At
the turn of the Millennium, Sheffield based clubbing promotion
Gatecrasher was in the decided ascension. Throughout 1998 Trance was
fully establishing itself in the collective clubbing consciousness,
leading the way as the underground and overground dominant paradigm
genre. By 1999 it had defined itself as the sound of the era, it's
own production values seeping into artistic styles of other genres
(think dubstep now). Trance was the zeitgeist. Gatecrasher was
central actor in this process.
Unlike Ministry of Sound, which
while commercially larger and around longer and having carved itself
a niche as a trendy place to club. Gatecrasher had succeeded in a way
MOS never could have imagined. It had spawned its own youth
subculture. Like the Ravers, Goths, Punks, Metal Heads and Teddy boys
before them the Crasher Kid was its own, if rather niche youth
sub-culture which was essentially linked with music. Gatecrasher had
it set out: the music, Trance, the new clubbing sound with european
influence whit a harder edge, clothes from Cyberdog and a
vaguely, but certainly undefined and often unacknowledged,
Cyberpunk/cyber goth leanings. Oh, and that’s forgetting a little
bit of a drug connection with MDMA and amphetamines.
Things
change a lot in 14 years and all signs of that core cultural
connection had long since been replaced by trendy handbags, shoes and
shirts done up to the collar button.
Gatecrasher
Red & Black was headlined as part of Gatecrasher Birmingham's 4th
Birthday. While the Gatecrasher brand had been around for much
longer, the club had expanded from its Sheffield home. In way of
celebration, a classics night featuring Tall Paul, Seb Fontaine,
Judge Jules, Scott Bond, Solar Stone and Signum.
During
that era Judge Jules was at the peak of his DJing career. Listening
to his two weekly shows on Radio 1 was the reason why I got decks and
started DJing in the first place. Seeing him play the tunes I owned,
and remember playing on the radio would be tempting to say the least.
I
have always attributed to Jules the skill of 'understanding' as a DJ
- recognising the time he was playing, who he was playing between and
importantly what kind of night he was playing at. I regarded him as a
'safe pair of hands' who could be trusted to keep the course true. I
distinctly remember Jules adapting his sound the the particularities
of any given night. Sadly, he got this horribly wrong at Red &
Black, playing only a handful of 'classics'. While I understand the
incentive to play some contemporary music to keep modern, younger
fans interested, the balance last night was poor to say the least.
Things
were amply atoned for with the arrival of Scott Bond on of the main
driving forces behind the success of Gatecrasher during its halcyon
days. As the average age of the dance floor dramatically increased,
he produced a perfectly pitched set full of classic era tunes without
the commercial baggage. A set brimming with the sound of Gatecrasher
as I remember.
Pulp Victim - The World (Moonman Remix) by dcp84
Ticket Price: £13.55
DJ of the Night: Scott Bond
Tune of the Night: Pulp Victim - The World (Moonman Remix)
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