World Dance
31st December 1995,
Docklands Arena
The last of the Christmas turkey had been
subjected to every possible edible fate known to
man, all around the world people were drifting
slowly back down to earth with no more to their
credit than a few more pairs of socks and the
odd woolly mitten.
The weather, seemingly as out of its face as the
rest of us, decided for no apparent reason to
wait until Boxing Day before snowing, it was
looking like there really was no magic left in
Christmas…
However, meanwhile back in the city, Docklands
to be precise, the London Arena was preparing
for the coming of the New Year – we were
celebrating in style at the formidable World
Dance. From the outset of New Year’s Eve rave
flyers being distributed, we all knew there was
only one place to be… so exhausting my student
overdraft account I purchased my ticket and kept
it extremely safe… gold dust isn’t worth as
much!
First things first, having reached the venue we
had to find somewhere to park – ‘mission
impossible’, we ended up in some dodgy NCP car
park where we were told, albeit politely, that
the tax for an overnight stay was £6, we paid
but weren’t happy.
After a fifteen minute walk, our predictions on
the scandalous length of the queue were answered
with a relatively fast moving, well behaved
legion of ravers. The two mounted police
officers who’s horses seemed well capable of
doing damage made sure none but a few jumped in.
After a thorough search from the tight but
polite crew, we were in!
After one look at the queue for the cloakroom we
decided to buy some water, get settled in and
sort out our coats later. At the well catered
bar we found water priced at a pound, the catch?
We got no lids with the bottles. When I asked
who came up with this Noble Peace Prize winning
strategy the response was:
“Sorry mate, licensing”.
“Why?” we asked.
“Licensing”, we were told again, in no uncertain
terms.
“Fair enough mate, keep your burger in your
bun!”
We decided that someone obviously wanted to turn
the dance floor into an Olympic size swimming
pool and ensure that after one sip from your
bottle of water you’d have to buy a new one
because without a doubt, somebody would kick it
over if you put in on the floor, or somehow, I’m
still not sure how, the water would find it’s
way out of the bottle while you were dancing…
lack of lid maybe? At first I didn’t know
whether to dance or kick off with some
synchronised swimming!
Having said this is was one of the only real
gripes, the venue looked the proverbial ‘dogs
danglies’ equipped with a “We mean Business”
stage, complete with TV screens and four serious
sound stacks, top marks to the World Dance crew
for production as usual. The sound system was
one of the loudest I have heard in a long time,
but not loud enough to damage my eardrums –
World Dance do know the score! Remember the
World Dance Organisation is committed to
producing only the very best warehouse parties…
On the DJ front, Mickey Finn, the master of
midnight ceremonies exploded onto the stage with
WD’s now legendary fireworks display. Gold foil
exploded from the ceiling raining down on top of
our heads, not quite a white Christmas – but WD
do it with a certain touch of class. The
Finnster rinsed it absolutely clean as usual, as
did Fabio and Hype. The undisputed King of
scratching had obviously spend Christmas
practicing new ticks, because it wasn’t just a
set from Hype it was a lesson in how to be
unique. Nice one Hype!
My personal favourite of the night was Mr Ellis
Dee whose firm hands wove an intricate web of
rolling drum and bass, a wicked set! The special
guest was Darren Jay who played a good set too,
and his last tune was militant.
I did venture into Arena 2 where the vibe was
kicking, smiles all round. Uplifting, hard,
trancy, and handbag were all the various styles
of House music to be found in here. Notably good
sets from the renowned Tony de Vit, who’s mixing
was spot on every time. I believe this was de
Vit’s second visit to World Dance, from the
reaction the crowd were giving I shouldn’t think
it will be his last.
Very good sets from Tall Paul and Luvdup who
kept the crowd pumpin’ throughout the night. The
House arena was a strange mixture of ‘househeads
and housettes’ with the ravers joining when they
didn’t like a set in the main arena. At one
point in the proceedings all I could see was a
concoction of yellow jackets, Ralph Lauren
shirts, Versace sunglasses and short ‘housey,
housey’ skirts, an atmosphere only acceptable at
World Dance – unity!
Slipmatt, who’s mixing and selection are
normally exceptional played half a set of happy
hardcore, which seemed unusually, for New Year’s
Eve, to clear the floor but he regained his
composure and flung it down classic jungle style
which kick started the vibe again. Good happy
set by Vibes who dropped a tearin’ old skool set
dropping all the old classics which went down
extremely well with the mainly Jungle crowd. A
good happy set also from the DJ Vinylgroover,
now with his feet firmly placed on World Dances
doorstep.
MC’s on the night were GQ and Fearless and as is
now their tradition were absolutely slammin’ on
the mic. The dancers were well up to standard as
well.
All in all, once again an impressive,
professional World Dance showcase with a New
Year’s Eve vibe to match, perhaps there is some
magic left in Christmas after all!
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