Blinding set from the Mo sets the scene

Finally! After months of illness, dodgy electrics and other reasons, I managed to get to Flashback which is arguably the best event in the Midlands and the surrounding area... period.

This was the first 'proper' oldskool list meet-up, with bods coming from north, south and east to the West Midlands event that's sure to pack a punch every time. Shout outs to Matt C and Matt B (fellow oldskool website owners), with other listers in Ian S, Neil B and Rich W providing extra ammunition, and backup from Alan, Steve, Jamie and Phil.

First up on the night was the much-maligned FOOD JUNKY (crap name, mate). I'd read earlier on that this guy should never have been booked to do any event ever, but they were wrong. Some nice anthems to get the party pumpin' and the scene was nicely set. Some of the mixes were, as Neil rightly said, "railroaded", but a lot were spot on, and when "Don't Go" was dropped for the first time that night, the dancefloor exploded.

Next on was the ever-ready SEDUCTION, always there to bring home the bacon. As per usual, this was a solid set, with nothing too outstanding too mention, but as with his 'back in the day' cohort Slipmatt, you can always rely on this guy. Two DJs, two good sets. Things were rolling...

The one enduring misfortune of Flashback is to book DJs whom the crowd doesn't want. So when I found out that RATTY had been booked again to play the Que Club I honestly couldn't believe it. Twice I had seen the man at Flashback events in the past, and twice I had been bored shitless by his nauseating blend of crap, crap and crap. And guess what? He didn't let us down this time either. Slow, dark, pointless - why bother mixing anything over the top of "Dominator" when so many love it as an anthem in itself? - it was another meaningless exercise in reputation coming before talent. Thank goodness that the next DJ had improved so markedly since 10 months earlier when I'd first seen her.

MISTRESS MO - we salute you. At the second Flashback I'd ever attended the choice of tunes was good, but the mixing and vibe just wasn't there. This time round, there was such a noticeable improvement that for a set containing so many non-anthems it was a real screamer, not least when she (and why aren't there more female oldskool DJs?) dropped the double Fokus whammy of "The Horn Track" and "Positive Feedback". The real deal, and make no mistake about it, the fact that Mo could play after people like Seduction and sound miles better spoke volumes for her tune selection and mixing skills. With her having branched out into house, techno and all sorts of other musical genres, it's only because she spreads her net that wide that she hasn't gained the acclaim she deserves in the oldskool field. Brilliant stuff.

Penultimate act, and MICKY FINN did his usual job of laying down oldskool jungle tunes. Now, this might be good for some, but as Flashback's ethos is to provide quality oldskool hardcore from 1989-93 for its punters, and with the introduction of the oldskool drum'n'bass room several events ago, there was no call for El Finn to drop stuff like "The Burial" - not hardcore and not released until 1994. Sorry to be a pedant here, but as good as Smokey Joe et al might be, tracks like these are not the kind of stuff I look for at Flashback. Maybe next time...maybe next time.

There was only one way to finish the night off in style, and that was with the oldskool master SY. As if to mirror Food Junky's opening salvo, this was another double top anthemic outing, with some curiosities thrown in for good measure - well, have you ever heard "Lion Awakes" in a wrap-up anthem set before. Needless to say, this was a great end to a great night out!

Shout outs also to the DJs who I didn't see 'cos they were in other non-hardcore rooms (PILGREM, GERSHWIN and PRO-SESSION in the d'n'b room, KRASH SLAUGHTA and SUBSTANCE laying down funky beats 'n' breaks). Also a mention for the MCs, including MAN PARRIS who reckoned oldskool should be renamed "raveskool". Yeah, right! :-)