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Features
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| Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! | | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna | | A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022! | | TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022! | | A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London! | | Goa based party animal and artist extraordinaire Nirmal talks punk concerts, metal sculptures, flying and rippin' it up on a High Tide! | | DJ Wired talks to us about the Rise of the Hope and parties, ahead of his upcoming set at Tribal Village on 14th January 2022! |
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Chemistry: The Legends - Review
Reported by bunny
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Submitted 07-01-03 10:41
First impressions count, everyone knows that. So to walk into what you expect to be the main room of Camden Palace only to find yourself instead in a strange, ethereal winter wonderland is certainly an impressive way to start a night’s hard clubbing. It’s Saturday the 28th December and time at last to really start to work off those mince pies, chocolates, Christmas puddings and turkey curries, sandwiches and salads with a good old-fashioned, never-fails bout of stomping. Forget sleigh bells ringing, that’s ancient history; now it’s time for horns, hoovers and, ok, maybe the occasional whistle too.
Tonight marks the fourth outing for Chemistry, a fresh idea introduced by Frantic this year that is quickly and continually proving to provide all the right ingredients for an unbeatable formula in high-class clubbing. The concept is to offer at each event a selection of the biggest and best DJ’s on the scene and tonight’s line-up is no exception – but it is exceptional. With a rarer than a snowflake in the Seychelles London appearance by new-king-on-the-block Eddie Haliwell, a classics set by arguably the most talented and prolific producer of the moment, BK and Andy Farley demonstrating his legendary mixing skills over not 2 but 3 decks as the 3 main ingredients, you know the end result is gonna be something special. But to then add in generous helpings of Phil Reynolds, Spencer Freeland and Guffy in the main room, along with Tara Reynolds, James Lawson and a b2b set from Ali Wilson and Matt Smallwood in the Black’n’White bar – well, the end result can only be goldust 
Now, back to that winter wonderland. Truth is that tonight Camden Palace’s unusually gorgeous main room looks like a Disney backdrop with all the pointless slushy bits cut out. The decks are taking pride of place centre stage, suspended from the ceiling by four hoists like a surrealist’s 21st century candelabra, while around them drape what appear to be slices of the heaven’s cloths. Delicate white sheets dappled with the tiniest white lights frame the mainstage as if someone cut a swathe out of the twilight sky and somehow brought it down to earth. It’s quite possibly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in a club, sober or otherwise, and whoever organised it deserves a lot more than just a pat on the back for their troubles. Just divine.
Once you manage to tear your eyes away from the heavens, there’s a hell of a lot more to take in. For one thing, the dance floor below is far from empty. Guffy’s kicking off the night with his characteristic progressive style and a noticeably contented and relaxed crowd are warming up to the weekend in that specifically chilled way that only comes before a night of blissful madness. Everyone’s still running on Christmas time, that special feeling you get only at this time of the year when you’ve been partying so long you get to thinking life’s just one extended celebration and only deserves to be treated that way. By now we’ve got exultation down to a fine art, so that at almost the instant everyone walks through the door they automatically fall into their let’s-go-mad mode , a condition that’s only increased by the closing track of Guffy’s set, a sublime cut of Hard Trance that I think is called Skywalker (well it was the only word that was repeated throughout so I’m making like Sherlock Holmes on this one) that is to euphoria what Haagen Daaz Belgium chocolate ice cream is to, well, euphoria 
Although the Palace never truly gets packed out tonight, there’s an atmosphere penetrating everyone and everything that makes the need for enormous crowds completely unnecessary. At Spencer Freeland’s arrival onstage at just 11pm unanimous agreement throughout the room is that tonight is going to be summed up by three letters, in one word and with no hesitation; joy. The dance floor’s livelier than a Boy George stage costume and when the pace goes up a step you really start to see movement. Top quality tracks Society and the trance mix of Bad Ass seal the deal as far as incitement to stomping’s concerned so that when Andy Farley takes over at 12.30 Camden Palace is more than primed for some intense Hard House action.
And by the birthday boy Mr Bartholomew Christ do we get what we’re asking for. Beats so hard and sharp they almost lacerate your eardrums (thanks in part to the truly awesome sound system) combined with a laser that appears to have escaped from the nearest lunatic asylum add up to form one hell of a clubbing experience. It’s a set that keeps the event horizon of elation firmly in its sights, and here’s just a few reasons why; a much-welcomed spin of the long-neglected, high-octane mix of the old Mel’n’Kim classic Showing Out (oh my lord what a tune) the ecstatic Baby Wants to Ride tumbling straight into the exhilarating Revolution, a turbo-charged version of 90’s House classic You Make My World Go Round the ever-gorgeous Red Snapper and the climatic Sssh...Listen as the final long sweet kiss goodnight. The crowd were losing it continuously, there were plots streaming at the speed of light through each and every exit and I don’t think I’ve heard so much screaming since Billy Connolly ran naked through Piccadilly Circus for Comic Relief. There’s just one thing I’ve got to mention though, kind of a general request to universe at large; I’ve got to agree that it’s undeniably cool and fun and great to dance on the steps leading up to the stage but please, please, please don’t dance up on the front of the stage itself when the DJs are mixing there. For various reasons as the night continues it can get harder for people to keep their balance and it’s got to be one hell of an annoying distraction for the DJ to constantly see someone tottering closer and closer to the decks while they’re trying to concentrate on mixing… and there’s also quite a few of us who get a strange enjoyment out of actually watching the DJ at work, something that unfortunately we can’t do when there’s people dancing in front of the decks. So please just keep the top step free and that way everyone’s happy!
After such a frenetic, frenzied and, of course, frantic set, the night can go two ways. Either the DJ can decide to calm us down a bit with a slightly more chilled set or they can choose to give caution the blind eye and middle finger and just hammer it out full-force. Well, the DJ on next is Eddie Haliwell, so I’ll leave the guesswork up to you on that one ;-) It’s been a long time since I’ve last seen Edie mix; too long. Since the last London appearance of his I saw at the start of this year, Eddie Haliwell has, through a combination of a lot of hard work and even more talent, built up a strong and justified reputation as one of the most promising and gifted DJs to emerge from the Hard Dance scene in recent years. Tonight, there’s pretty much fuck-all evidence to dispute that.
His style of music is unbelievably, almost unbearably hard and leaves an impression on you in the much the same way as an atom bomb leaves an impression on the landscape. Wherever you are during his set there’s nothing but rapturous hysteria surrounding you, from the middle of the dance floor to way up in the mists on the top balcony. Within the first half an hour of his set alone we’ve already been treated to Arome’s Hands Up, the Stimulant DJs mix of Heaven’s Cry and It’s Over For Me – and there’s no sign of the furious momentum waning. But at just gone 2, and comforted with the knowledge that there’s still an hour and a half of his madness to come, it’s time to head on up to the Black and White bar for another set that’s guaranteed to be unmissable.
Looks like I’m not the only person to have this opinion because the top room is absolutely bursting with people and energy. If you can fight your way through to the DJ box you’ll see why, but even if you can’t the unmistakably bouncy vibes will leave little doubt that it can only be Tara Reynolds on the decks. The place is burning up, both figuratively and literally as the air-conditioning struggles to cope with a full-capacity calorie-crunching crowd. The sound system, as ever, is as sharp as a cut diamond – and it needs to be to do theses tunes justice. The Guyver mix of the truly excellent new Stimulant DJs track Mind Control, Shokk’s trippy Isn’t It All A Little Strange, Tara’s electrifying collaboration with Steve Blake, Ignite, and the storming Hallucination all get the thumbs, hands, glowsticks and corners-of-the-mouth up from everyone in the room. Don’t think I’d be all that wrong if I said all stompers in attendance rated it as another certified first class set
Back in the main room Eddie Haliwell’s steaming his way through the last few savage tracks of his set (Tidy Boys mix of Bits & Pieces as an example of the beats that were bulldozing their way through our brains). When it’s time for him to bow out you can hardly hear the music for the screams, cheers and whistles… it’s been a set sent from Hard House heaven and, as everyone knows, it’s brought company…
Though the music might be divine there’s no rest for the wicked and the much-anticipated upcoming set promises to bring out the devil in all of us. At 3.30 BK takes control of the decks to give us 75 unbroken minutes of classic tunes and when the classics in question are his own you know you’re in for one hell of a ride. Now here comes the part that all you who missed out on this night might want to miss, especially if you’re suffering from those post-Christmas blues. When it comes to reviewing a set I usually pick out a couple of tunes that the crowd went particularly nuts to but considering this set was pretty much one big beautiful highlight here’s the set list in full (with audience reactions )
Do It Like That - Crowd goes completely mental
Injected With A Poison - Crowd goes completely mental
Music Is Movin - Crowd goes completely mental
Khemical Imbalance - Crowd goes completely mental
Iguana - Crowd goes completely mental
The Beginning - Crowd goes completely mental
Let The Rhythm Move You - Crowd goes completely mental
Access - Crowd goes completely mental
Animal - Crowd goes completely mental
Bad Ass - Crowd goes completely mental
Flash - Crowd goes completely mental
So Wot - Crowd goes completely mental
Take Me Higher - Crowd goes completely mental
Black Is Black - Crowd goes for a quiet sit down and a nice cup of tea. Yeah, ok, they went absolutely 100% beserk.
Truth is it was an incredible set, pumping out such ferocious yet positive energy that even those of us who’d decided to give the traditional party aids the cold shoulder for the night were unreservedly losing it. For one hour and fifteen minutes Camden Palace’s main arena became nothing short of a 3 dimensional kaleidoscopic explosion of sound, colour, light and elation – just like the minds of everyone within it Even up on the top balcony, where we’d stayed so we could switch between BK and James Lawson’s sets (but, um, sort of didn’t, which is really crap considering James Lawson also puts on one hell of a show and I’m very sorry to have missed out on it  ) the atmosphere is so charged you can almost see the electricity crackling over everything and by the time 4.45 rolls around the air is practically humming with all the pent-up energy.
It’s nearing the end of the night and the end of the year, all body clocks are running hard on party time and the whole place is riding high on a tsunami of exhilaration. What we need now is a set of the most furious Hard Trance to channel all that euphoria and finish us off for good. Enter Phil Reynolds.
Serving up a full hour and a quarter-sized feast of tunes (and not the 15 minute taster advertised on the set list, thank God!) this is just the way to end what’s turned out to be a night to end all nights - and years The tempo constantly rides at a pace just below that of heart-attack inducing levels as the bliss factor cranks up to the top of the chart. Tunes like Society and the hardest mix of At Night get all the hands stretching for a piece of heaven but it’s the track Such A Good Feeling that really sums up the thrill of emotions streaming through over 3000 people on a night where the difference between heaven and earth is just a case of whether you’re standing inside or outside the walls of Camden Palace Take a look around you and you can see the room is bathed in the most divine light; all thanks to the truly gorgeous lasers that have entertained and entranced everyone all night with the most beautiful patterns of raindrops, waves and triangles – not to mention the funky dancing dude! A big thank you is definitely due to Pete for once again sending us all on a first-class journey through dreamland.
By the time 6am tumbles into view and the lights come up on the final encore we’re all utterly exhausted; mentally, physically and emotionally. But with the memories of tonight’s music still resonating inside us there’s no fear of leaving on a downer, cause thanks to an evening that’s sure to become legendary, each and every clubber wanders out into the darkness before dawn radiant with the starlight of sheer bliss.
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Other Features By bunny:
It's about music - interview with Alex Parsons
Monkey business as usual: interview with Shaf De Bass
Twistathon – Twist’s 12 Hour 1st Birthday Bonanza
Zoology's 2nd Birthday - Review!
becomeone: Unified in Sound - Review
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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Comments:
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From: FranticRaver on 7th Jan 2003 18:42.53
Amen sister! it was bangin!
From: Kermy on 10th Jan 2003 14:09.17
I didnt really have any intenions of going out just b4 NY, in the aid of saving up my serotinine levels, but upon leaving Camden, managed to buzz all the way into New Years Eve...
With extras...
What A Fucking Night!
From: Camden Nurse on 10th Jan 2003 17:15.52
It def. put me in the mood for what else was to come...Top night!
From: Absolutely Fabulous on 14th Jan 2003 14:22.09
Sweetie, your reviews have ascended to another level - WICKED review of BK's set....hehehehe.... if life's just one big celebration then his set was definitely the time when somebody came round and filled my glass up!! CHEERS!
From: Lashed-Up on 14th Jan 2003 19:57.14
Hey Bunny, what a great review just soo pissed of that I missed it. C u soon!!!
stu x
From: littlemissgenki on 16th Jan 2003 13:58.09
a superb review of a fantastic night Bunny!
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