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Features
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Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | NEM3SI$ - 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 |
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IllumiNaughty 3rd Birthday: The Experiment - Reviewed
Reported by Just Badger!
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Submitted 01-04-09 16:13
As psy trance continues to extend its reach from the underground and out into mainstream clubbing, one party up in Manchester has been quietly creating a storm. Not content, like other promotions, to “just let the music do that talking,” IllumiNaughty regularly pulls out all the stops to give clubbers an experience rather than just a club night. With their third birthday celebrations coming up, HarderFaster sent intrepid reporter Just Badger up to help blow out the candles.
So I’m plotting around when get a phone call, "Badger,” the voice on the other end says, “Do you fancy doing a review on IllumiNaughty's 3rd birthday bash for us?" It takes me all of about three seconds to agree and with that the excitement began to bubble. I’d heard of these parties but not yet experienced their carnival experience and so after doing a little research and to'ing and fro'ing with emails to the lovely Aphrodite, arrangements were made and the scene was set for one hell of a night!
For those that haven’t been to or heard of IllumiNaughty I shall begin at the start. Their story is becoming something of a saga with the romantic gist of a multicultural family trying to create the dazzling dreams of the festival they intend growing in to. The Naughty crew started throwing full on parties three years ago with the final dream of putting on a festival with each show encompassing a more diverse combination of artists, music and performers with mind blowing decor and production. Their parties known as "Chapters" are aimed to make IllumiNaughty stand out from the rest in the psy scene and the tough business of promotions and parties.
The chapters and the crew have come along way in the time they have been around with a enthusiastic loyal following growing with each event, now seeing between 800-1000 up for it party goers on a regular basis. The Chapters started as smaller events with massive ideas but the hard work and results are clearly visible with each parties becoming more of a multimedia circus of lights, music and awesome outlandish artistry threaded through the festivities. From the DJs and live performances to stilt walkers, jugglers, unicyclists, dancers and magicians amongst other acts, the carnival atmosphere is brought to the party and it’s this which is clearly appreciated by crowd from the very beginning to the very end (surely making all the hard work worth while)!
Hearing that they had an exclusive first on the night, I thought I’d better check the live appearance by none other than the Krome Angels. These leading pioneers of the psy scene, made up of three of the biggest artists on the international psy circuit, are more used to playing the big festivals around the world and I looked forward to what they where going to bring to the Ritz Ballroom in Manchester.
Frederic Holyszewski "aka Dado" comes from a very musical background and is a classically trained pianist. By the time he was 25 years old he started producing music under the name Transwave. These days his solo project is called Deedrah, known for well over 10 years in the psy scene. Shanti Matkin is nowadays considered one of the leading artists of the trance scene. His career started very early, at the age of 13 he was playing his first party in a club in Amsterdam; the year after he was already on the line up of the Voov Festival - one of the biggest and most renowned trance festivals in the world. The last of the trio is Brighton born Dino Psaras. It was the 1988 underground acid house party scene that kick started fifteen year-old Dino into DJing. Then, with an eclectic set of drum ‘n bass, Detroit and Belgian techno and acid house music, he further satiated his passion for playing to dance hungry crowds in Brighton, Bournemouth, London and Bristol, alongside Sasha and Digweed and now after his massive journey he found the psychedelic essence and teamed up with his fellow comrades. They were sure to give the IllumiNaughty massive a mind blowing experience with their combined collection of mixed genres and ideas including techno, trance and breaks with a healthy dose of psy.
On arrival I was met by Heather, one of the crew, and taken on a tour of the venue. A main room venue with surrounding balcony, the Ritz Ballroom has a 1200 person capacity. Led up the stairs towards the balcony I was amazed at the quality of the decor but I had not seen the best part yet. Not knowing what to expect in the main room I was blown away by the decorations and again the effort that had gone in to transforming this empty ballroom venue in to a psychedelic cavern of colour. Every wall had decor of some kind all made by the Naughty Tribe whether it be handmade drapes and UV painted art to cammo netting, or giant colour changing hanging spikey inflatable’s or pipe work or a pair of inflated spheres with everchanging imagery that was supplied by Monkey Puzzle Design. Wherever you looked, the place looked the nuts!
Shanti and Deedrah were playing a back to back DJ set when I arrived, working the crowd up for the highlight that was yet to come, accompanied by the Dreads and Hoops girls spinning their UV hoopla all around. I headed up to the booth to see what these guys were about. With slick mixing and effects being thrown in left right and centre there’s no wonder these guys are highly regarded in the scene and so to the sound of their nice driving beats I went down the front to check out the "intro". A procession of flag bearers and white hooded and masked drummers with hooded guitar players were up on the stage. With a blast on the pyro cannons, cascades of sparks and fountains of light lit up across the front of the stage while the precession began to weave its way through the crowd and mingle with the amazed party people.
While the intro was going on the eagerly awaited Krome Angels were setting up. The crowd, some with there own masks on, looked more and more excited and ready to have their psychedelic socks blown off; a whole new meaning to Ballroom Blitz! As the curtains once again revealed the stage three Krome Angels stood at the booth in front of the live equipment with their trade mark hoodies and chrome masks ready to energize the already electric dance floor and, not surprisingly, that’s they did. With firework displays going off throughout their great set, it was clear to see why this triumphant trio are so highly regarded - their hour passed by almost too quickly as their smooth flow meandered between genres. Techno electro, trance and breakbeat all mingled together connected together by a naughty ‘psyfusion’. Not once did these guys let up, while the crowd were flowing and getting their groove on to (in my opinion) the best set of the night!
Next up was an impressive young guy dressed in an all in one spangly gold suit which left nothing to the imagination. He performed on the stage with a crystal ball whilst the booth was being set back up for a DJ set from Dejavoo. Usually an outdoor performer, Midas was doing well wowing the crowd to the music with his skill. He told me afterwards he normally has more room to do things and a little more light which helps him as he is literally covered from head to ankle in his suit!
Back to the stage and Dejavoo were ready, formed of two halves they are Kristian and Francesco. Very big in the London scene these guys have been around the world, they’ve played in castles, at festivals, you name they have probably done it and following on from the amazing Angels these guys kept the flag flying and notched things up another gear! Known for their full on fast deep dark psy sound the duo ripped up the floor and pounded the Illuminaughty ravers with their remixes and own filth material. With the debut album getting highly praised on the download sites, they were set to cause a storm in Manchester. A fast techno groove layered with endless samples and effects blew the crowd away and kept them going for the next hour.
I took some time to wander around and chat to the IllumiNaughty crew and performers that had wowed the crowed through out the night. Devotion and love for the party oozed from all of the talented guys and girls I spoke to, along with the pride they have being a part of a tribe pushing things forward to reach that festival level! The festi vibe was definitely there for sure with people painting faces and bodies with UV patterns and artwork, while stalls around the venue offered an array of UV merchandise from glow sticks to flashing ducks – lots and lots for the ravers to ponder over and buy. Other stalls offered t-shirts and other clothes and hand made pendants from precious stones which were equally impressive.
Closing the party was Dino Psaras with a full on psy finish. The crowd - still up for it right till the end – showed their full appreciation not only to Dino for doing an awesome job of closing the nights festivities but also to the hard work and effort put in to this event by the IllumiNaughty crew. Regrouping, the crowd slowly thinned out as they made their way to Part Two - the after party. This was held at the smaller more intimate venue of Manchester’s Alter Ego.
On arrival we had beaten the crowd but the stalls that had been up in the main venue had relocated and the vibe was being brought back in full by the masses as they arrived. Within a short while the venue was rammed with the same electric vibe that was present all night as the party continued across two rooms, full on psy in one room and tech and electro in the other. The party was in full swing when I left and no doubt did not slow down until 10am when it was due to finish.
These guys really know how to put on an awesome party and on my recommendation if you hear of an IllumiNaughty event going on near by then go and get naughty as you wont regret it!
For more info on Illuminaughty and the artists hit the links below:
www.illuminaughty.eu
www.myspace.com/kromeangels
www.myspace.com/shantimatkin
www.deedrah.com
www.myspace.com/dinopsarasmusic
www.myspace.com/dejavoo303
www.dreadsnhoops.com/
Thanks again to Aprodite and Heather and all the rest of the crew that one night to remember!
Photos courtesy of the HarderFaster archive. Not to be reproduced without permission. Share this :: : : :
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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: Miles Gorfy on 3rd Apr 2009 21:46.50 Nice work Badg
From: Dj Kristian on 5th Apr 2009 11:56.11 Yes that was fun
From: Just Badger! on 20th Apr 2009 21:45.40 Yeah was an awesome night, really enjoyed ur set to Kristian pm for ya.
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