- Joined
- Nov 29, 2001
Renegade Hardware Vs Valve - 28-06-2003
After weeks of anticipation, the biggest event of this year so far in the drum & bass calendar was finally upon us. Once again it was time for the dnbforum crew to make the mission down the A3 towards London. On this occasion we were heading to the newly refurbished Coronet in Elephant & Castle for the truly gargantuan Renegade Hardware Vs. Valve Sound System event – not for the faint-hearted….believe me!!
After 4 or 5 passes of the massive queues gathered outside the venue, we finally found a parking space to dump the motor and we were ready to rock and roll. Unfortunately for us (and this review), it took us over an hour to get in due to some odd entrance arrangements where the guestlist, e-ticket and cash only queues all merged into one and nobody seemed to know if they were in the right place or not, but once inside it was time to party!
Once we were in, we headed straight for the drum & bass room, which looked very impressive indeed. The layout of the venue was excellent - the bar was straight ahead, with stairs either side leading down into the dancefloor. Looking below you could see that the heaving crowd were well up for making the most of this event, which was already starting to feel like the best night put on this year. The visuals were superb, with three huge video screens playing shots of the DJ in between some off key loops of film, creating a concert like vibe. The complex laser show was the other main attention grabber, with projections of DJ names and the infamous Hardware logo illuminating the room. The stage was brightly lit to emphasise the presence of the DJ’s and MC’s, which set the rave off nicely. It looked and sounded to me like the entire Valve Sound System was in effect, as there were a number of heavy looking, towering speaker stacks around the perimeter of the arena, and also a strategically placed stack on each staircase leading down onto the dancefloor – there was no escape from the acoustic devastation which the Valve system was causing. A definite earplug moment!!
As we took refuge at the top of the stairs overlooking the swarming dancefloor, the haunting choir and deep sub bass intro of ‘Signal’ was creating havoc to all below, played by Metalheadz don, Goldie. Militia’s ‘Music For The Masses’ was brought into the mix and the whole place went crazy. I’d never seen Goldie before and didn’t really know what to expect, but after 5 minutes I was more than convinced of his highly praised skills. In the mix now was Generation Dub’s bass heavy rework of the Total Science classic ‘Champion Sound’, a tune that has been getting cained by all the top DJ’s. Current Metalheadz anthem in the form of Danny C’s ‘Star’ was played with it’s soulfully sung intro, luring you into a false sense of security, before crashing into its monster drop. It was a shame we only caught the last 20 minutes of Goldie’s set, but what I heard was awesome.
Up next were Hardware’s very own Loxy & Ink, instantly setting the mood with techy new BC cut, ‘Bullet Time’, which sounded ultra heavy over Valve. Pendulum’s massive ‘Vault’ emerged with its melodic breakdown and huge drumroll building up to the heavyweight drop and funky triplet edit which sent the dancefloor into a frenzy. Hive’s Matrix sampled ‘Neo’ was also spun, unleashing its dirty reece and militant drums into the soundscape. The Dillinja remix of their own ‘Instinct’ was dropped with some force, making the sound system work even harder.
Danny C’s amen tearout ‘Strength’ was played, keeping the vibe deep and dark. As always, Loxy & Ink played an impressive set with enough attitude and variety to keep the dancefloor pumping.
After weeks of anticipation, the biggest event of this year so far in the drum & bass calendar was finally upon us. Once again it was time for the dnbforum crew to make the mission down the A3 towards London. On this occasion we were heading to the newly refurbished Coronet in Elephant & Castle for the truly gargantuan Renegade Hardware Vs. Valve Sound System event – not for the faint-hearted….believe me!!
After 4 or 5 passes of the massive queues gathered outside the venue, we finally found a parking space to dump the motor and we were ready to rock and roll. Unfortunately for us (and this review), it took us over an hour to get in due to some odd entrance arrangements where the guestlist, e-ticket and cash only queues all merged into one and nobody seemed to know if they were in the right place or not, but once inside it was time to party!
Once we were in, we headed straight for the drum & bass room, which looked very impressive indeed. The layout of the venue was excellent - the bar was straight ahead, with stairs either side leading down into the dancefloor. Looking below you could see that the heaving crowd were well up for making the most of this event, which was already starting to feel like the best night put on this year. The visuals were superb, with three huge video screens playing shots of the DJ in between some off key loops of film, creating a concert like vibe. The complex laser show was the other main attention grabber, with projections of DJ names and the infamous Hardware logo illuminating the room. The stage was brightly lit to emphasise the presence of the DJ’s and MC’s, which set the rave off nicely. It looked and sounded to me like the entire Valve Sound System was in effect, as there were a number of heavy looking, towering speaker stacks around the perimeter of the arena, and also a strategically placed stack on each staircase leading down onto the dancefloor – there was no escape from the acoustic devastation which the Valve system was causing. A definite earplug moment!!
As we took refuge at the top of the stairs overlooking the swarming dancefloor, the haunting choir and deep sub bass intro of ‘Signal’ was creating havoc to all below, played by Metalheadz don, Goldie. Militia’s ‘Music For The Masses’ was brought into the mix and the whole place went crazy. I’d never seen Goldie before and didn’t really know what to expect, but after 5 minutes I was more than convinced of his highly praised skills. In the mix now was Generation Dub’s bass heavy rework of the Total Science classic ‘Champion Sound’, a tune that has been getting cained by all the top DJ’s. Current Metalheadz anthem in the form of Danny C’s ‘Star’ was played with it’s soulfully sung intro, luring you into a false sense of security, before crashing into its monster drop. It was a shame we only caught the last 20 minutes of Goldie’s set, but what I heard was awesome.
Up next were Hardware’s very own Loxy & Ink, instantly setting the mood with techy new BC cut, ‘Bullet Time’, which sounded ultra heavy over Valve. Pendulum’s massive ‘Vault’ emerged with its melodic breakdown and huge drumroll building up to the heavyweight drop and funky triplet edit which sent the dancefloor into a frenzy. Hive’s Matrix sampled ‘Neo’ was also spun, unleashing its dirty reece and militant drums into the soundscape. The Dillinja remix of their own ‘Instinct’ was dropped with some force, making the sound system work even harder.
Danny C’s amen tearout ‘Strength’ was played, keeping the vibe deep and dark. As always, Loxy & Ink played an impressive set with enough attitude and variety to keep the dancefloor pumping.