Drum 'n' bass for your face

A meetup with the Midlands massive this time, most notably Richard (Reg) from the oldskool list and 'Battered' Karen (don't ask!).

First up was the Gallery, where GLEN ASTON and NEXUS played a back to back set of old house/rave classics. Unfortunately the England-Germany clash of earlier in the day hadn't been as successful as before, so we put the football behind us and made our way to the Que Club, where a decenct queue had already formed.

But like the football, this was very definitely a game of two halves. PILGRIM started things rolling, with a quality set of early 90s classics, just like it should be for the first set. You can always rely on Mr P - why he isn't better known I don't know.

Then on to MISTRESS MO, and another eclectic set to get things rocking. There is no doubt that the Mo has improved in tune selection since 1998, and all that was missing this time was her trademark Cleptomaniacs 12" which she often pulls out to wow the crowds with. Wicked.

SEDUCTION came next, out of self-imposed oldskool retirement and a firing set of 92-style oldskool to keep things moving. If he only plays once a year, this is the kind of thing that keeps me interested in the oldskool scene - quality tune selection and tight mixing.

Things got a bit weird from here. TANGO and RATTY performed their PA, but for some reason (as listed admittedly) it was all remixes, which created a slightly weird atmosphere. Good tunes though.

Finally to the last sets of the night. Grooverider had been called away on international duty, so up stepped KENNY KEN to fill his shoes. Now fair enough this is only opinion here, but it didn't seem to me like I was the only one bored with a set full of 94 proto-drum 'n' bass. There's only so many time you can hear "Terrorist" or "Spiritual Aura" before it gets boring, and you could see the crowd wasn't really moving like it was earlier.

Unfortunately ELLIS DEE did pretty much the same as a final set as well, though he did do a mini "history of oldskool from Awesome 3 to more 94 style platters. So when it ended at 6am, you could see quite a few people were disappointed someone like Seduction hadn't played last.

So all in all, not the best, peaking too early with Seduction's set, but not enough to dissuade me from saying that Flashback remains *the* quality oldskool event outside London.