Aye, the lack of beer boys was always a bonus at Insomz (and most other HH clubs). I ended up at a house party somewhere to the west of Shuff after Insomz once upon a time and apparently for some reason (must have been something I ate) I spent about 2 hours dancing in a corner 'stuck' behind a coffee table I couldn't work out how to get out from behind. Damn glass table, had some sort of dust on it too……

ah i had friends get 'stuck' under tables at bugged out for similar reasons. never fancied getting stuck in a hole myself so left them too it.

Oh I wasn't in a hole, I never got that bad. Deluded – What London clubs did you go to? Clockwork Orange, Peach, Malibu Stacey, Gas Club?

sootyandjim,

Ministry, The Cross, Hanover Grand, a venue on Clapham High Street and another dive in Shoreditch that I can't remember.

Zero Gravity, Institute of Goa & Nuclear Free Zone.

Happy days 😀

Institute of Goa

I went to their New Years Eve party in some ropey squat in Dalston in about 1992 or 1993. Great party, but WORST TOILETS EVER.

I went to Karanga a few times when I lived in Bath in the late 90s… "dingy" is a great description but I still liked it! then I moved to Cambridge so More Tea Vicar, dvnc and Mr. Whippy (best night *ever*) were my regular fix.

I always thought of TdV as starting in harder house, but then actually being responsible for the birth of hard house (such as that pioneered by Tidy Trax and Nukleuz around the turn of the millennium). Tidy's stuff had more trancy influences, while Nukleuz often seemed to draw inspiration from the European techno scene. but however you try to classify him, TdV is a legend and it will always be one of my greatest regrets that I never saw him play live.

Losing myself in Ishkur's Guide again. It's been a while!

furry_marmot- I was lucky enough to see TdV quite regularly as I used top go to trade a fair bit. I was also privileged to be there on a certain Easter Bank Holiday in 1995 for 12 hours of joy a'la TdV.

He really was an outstanding DJ and producer, as well as a really nice guy to boot by all accounts. Always seemed to have loads of time for the people that paid his wages, a lesson some more modern DJs could do with learning.

BTW f_m, do you have the Global Underground CDs he did (Live in Tel Aviv and Live in Tokyo)? If not I could sort something out for you.

sootyandjim – I've already got both GU albums but thank you for the offer, I appreciate it. Disc 2 from Tokyo is one of my favourite mixes of all time – never fails to put a smile on my face!

can anyone explain to me why despite NOT spending 8 hours on saturday night taking phet and most of sunday taking valium like i'm eating smarties, I feel somehow dirtied by being in close range of the event. 2 of us felt the same, kind of like we'd been there

…I know where you're at there. I had a similar experience when I gave up pills. I continued to hang out with my hard-house mash-up friends at their hard-house mash-up parties, but I was always completely and utterly sober.

Nevertheless, I used to have this odd kindof 'empathic experience' if you like. I felt like I was on drugs, even though I wasn't; simply because all around me were completely off their faces. It was experiences like this that made me realise the whole drug-taking thing was completely unncessary – and probably a bit of a waste of time. 😀

no_eyed_dear – I know exactly what you are saying. I rarely 'dabble' these days as I have responsibilities that I can't ignore for a weekend while I recover, but if I go to places such as 'Storm' and stay completely sober all night by the end I often feel very euphoric, as if I'd been on the pills.

Its very weird but quite enjoyable too, but whilst I can have a good time without taking drugs I wouldn't cast judgment on those who do. I've had some great times in the past and without going too much into it someone I was under the care of within the medical profession has said that my period of 'self-medication' is very likely the reason I'm still here today.

f_m – Think I'll get that CD out and have a listen, 'tis a very good one.

I went to their New Years Eve party in some ropey squat in Dalston in about 1992 or 1993

I remember one in Dalston around that time, not New Years Eve though. Think it may have been an old snooker hall?

They'd been painting and decorating all through the day to get the place ready.

All the plaster melted off the walls during the night, we came out looking as though we'd been wading through the stuff 😀

I did the sober thing once at the Que Club in Birmingham…waste of a good night!

q-club was ok sober, Atomic Jam was always a pretty chilled out night until you got to about 4am and the sweaty top off meat heads hit the front. Flashback was a bit of a waste sober though apart from seeing BabyD live the first time the missus and I ever went out clubbing properly (actually that may not have been a dry night, my memory fails me on that one)

House of God however was a pretty scary place without some form of chemical enhancement.

Ooo, I was in the Que Club earlier this year for a Sundissential get together.

I was quite surprised, they did a good job and it felt just like it used to 'in the good old days'. 😉

That was until Madders got behind the booth with the mic and started slagging off half of hard house's movers and shakers. Similar to drunk dialing, using the mic when under the influence, not good.

Sonique was surprisingly good though considering she'd been out of the scene for quite a while.

Oh, GU TdV – Live in Tokyo, currently on 'Marmion – Schonenburg (TdV Mix), very good.

House of God however was a pretty scary place without some form of chemical enhancement.

lol, i've been going to house of god for years and never thought of it as a scary place. the music certainly can be full on ( esp with paul damage on the decks 😀 ) but full of the friendliest people.

the riff in Schoneburg is hauntingly awesome. such an improvement over the original. you'll probably be at the best track in the album about now, I reckon – Accelerator (Nuclear Hyde).

have just got headphones out at work. there are some advantages to working in a lab and largely being one's own boss…

disco_stu – mrsmw shared a house with the guys that started H.O.G and was a regular in the mid 90's

don't see surgeon and surreal (sp) around much now but very much liked their 'British Murder Boys' project a few years ago.

Accelerator (Nuclear Hyde)

I'm sure I have that on vinyl somewhere, Noom records (?)

Any of you remember the 3rd Eye lot from Birmingham too?

They put an ace night on at the Que, the 3rd Eye Ball…lots of costume and living statues etc.

Loved HoG also, been a long while since I went there.

sadly i moved to Birmingham about the time that it's clubbing scene was dyeing a death, went to a fair few Jams and a night run by our friend Liza who ran Psyclone (the clubbing wear shop opposite the Que Club).

Also used to go to the Rizzla Suite at Wobble a bit and then Fuel at Bobby Browns and that place near 5ways until we moved away

hog is still going but the nights are not quite as intense as the old days at the dance factory, most of the people going are too old for that now – me included 😀
btw you may ( or may not ) be interested to know theres one on the 31st of this month at the hare n hounds, kings heath with residents Surgeon, Sir real, Paul Damage etc

i'm sure mrsmw would like to go to another one but we used to bump into a lot of that crowd at various nights in brum and some of them are really not worth bumping in to, seems a 50/50 split between those that have moved on and done something with their lives and those that still live in some scummy squat and look a right state

apologies if you fit the second category 😆

mmw – Liza who ran Psyclone still runs a club night, though its a rather 'specialist' one (at least that if she is who I think it is).

'Scarlet' is held at Club DV8 every couple of months. Its not a bad night. I went to the first one she held in association with TG at Nightingales.

BTW. ex-Brum clubbers. What was that bedroom DJ hard house night held on a Thursday night in that dodgy rock pub (Decades?) called? I was trying to remember the other day, its where a mate of mine who still DJs (Dion) first started playing.

f_m – Spot on, thats where I was. I'm listening to the first disc now, 'Funkhole – Tryptic'.

Jim – definatley the same Liza, mrsmw shared a flat with her and let's say she still has somewhat fond memories of the smell of rubber glue and tales of special projects for her discerning customers.

Not seen her for a while, last thing we heard she moved back out to Kidderminster and was concentrating on one off 'specialist' items

mmw – So it is her then!

She made me and a rather lovely lady I was seeing at the time outfits for the Skin Two Ball. Very talented lady Liza.

Its a very small world isn't it?

Cheers Stu, I've thought a few times about going up again for old times sake. Doubt I'd last the pace these days though!

indeed it is, we have a few items of her clothing, she is indeed a very talented designer and her stuff is very well put together. Very nice person to boot

Heh I've been to Flashback and Atomic Jam at the Que Club – amazing venue.

Bit of a different genre but I still DJ breaks from time to time – doing a night with the Plump DJs here in Lancaster fairly soon.

http://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Lancaster/Cuba/Outta-Sight-presents—-The-Plump-DJs/11322813/

Jim – funny little pub on the corner in Digbeth?

we ran a D&B night there for a while at college after it was bought by our landlord at the time.

and just to spoil the party i'm listening to Karine Polwart 😆

Nowt wrong with a bit of breaks grumm, my wife was running a breaks night (Taking The Biscuit I think it was called) at the North Pole pub in Greenwich when I first met her. She even DJ'd a bit herself occasionally (DJ Badly she jokingly referred to herself as).

I find myself listening to a lot of Detroit Techno though at the mo, really enjoying it.

mmw – Thats the place. In the door, proper 'pub' style bar directly in front and dancefloor to the left, ciggy machine and that to the right. Its been knocked down now.

that night may have been run by guys from my course if you are talking late 90's, quite a few of them were DJs.

Listening to Christian Vogel now to drown out the crap awards ceremony i'm working at

Saw Derrick May play an awesome Detroit stylee set at The End, he opened his set with 3 soul records straight after Ken Ishi played a really minimal set then dropped a big fat techno record, the place went mental(er)

Derrick May, he is the man. I was lucky enough to see him in Detroit a few years back whilst visiting family.

If you like your Detroit Techno then you could do a lot worse than search for 'DJ Seoul', another fine product of Detroit, a pretty damned good little DJ.

i've must have been unlucky to catch derrick may on an off night, saw him play with francois kervorkian a few years ago in london. my mates have seen him play a blinder @ lost.
dj bone is another fine detroit dj as is omar-s if you like it a bit housier.
off to see rolando at the weekend which i'm looking forward to as i've not seen him play since a night out at voodoo in liverpool.

seems a 50/50 split between those that have moved on and done something with their lives and those that still live in some scummy squat and look a right state

apologies if you fit the second category

i know what you mean as that lifestyle i used to lead when i was younger wasn't sustainable at least if you want to move on with your life.
re hog – theres certainly a lot fewer crusties going there now and its now happening in a trendy-ish pub in kings heath – no more all nighters :D:D how things change.

might be a little late in the thread but it's probably breakcore (breakbeat hardcore) borderline gabba with a touch of beats overlaid with noise.
perfect for the ketamin kids who tend to go to raves nowadays.

dirty!

[A disclaimer]What follows is not to be taken as a means with which to enter into a debate over 'drugs are bad m'kay/no they're not'. people do take drugs, thats a fact, what follows is my experience of that.

😉

The problem with Ketamine isn't the drug itself, if taken 'sensibly' I found it quite good, its the fact many people who do Ketamine don't realise that often what they're taking is chemically pure 'pharmaceutical grade' and isn't cut with anything else. This added to the problem of how to take it in clubs means many folk use 'coke bullets', which is where the problem lies.

Coke bullets are designed for, as the name suggests, cocaine, which is rarely uncut and so the the dosage 'spoon' is sized to take this into account. If Ketamine is used in a coke bullet users will often be getting a much larger dosage than they should really be getting and thus the spectre of 'K Hole' rears its ugly head.

'Tis all just my opinion, I'm not condoning or criticising drug use, m'kay.

the trouble is it's terrible when mixed with bucket loads of phet

i remember when mixmag announced it as 'the future of clubbing' and immediately everyone go the doseage wrong and ended up in the k hole under the steps next to the entrance to the lower area at Republic.

I never had problems with it, 'bump drop, bump drop' was my usual when I was going at it every weekend.

Like all drugs though, results vary.

I do agree with you on the Mixmag thing though. A group of us had t-shirts printed with 'K-Hole Rescue Team' for the next London Pride after that article came out as people sat dribbling (from their mouths, you mucky pups) under stairways was becoming quite a regular thing in places like Trade and Fist.

when i was researching for the original reason for this thread i came across a few rave forums and BOY is there a big range of pharmaceuticals around now in comparison to 15 years ago.

BOY is there a big range of pharmaceuticals around now in comparison to 15 years ago.

Second this. I was out clubbing at the weekend and went to an afterparty with some people who were taking a legal (but soon to be banned) drug called Mephedrone, which they had bombed in rizlas.

They said it was like taking your first pill, or a mix of coke and MDMA with intense rushes.

A bit of googling also reveals that there's a question mark over its effects on the heart, that it maybe chemically closer to crystal meth than MDMA and that it's reportedly very, very more-ish.

Think I'll give it a miss.

Also know people getting all excited about 2CB lately – although I know that was dong the rounds seven or eight years ago as well.

There is a surprisingly large amount of legal high that actually work pretty well these days too.

I was given a legal E a while back called 'Doves' (obviously jumping on the back of the originals) and it was better than most non-legal pills I've had recently.

It seems a lot of the time they are using chemical compounds that do the same thing as MDMA just with a differently constructed compound which means it side-steps the law. Thing is its just a matter of time before legislation catches up and then the companies have to try something else.

Makes the law a bit of a joke really.