Belfast 4
Reviewer: Lindy Tan
The Score:After tickets were sold out a week before the actual event, the club/rave conglomeration here saw oscillations of craziness rarely experienced in Melbourne (anxious punters begging/stealing/cheating their best buddies for a ticket, Kiss FM DJs appealing for spare tickets on air, giveaway co-ordinators sitting at their desks with tickets lying before them, contemplating whether to quietly give themselves a five-fingered freebie - will anyone notice- - nah! - before shaking themselves and doing the honest thing). Amazingly, there weren't as many ravers waiting despondently for tickets outside the Palace this time, shivering their bony asses off (Transatlantic was enough) nor was there much of a queue. Things glided along smoothly.
But it was good to see a lot of old faces emerge from the woodwork that haven't been to a rave in months, years. Who once used to get whazzed every single weekend at the Hyperbass parties, the old Every Pictures, Biologies, Bezerks. Now they're all either working at the Ford Motor Company or studying or having babies or like to spend their weekends in front of the computer trying to hack into some government agency. Initially intending to don my big fluorescent orange t-shirt (a smiley face and the words "BIG FUN" on the front) quickly dwindled into nothingness as I was accosted with hordes of glam-looking Palace girls looking even more glam under shards of spectacular light and colour (brilliant laser system). The smiley, albeit dirt-tinged, faces hanging from the ceiling kept to the theme - how long ago were those used-
And the music. This was a train-spotter's field day. It was a night of either hugging your friends and screaming "This is Gat Decor!/Phuture!/CJ Bolland!" or otherwise, "This is that one that goes da da dee da doo doo da!!!!" Stand-out tracks that got everyone hollering was The KLF "What Time is Love-" Joey Beltram "Energy Flash" and of course, New Order "Bizarre Love Triangle." As well as cuts from Lil'Louis, Indotribe, Mental Cube, and the Jungle Brothers. "House is Mine" by the Hypnotist nearly blew the speakers (isn't it funny how piano breaks and head-fucking acid onslaughts used to co-exist on the same record-) These sounds would have been better in a huge, echoing warehouse as opposed to the Palace, but overall, Belfast was a great party with many old-skoolers getting totally bugged-eyed and dancing like spazzies after months, years of abstinence.
By the way, an apology to the bare-chested goon who insisted on jumping po-go-like in everyone's face and being an utter shit! Sorry for kicking you mate. It was an accident (well, not really). Hey - there's old-skool attitude for ya!
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