Back in post #5, i left it at the point where the bikers came to me with an idea. They owned a quarry in Dyserth, North Wales and wanted to put a rave on there. They put all the money up for it, i was more of a consultant and dj than promoter, which suited me. We booked dj’s, got the flyers printed and arranged coaches to leave from Bedworth and Nuneaton. I had met MC Peta Pan at a rave i was playing at in Kidderminster a few weeks before so we booked him, along with Ratty, Easygroove, DJ Luke from Amnesia House/ Bang in tunes and others. It was a great line up and we planned to have a big stage and use the clubhouse for the house music room. I set off there the day before so we could get there nice and early to set up. We had hired scaffolding for the stage, a huge generator for the leccy, a load of lights and the sound system from room 2 at the Eclipse by E.F.X. Nothing owned by any of us was used, so if we got busted, the feds couldn’t confiscate any gear. When we got to the quarry, we found the old bill had already raided the clubhouse and had taken the stereo sound system from there. HA! Nice try, cozzer! We had brought the proper P.A with us so they had achieved nothing. We spent all day building the stage, and the genny arrived and was set up a distance away from the stage. The sound system from The Eclipse was immense. Noel from E.F.X set up and helped with the lights and laser as well, and as we were nearly finished a police helicopter came overhead. We gave them a wave and carried on setting up. The quarry was a semi-circle cliff and we set the stage facing the cliff so we could make the most of the light and laser show, which looked splendid. The clubhouse was set up with backdrops and U.V stuff, we had set hay bales around the edge of the quarry for seats and built a huge bonfire while we waited for people top start to arrive. The police had formed a cordon around the village and were turning the coaches away, but they just drove half a mile away and everyone got out and made their own way to the rave. The police used usual tactics to piss people off, like sending them the wrong way, blocking the entrance, and flying overhead in the chopper with the spotlight on us. For those that had got in, this was great fun, the MC shouting out to to copper chopper and everyone waving to the plod. There were people climbing down the cliffs, on hands and knees through the woods, all trying to get past the rozzers. Ratty didn’t turn up but Tango and Neil Trix rocked up with their tunes instead so we had that covered. I was playing a couple of sets that night and my first set was quite early, when some guy came up to me and said “i’m on next, mate”. I had no idea who he was so i asked him what his name was… DJ Unknown. I was happy to let him on and went off to chat to the bikers and asked who he was,… the cheeky fucker had blagged the set! Fair play to him but he had interrupted my turn! I walked back to the stage to kick him off, but he was scratching very well, and i thought fuck it, let him have his time in the sun, i was due to go back on later anyway. It turned out that he became well known in his own right. A lot never made it in, but we still had about 500 people in there raving till the sun came up, and i was chuffed to play back to back with Easygroove for the last set on the main stage, before the heavens opened up and it pissed down, ending the night at 6am. Some of the dj’s and MC’s didn’t get paid for this rave, as the bikers lost a few grand thanks to the old bill ruining for us. Bloody shameful, as Peta Pan wanted to be my permanent MC, but blanked me after this, thanks to not getting his money. And rightly so, i suppose, but it wasn’t my fault.
Hardcore Massive on the decks, MC peta Pan and myself in the background at utopia, wales
After the rave had finished, we didn’t help the scaffolding firm take it all down, we were all ruined, but we stripped the House room and set off with the bikers back to one of their homes in Colwyn Bay. We drank all day and after a few hours we went to a pub, about 25 bikers and me. I asked the landlord if we could set the decks up and he agreed, although i suspect this was more out of fear of upsetting the bikers. We played there all day with just me and one of the bikers dj’ing. That weekend lasted till Tuesday, and it took me a week to recover. Best rave i ever went to.
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