UK Dance Weekender - 9/11/03
Review by ricksta
Gallery available here

The weekend started off the moment we left London down the M20 heading to our destination in East Sussex with some nice chilled tracks on the stereo to get us in the mood. 2 hours later we arrive at Pontins 'Camber sands', home of the UK Dance Weekender.

As usual we were eager to get on the dance floor the moment we pulled up but first things first was to get our chalet keys and get ourselves ready for a night of dancing. The queue, as always, was enormous, mind with 2000 clubbers turning up the same time its not surprising! We got our keys and wristbands after a few problems and headed off to find our chalet. It proved a task but finding it is always part of the fun at these weekenders!

Our chalet was pretty basic, 1 bedroom with twin beds and standard amenity’s, mind there was an added bonus of a porn channel, cant fault anyone for that! We unpacked, making ourselves at home before quickly ventured out to the on site shop for essential clubbing fuel, Pot noodles/crisps and more alcohol than a world class beer drinking champion could manage in a weekend that’s for sure! A quick bite to eat left little time for getting ready for the night ahead, but with sheer determination we were ready and out the door before the huge rush was expected on the evenings entertainment.

The short walk to the main centre was cold without coats, winter is well and truly here I'm afraid, still, with the promise of much dancing ahead it was safe to say we’d be warm in no time at all. Inside there is an arcade centre, another shop and a cash machine and help desks. The arcades were hit immediately for some pre clubbing fun! After just two games on the various machines the urge to dance took over and I found myself quick stepping towards the drum and base arena eager to sample the darker side of dance music. Back in the day I used to love the dark and moody sounds of Drum and base, however these days it just feels that little to quick paced for me, that and the majority of them being youngsters makes me feel old and wrinkly!

The upstairs main trance hall was reasonably quiet, mind at 10pm this was expected considering the arena is right on your doorstep. The bar situated in the corner of the hall is large and doesn't get too busy throughout the night which is always hand. The bar staff being were friendly and on the ball with minimal waiting time for drinks and smiles through out. Over to the floor we went, and the sounds were very much pumping. My guess this was Andy Manston and I was correct, John Askew was meant to be joining him however we had a no show from the man, which was pretty upsetting as his work of late has been really impressive. Still his replacement Darren Christian was more than adequate and did the job just as well. The dance floor gradually began to fill as Darren Stones played his unique style of trance. I've always been a fan of this guy, uplifting anthems such as Mike Robbins - 'Are you a freak' and Armin's mix of 'As the rush comes' really shone out, truly a highpoint of the weekend.

With Sonique’s appearance came a few entertainers including men on stilts and one of those fire eaters. Bless, he didn't do so well. He tried his hardest to set himself alight then the security soon doused the stage with the fire extinguisher! Haha, funny as! Sonique as usual, was full of energy! Rolling out tune after tune and singing along with as many hits as she could! Her mixing was superb and vocals on for, the girl was really going for it! Big tracks of hers were Azures ‘Sunset' and that 'Ibiza studio' jobby, both of which went down a storm!

By now the dance floor was packed from wall to wall. The crowd certainly appreciated Sonique’s appearance and with Tall Paul following my guess was they could only liven up! I've always been a fan of Paul, his track selection portrays the style of trance I prefer and his mixing is always solid. Tonight was no different, big name tracks and perfect mixing, he made my night!

Unfortunately I was far too tired and drunk to stay for Lisa Pin-ups set so gave it a miss and opted back to my chalet for bed! It wasn’t until after I was tucked away in my bed I realised just how bad my ears were ringing! Ringing you say? No wait, it was the neighbours surrounding us! Everywhere the chalets were all holding mini after parties with music volumes to match the arenas! Still, I must have been tired as when I woke up it was around 12, result!

For the next couple of hours myself and the girlfriend chilled in our chalet eating the odd snack whilst playing cards. It was mid afternoon before we ventured to the main site to see what was going off. A few die hards were still giving it some to the various music playing around the venue, they must of felt it come Monday!

Back to the chalet we ate and got ready for the evenings antics yet again. I felt slightly under dressed when out and about, many clubbers had made a large effort to don the fancy dress for the night, including one woman dressed in a Charleston outfit and another as a sugarplum fairy.

We missed the first two Dj’s (Ewan Richardson and Charlie C) when we arrived at the main hall and only caught half of Tomislav's set, shame that, sounded impressive. Dave Reeves got our night underway whilst we chilled at the bar with free drinks courtesy of the table next to us (cheers lads!)

Matt Cassar was next to grace the decks, at this point we felt the urge to get up on the dance floor. Cant say that I knew a lot of the tunes he was playing but the crowd were certainly going for it and the atmosphere was certainly a highlight of the weekend.

Next up was Radio 1’s dangerous Dave Pearce who filled the dance floor quicker than my pint was emptying! Dave is well known for playing the big anthems and that’s exactly what he did. Opening with Azures - Sunset followed with other instant classics such as Motorcycles 'As the rush comes', 'Ibiza Studio', Harry Diamond vs. The lost boys and my current favourite, Tomcraft's Brainwashed (Dj Choose remix), dam that is seriously rocking!

The stage show was highly entertaining during Dave’s set. 'One Love' (a Dutch dance act) were prancing around in front of him and fake wrestling, much to the delight of every male in the room. One bloke handed a dancer a small Homer Simpson doll with glow stick’s who continued to dance around on stage showing it off, he wouldn’t let go of it there after, truly in love with his 8 inch dummy. Haha!

Paul Johnson (Graham Gold’s twin brother if you ask me) took over from Dave with Julesey turning up late. He followed the trend of stormers with Mike Robbins 'Are you a freak', a huge highlight of the event. Playing on a hard trance tip his mixing was superb, absolutely flawless.

We moved to the edge of the dance floor towards the end of Paul’s set to take a quick breather, I was playing with my bottle taking everything in when this guy pushed past me. He stopped to apologise and it wasn’t till he walked off my girlfriend informed me it was none other than Judge Jules himself! My claim to fame!

Jules played a nice set. I wouldn't go so far as to say he was outstanding because many of the tracks he played I’d heard before during the weekend. He also played ‘Ibiza Studio’ twice during his set, a little overkill really, shame that! However, as always he kept the crowd bouncing along nicely till his set finished at 2am.

Anne Savage followed and propping up the bar became my duty once again. It was hard work keeping up with the now harder style of trance and come 4.30 I found myself lusting over my bed again!

I managed to wake up in time to catch the Rugby Quarter Finals, England beating the Welsh in a tense one and once again we relaxed for a fair amount of the day. The nights entertainment finished at 11pm tonight so we got ready earlier and hit the venue for 7pm making sure to soak in the last night of madness and leave with a grin from ear to ear.

There was only one arena tonight, Drum and Bass headlining whilst us Trance heads were moved to a small pub to the side. The main arena was intense. We attempted to hang around for a while so as to ‘expand our horizons’ so to speak but it was just to fast and heavy for me. My drum and base days are well and truly over so I headed over to the pub for something a little less fierce and more euphoric.

Charlie C took to the decks and the floor was filled with clubbers alike eager to lap up the last of the trance for the weekend. Charlie hammered out some classics the crowd lapped up. Scott Mac's 'Dammager 02', 4 Strings 'Into the Night' and countless more anthems kept us entertained before we caught Slipmatt in the main arena playing and oldskool classic hardcore set, much to the delight of everyone. We left the venue at about 10.30 and headed off to the chalet’s for some hardcore porn, a fantastic luxury if I do say so myself!

We left before 11 the next morning but not before saying good bye to our neighbours who’d borrowed our kettle lead on more than one occasion. Handing our keys in we drove off both exhausted but happy in the knowledge Novembers weekender had been the best to date. The atmosphere was electric through out the three nights of partying, the management had done a good job of making everyone feel welcome and the Dj’s all performed up to the high standards we’d expect.

All in all a weekend well spent. If you were unlucky enough to of been down there no worries, they’ll be more south coast madness next year and you can guarantee I’ll be there first banging on the doors to let me in.