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Heat NYE 2003 - Brixton Academy
Reported by Steve Milton
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Submitted 02-01-04 13:19
Well Christmas was over and done with and now it was time for the grown ups to come out and play. NYE is potentially one of the biggest nights of the year but after the events of last year I suspected many would be arranging their own entertainment and not heading out into the cold for one final fling in 2003.
The Heat crew, undaunted, once again took to the mighty Brixton Academy for their event and promised a spectacular night to welcome in the New Year. The line up certainly had some serious acts and with this in mind I decided to give it another go. Brixton Academy has had its critics over the years as a venue for the club scene, the sloping floor, badly organised cloakroom facilities and long queue’s, however I have to say that none of these seemed to be apparent this time round and that is only from personal experience, although I’ve still heard rumblings of complaints but that, I guess, is inevitable. It was also my wife’s first big NYE as a clubber so I was determined to make it a fun experience and nothing was going to stop me. I was on a mission.
After queuing a short while in the guest list entrance we were inside and meeting up with friends. The coats were deposited without much of a delay and it was time for the party to begin in earnest. By this time the venue was only just starting to fill and Nick Sentience had taken over from Steve Blake. So it was down to the front to get warmed up with some stomping. It was pretty up front stuff from the word go and not for the faint hearted. Our friends who have a more trancey taste in things thought so and soon disappeared upstairs. But undaunted we carried on. The sloping floor for some reason didn’t seem an issue and had they built it up to provide a larger flat surface? It certainly seemed so from what I can remember from last year and it was definitely starting to move and vibrate as more and more people came into the main room and got into the party spirit. A cheer went up as Mr Sentience dropped a beefed up mix of the Faithless track “Become One” and it was now that I noticed that it had filled nicely and kicking off earlier than I had expected.
Next up and seeing us through to midnight was the ever-popular Anne Savage. Once again she delivered the goods, pounding baselines with quite a few twisted acid riffs, something we all expect from Anne and she didn’t disappoint. As midnight approached we awaited the explosions of the promised pyrotechnics and the outpouring of good will to all those around us. It seems technical difficulties once again meant the audio count down went AWOL but fortunately the man behind the visuals VJ FX (good job BTW  ) was on the case and the crowd counted down themselves in response to what was being displayed on the 4 big screens. This, I am told was down to the Academy and nothing to do with the Heat people and it’s a shame they were blighted again with an incident like this. However the crowd were here to have a good time and nothing was going to stop them. Explosions on the stage were followed by giant flames leaping from the floor. Had the Heat people been down to the nearest RAF base and nicked some engines from a Tornado fighter? I however was franticly clicking away with my camera as New Year wishes were shared with friends and strangers alike. The moment caught I had some people to spend some time with, most importantly my wife, who was having an absolute ball and grinning from ear to ear.
Then it came. From out of nowhere the spine tingling female vocals on K90’s “Breath”. The baseline and drums kicked in and it went off. Other people may have seen things differently but for me it will stand out as one of THE clubbing moments, and I don’t make such claims lightly. Our little group went to that place and I never wanted to come back. The lighting was in full effect and giant balloons were bouncing around the (what I thought was a) very friendly crowd. From then on K90 served up a feast of pounding hard trancer’s. I suspect his forth coming album will contain much of what went into his live performance and if this is the case I look forward to it eagerly. He was definitely enjoying himself, jumping around and egging on the now delirious crowd from the lofty position behind his keyboards and samplers. I was having so much fun his set passed almost instantly but there was one final flourish. It’s possibly one of the biggest tunes ever to come from any producer and definitely one of my personal favourites and it was inevitable that it was to be the big finish. “Red Snapper”, no explanation required.
Following on from K90 was going to be no mean feet but the combination of Phil Reynolds and Spencer Freeland going back to back meant no one was going to be let down. However it was time for a wander so it was upstairs to check out the view from the balcony. And a great view it was too. Looking down on the main room from that high up position it was great to see so many people having such a great time. The balcony area itself was also crammed and whilst my friends took a bit of time to sit down and recuperate their energy I was being too well entertained by Mr Freeland and Reynolds so ended up dancing in the isle. Eager to get back to the madness downstairs I dragged everyone back to the mêlée and our pre-organised meeting point under the glitter ball. Some familiar faces grinned in our direction as we appeared and the usual codsh*te was exchanged, it was all good-humoured stuff and it was pleasing to see and hear.
By now it was 2:30 am and the Heat resident Marc French took his turn on the decks. From what I remembered from the previous years event Marc had done a great set and I was looking forward to what he was going to do this year. Whilst I can’t name any specific tune that really did it for me I can say that I enjoyed what he did again and kept the party going at full tilt. I seemed to have converted our trance friends to the harder style of music as they were now bouncing away with the best of us. Sophie and Brent. . . you are stars. Time for me now turned into a blur of lasers, happy faces, manic dancing and water bottles, intersected with the odd attempt to take a picture of something or someone. Rob Tissera was having his turn and I’m sure at one point I managed to pick out the synth riff of “Sonic Boom” from Quo Vadis. I had every intention of going and sampling the other rooms and getting a feel for what was going there but the situation got the better of me and it didn’t happen, which in retrospect was a shame but hey, these things happen.
The night was beginning to draw to a close and I can’t believe it was over so quickly. BK was on for the final session and after a slightly dodgy start he went on to do a proper hard set and shaking the Academy’s foundations to the core. Then disaster strikes! I’d lost my ticket for the coats. This could have been a major downer as I didn’t fancy waiting till everyone had gone home before I could retrieve our things but fortunately we could see them and the staff let us have them without question – hmmm . . . is that good or bad? Certainly good news for me anyway. The weather was doing it’s best to put a dampener on things so it was straight in a cab and back to our friends flat for a well earned cuppa and a sit down. We finally arrived back in sleepy Bedfordshire around 1:30 pm. The lovely wife by this time had well and truly had it so I dropped her off and headed over to a friends house for an after party and some more madness.
And that was it. New Year was over. Mission accomplished. Thanks of course go to Sophie and Brent for their hospitality, Cyberdancer and your lovely lady (was good to meet you), Private 1 (it’s been too long mate) and anyone else who shared the experience. My wife? Well, I think she had a good time.
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Other Features By Steve Milton:
The Final Zoo
The Death of Clubland?
Trousers, Caps and Trance Anthems - It's Dave Pearce!
Boom Box, Bulldog Breaks and V1 - It's Time to Reload with DJ-X(lab4)
Clubbers Guide to Photography: Part Two
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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Comments:
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From: DJACE Luffman on 4th Jan 2004 00:35.25
i was there 2nd time round.i was there last year & that was mind blowing 4 me.once again the heat crew promised & delivered an awesome nye 4 1 & all.are they going 2 do it again 4 2005.i fucking hope so.thanks once again heat.looking 4ward 2 seeing the pictures.loads of wreckage,mainly me & a few extras.plenty of fine lovely ladys,always good 2 see & wicked music.truely amazing.i fucking loved ittttttttttttttt.see u all again.
From: katana on 5th Jan 2004 10:55.23
My 1st time at heat nye it was fuckin wicked shame K90 has played the same set since this time last year but spose it wasn't really the time for new things phil reynolds is still the best hard trance dj on earth and Bk is a fucking legend accelerate nearly killed me but i still managed to somehow dance to it!Frantic at ministry was a bit of a blur anyway roll on PhilTime on the 24th see ya there
From: Trinity on 5th Jan 2004 14:48.32
What a fan bloody tastic night! My first time at Heat NYE and my first time at Brixton Academy. Truly a better venue could not have been picked! Apart from the cloakroom ques (comes with the territory really), the music was pumping and K90 as always produced a blinding set!! You are the new King! Add to this a touch of the Zion speech from the Matrix Reloaded, and the view from the balcony was awe inspiring. Thank you Heat team for the most fantastic new year Ive had in a very long time!
From: bunnykins230 on 6th Jan 2004 21:01.14
This was def better than last year's Heat & the best time i've had at Brixton academy in over a year! Was a lot more trancey in the main room which i luved!Def best way to see in 04!!:-)
From: nicencool on 8th Jan 2004 09:35.32
There's very little praise in this original review to the fantastic trance balcony crew that had a logistical nightmare with the cloakroom queue taking over the dancefloor at the beginning of the evening, but I suppose that also goes some way to proving what an excellent all round event this was. Being a newbie to HEAT I was ultra-pleased with the stomping-great night I encountered, although being hugely disappointed that two of my personal fave's; K90 & Ian Betts, were playing at the same time a decision had to be made.... and no easy decision at that considering (he played Red Snapper and) the mileage covered to hear the both of them this year, and last for that matter, but there had to be a winner... and this time Betts just took it away for me delivering a set at the top of the night that could simply not be walked away from, believe me I tried to and it was just impossible.... ditto praise to every other DJ on the trance balcony who made a night for me that will not be forgotten. Fantastic work HEAT crew, I'm a convert and will be with you next time.
From: Nomi Sunrider on 8th Jan 2004 12:50.51
Had I spent any time on the Trance balcony I'd have made comments accordingly but as I stated in my review the situation got the better of me and I didn't get up there.
From: Hooverboy on 8th Jan 2004 13:50.18
Add your comments here !
From: Hooverboy on 8th Jan 2004 13:55.45
Does anybody know what version of NRGs Never Lost His Hardcore BK is kaning at the moment? It is not the new white label unless he is mixing both mixes together on a CDR? It is a killer version and his sets at the moment are awesome - what else from the King eh? I personally didn't notice a slightly dodgey start to his set as I was too busy going right off to Are You All Ready? and Hooked - nice one geezer!!!!
From: Toomz on 9th Jan 2004 17:20.36
Never Lost his Hardcore... there are 3 new releases coming out on Tidy...Nick Sentience, Ilogik & Paul Maddox....I guess it was the Sentience one mate 
From: James Jaye on 9th Jan 2004 19:05.27
I remember Marc French dropping 'Emotion' by Lee Pasch.Awesome.don't remember much else except a really nice girl called Emma
From: phonic21 on 12th Jan 2004 18:22.01
Sounds positively wicked and would have loved to have been there bunny. But I can understand Mrs Sunrider being knackered. I think next year we will have to get the crew together.
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