although Universe seemed to have catered for more party goers, with a ticket allocation of 30,000, the site was not as impressive as it had been for the Tribal Gathering.

None of the dance arenas were tented, this we thought was Universe taking too much of a chance on the weather staying dry, luckily it stayed dry and fine. This was a big risk for Universe to take, cast your minds back to the complaints about the mud in the tents at the Tribal Gathering.

Not having the dance arena’s under cover also meant that a lot of the lighting effects were lost into the night sky. A laser is not so impressive when it simply disappears over your head. We have also had complaints about the level of noise at Big Love. It had to be turned down during the night, to comply with Health and Safety as the noise level carried too far and too loud. Again this would not have been a problem if they had used tents.

The music played at Big Love was predominantly Hardcore Techno with DJ Lenny Dee catching our attention, and playing one of the best Techno sets we’ve ever heard. Respect to MC Ribbs for taking time out to sort out all those heavy footed stompers on the stage.

The long awaited new set by The Prodigy did not disappoint, they kicked off with all the old favourites and the crowd singing along before changing their style gradually into their new material which went down really well.

In Arena two the music was on a more mellow tip, with excellent stage performances all night.

A very good visual effect could be seen through the whole arena. Leaving the music for a while we decided to check out the attractions that were on offer.

A full fun fair this time due to the reduced ticket price of £20, all rides had to be paid for. This seemed a good idea by Universe as it meant those not wanting to use the fun fair had not paid for it in the ticket price. Other attractions included, Bungie Jumping, face painting, hot and cold snacks all night and a good size chill out tent. Also a stall selling blankets for a mere £3 to ward off those early morning chills.

All in all the night must be put down as another fine success by Universe. The atmosphere all night was spot on, everyone we spoke to were enjoying themselves.

Although we have pointed out some flaws in the Universe performance we are only echoing the views of our readers who attended the event. Once again we thoroughly enjoyed the Universe event. Security as always was firm but friendly and very helpful. The toilets were clean, and again Universe had provided sufficient facilities.

Finally a Big Love shout to all the happy, smiling Universe crews out there.