For some, summer starts when the clocks go forward (hence the term British Summer Time, I suppose); for others it is the start of the cricket season, the sound of bat against ball on a sunny Sunday afternoon (Yorkshire, Yorkshire). For those of a more clubbing mind, it was either the Tidy Weekender, or the Easter Bank holiday, and the knowledge that from now on whenever you finally fell out of a club, sunglasses weren't as much a fashion accessory as an essential piece of survival equipment. So it was I found myself making my way towards the NEC on a Saturday evening armed with a camera, a name I was assured would be on the guest list, and an attitude of Bring it on. 

Parking was well organised, and £6 for all-night security was bearable, unlike the walk to the arena, which was long and chilly (it may be British Summer Time, but it didn't feel like summer). I finally get to the front of the guest list queue after being misdirected, and am relieved to find that the name I give is greeted with a smile and a ticket, and then I am sent back to the main queue again! Quick search, as you would expect and I am in. 9 hours of partying lie ahead. 
My first stop in any club is the bar, and there were plenty dotted around, but the choice seemed to consist of bottles of Heineken or some Vodka drink, so I opted for the latter, and £3.20 for a bottle is better than I was expecting. I couldn't see any playing times posted anywhere, so it was off to the merchandise stand, and £5 for one of those necklace things you have all seen. Expensive, but essential if you are to get the best out of the evening (and even more so if you want your review to make any sense when you have recovered enough to write it!!) 

The main room was Godskitchen's (it was after all A Gift From The Gods) and any of you who have been to an arena event will know what to expect. A big room, with seating up the sides and back. The DJ podium was elevated in the centre of the stage, and there were some speakers situated halfway down the hall, ensuring a good sound throughout the room. A nice touch was that the seats at the back of the arena were open, so people could go and sit down, and relax, whilst watching out over everybody else, and by halfway through the night these seats were packed. 

The entrances and exits to the arena were well organised, just keep to the right of the barrier, as directed by the friendly stewards, so you never had any difficulty getting into or out of any arena. Through a tented walkway and you were into the Goodgreef arena, which this early in the evening sounded quite boomy, as it was basically a warehouse which had been converted for the purpose, but it was already starting to fill up. 

Anyway, as much as a venue is important to an event, we really come for the music. I myself am more into Hard House than Trance, so was expecting to spend most of the evening in the Goodgreef arena, but there were a few names I wanted to check out in the main arena, starting with John 00 Fleming, who my list reliably informed me would be on at 10.00. 
Nick Rafferty was on in the Goodgreef arena, and so I stopped there until 10pm came around. The times I have seen Nick Rafferty before, mainly at Sundissential, people have commented on him having a quite trancey set, but not tonight, a good up-tempo set to get us all in the mood. The place was starting to fill out, with a good mix of cybers, casuals, and beer-boys, although I must admit I didn't notice too many try-hards. 

Moving arena, as I have already mentioned, was easy, thanks to the one-way system employed, so getting through to the Gods arena for John 00 Fleming was easy, and this was where the first, and as far as I am aware, only deviation from the playlist happened. I go to the front, to look up at the DJ podium, to see a DJ with dreads. John Fleming, dreads? I don't think so nope, must be Scot Project. Added bonus, as I was looking forward to Scot Project, but he was scheduled for 5am, and a clash with BK b2b with Andy Farley. Thankfully I didn't have to make that decision now. 

I must confess that I was expecting Scot Project to be harder than he was, but a friend who bumped into him at a bar later (How cool is that, the DJs mingling later on) said he had been asked to fill in on short notice, and wasn't that happy about it, which is understandable. I am also told that he did get back on again later, and got to let rip some more, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt. 

Next up was Tall Paul, another one of the names I was looking forward to seeing. As I have mentioned before, trance isn't my favourite choice of music, but this was a good set, a combination of arms in the air synths, but with a nice energetic underlying beat, so it kept you moving. The time now was 11.30, but there was still plenty of space for dancing, perhaps too much space, and the music was a bit quiet, I could hear the people next to me talking, as opposed to having to shout just to make myself heard. Despite this, the atmosphere was good, and everyone seemed happy to be dancing away. 

Throughout the sets, stilt walkers and various other entertainers would appear on the stage, but it seemed a bit disorganised, and the stage and arena were too big for such small numbers to have a noticeable affect, but it was about the music, not the show. 

Judge Jules stepped up to the decks, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I hear the name Judge Jules, and I think Radio One and cheese, but I confess that I haven't listened to Radio One in over five years, and I have heard plenty of people say the Jules is good behind the decks. Give him is dues, he was. 

By the time Jules had finished playing at 1am, I found that I had been in the trance arena for 3 hours solid, dancing away, cheesey grin on my face, and had even heard some tunes I recognised - the new PVD, Belfast Trance, and the ubiquitous DJ Tomcraft. And it had all been good. In fact, I had completely forgotten that I had meant to see K90 in the Goodgreef arena, but you can never expect to see everyone you want at these big events. 
Performing dance music live is a challenge, but can be achieved, as acts like K90 and the mighty Lab 4 have demonstrated, so I was intrigued to see how Push would fair. The only criticism of their set I would have from a technical level was that the live percussion seemed to be distorting a bit, but otherwise the performance was polished. But, (you could see the but coming, couldn't you?) I felt the entire set lacked the energy required for the night, I found myself standing and watching (and enjoying), instead of dancing, which is what we had paid our money for. 

The crowd was still enjoying it, but the arena was still far from packed, so I decided it was time to make my move to the Goodgreef arena, where I was hoping to find Shan & Alex Kidd playing. Shan & Alex Kidd are up and coming names of the hard scene, and as much as people like Glazby and Farley push this scene, I think it is only a matter of time until these 2 establish themselves as challengers for the crown. I am not sure if it was just because I was coming from the trance room, but the tunes these two were pumping out had such an edge to them, I would be pushed to think of a harder set I had ever heard. The only way I could think of describing it would be as Thrash for the dance generation. At times they maybe pushed it a little too far, but who can blame them, and there is nothing wrong with challenging your audience from time to time, and they soon returned to good, old-fashioned Hard. 

By the time Tissera stepped up, then Glazby, BK & Farley, I was pretty much into the Hard Groove, along with the rest of the crowd, and it was just a case of going with it until the end of the evening. With the practiced ears and hands of these guys, you know what you are going to get, and they didn't fail to deliver. Most of the crowd seemed to stay until the end, and it was nice to see Andy Farley come down and do some photos and signatures at the end, and BK joined him after a bit of encouragement. Even the staff weren't hassling everyone to get out of the building, but seemed happy to let everyone get their photographs and signatures before asking them to leave. 

It was a great evening, I left with a big grin on my face, and realised that not once had I gone on a search for the chill out room (I think there was one, somewhere), and never needed to sit down, so can't complain about the lack of seating other than the arena seating in the main room. At no point did any arena seemed too packed, which is a good thing, but I think more people would have made for a better night, and I heard people saying that Gatecrasher last year had been busier. 

One finally apology, it was not sunny when we left, the sky was grey and overcast, and I blame that totally on the fact that I had purchased sunglasses just for leaving this event. Hey, it wouldn't be British Summer if it was sunny, would it?

@SarahPVC