Psychosis - Information and resources for the Free-Party culture

Stratford Rex 02/02/02

We made it
After an hour and half on the train and underground, we arrived at Stratford and followed the crowd to the Rex. The first thing we saw was a mammoth queue, and with a smug grin, we marched past and headed for the guestlist entrance to find a considerable queue even for the guests. After a bit of jostling and about 45 minutes we got in to find a very packed entrance area with lots of bouncers shouting at people to keep moving along. The heat was pretty intense and panic ensued for me as I realised I'd lost my house and car keys somewhere en-route, but I'd need to worry about that when I got back to Guildford.

When we entered the main arena we were presented withe an amazing array of fluro decor, inflatables, detailed drapes and an incredible green laser. The sound system in the main area was crystal clear throughout the entire space and wasnt short on power either. Pablo Gargano was pounding out some superb hard-trance to a packed main room and everyone seemed to be having a wicked time. We were expecting the drinks to be expensive but I have to say Ł1.90 for water and Ł2.90 for a can of lager is a bit of a liberty, London or not. We took a seat for a bit in the lower bar\seating area and the security didn't seem to be bothered with any mood enhancers which was nice.
Nice

Oh yeah
Orpheus 2 took over from Pablo Gargano and came straight out with hard nu-nrg. They really seemed to be enjoying themselves and this rubbed off on the crowd. I'd never seen these guys before and I was really impressed. They kept it hard but uplifitng at the same time and stayed away from the floaty riffs that kept breaking up the sets of the live acts. The laser was really immpressive throughout the night and created a wicked effect when it was fired against the mirrorball. Things were really kicking off by now and it was getting seriously busy.

We headed down to the Clockwork Prism room which was tucked away under the main hall. They kept it banging along nicley with some really hard Psy-Trance and the room felt more like a squat party, more of an atmosphere than the bigger room I'd say. Again, the sound system was meaty and clear, with everyone on their feet 'avin it. Acid Park was the next stop, up a couple of flights of stairs and we find another bar with Sebastian Marx rockin' the place with a solid techno live p.a. I felt this room was far too small because the music was top notch, again a nice system but people wanted to go in but couldn't beacuse it was too rammed.
Acid Park

Wobbly
Into the Trance Temple again and Lab-4 had just started. The arena was absolutely packed and we had a lot of difficulty getting anywhere near the stage to hassle people and take photos. By now there were various performers on stage including Fairy the Angelgrinder We got away from the crowd and ventured back to the Acid Park room and found Pat-Trix showing us fine mixing skills and excellent music selection, some really quirky but rock solid techno.

We spent the rest of the night in the main Trance Temple and we werent disappointed. E303 and Fabry took to the decks, providing us with Nu-nrg and Hard-Trance that kept the place rocking until Beamish took over at 6.00am. Beamish played us out with some classic trance tracks and storming new sounds right up until the end of the night. The bouncers were telling the crowd it was all over, the crowd had other ideas, roaring "ONE MORE!!" until Beamish stepped back up for the last tune. At this point the system was crancked right up, literally pushing us backwards, really amazing to see and hear. The stage filled up with ravers who showed their appreciation till the last beat.

We all had a good time and saw a lot of good performances covering a good variety of music. The Trance Temple was good, with amazing decor the sound system unbelieveable but the Rex just didnt seem to have the same atmosphere as the Drome. The Acid Park room, although not boasting the big names usually seen at Antiworld, had quality Djs and producers even though it was a little on the small side. The Clockwork Prism room was wicked, intimate feeling, like Club 414 almost. I have to say the security were spot on and the venue was very clean and we had no problems wandering around backstage etc... One thing I think should be a feature is a quiet chill-out room. There was an area for crew but I think you really need some where to sit down and rest at least your ears.

We hopped back on the train for a fairly uneventful journey home. Uneventful that is, until I found out that I'd left my car keys on the roof of my car in the car-park in Guildford and I had to go to Guildford Police Station (munted) to pick them up!! Nice.

Thanks to Guilfin Media for giving us the chance to go and Enrico (E303) for putting us on the guestlist and sorting us with crew passes and the rest of the Antiworld crew for putting on a good show. Top night.

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Stratford Rex 02/02/02

Words: Chris

Pictures: Mike

	After an hour and half on the train and underground, we arrived at Stratford and followed the crowd to the Rex. The first thing we saw was a mammoth queue, and with a smug grin, we marched past and headed for the guestlist entrance to find a considerable queue even for the guests. After a bit of jostling and about 45 minutes we got in to find a very packed entrance area with lots of bouncers shouting at people to keep moving along. The heat was pretty intense and panic ensued for me as I realised I'd lost my house and car keys somewhere en-route, but I'd need to worry about that when I got back to Guildford.
When we entered the main arena we were presented withe an amazing array of fluro decor, inflatables, detailed drapes and an incredible green laser. The sound system in the main area was crystal clear throughout the entire space and wasnt short on power either. Pablo Gargano was pounding out some superb hard-trance to a packed main room and everyone seemed to be having a wicked time. We were expecting the drinks to be expensive but I have to say Ł1.90 for water and Ł2.90 for a can of lager is a bit of a liberty, London or not. We took a seat for a bit in the lower bar\seating area and the security didn't seem to be bothered with any mood enhancers which was nice.
	Orpheus 2 took over from Pablo Gargano and came straight out with hard nu-nrg. They really seemed to be enjoying themselves and this rubbed off on the crowd. I'd never seen these guys before and I was really impressed. They kept it hard but uplifitng at the same time and stayed away from the floaty riffs that kept breaking up the sets of the live acts. The laser was really immpressive throughout the night and created a wicked effect when it was fired against the mirrorball. Things were really kicking off by now and it was getting seriously busy.
We headed down to the Clockwork Prism room which was tucked away under the main hall. They kept it banging along nicley with some really hard Psy-Trance and the room felt more like a squat party, more of an atmosphere than the bigger room I'd say. Again, the sound system was meaty and clear, with everyone on their feet 'avin it. Acid Park was the next stop, up a couple of flights of stairs and we find another bar with Sebastian Marx rockin' the place with a solid techno live p.a. I felt this room was far too small because the music was top notch, again a nice system but people wanted to go in but couldn't beacuse it was too rammed.
	Into the Trance Temple again and Lab-4 had just started. The arena was absolutely packed and we had a lot of difficulty getting anywhere near the stage to hassle people and take photos. By now there were various performers on stage including Fairy the Angelgrinder We got away from the crowd and ventured back to the Acid Park room and found Pat-Trix showing us fine mixing skills and excellent music selection, some really quirky but rock solid techno.
We spent the rest of the night in the main Trance Temple and we werent disappointed. E303 and Fabry took to the decks, providing us with Nu-nrg and Hard-Trance that kept the place rocking until Beamish took over at 6.00am. Beamish played us out with some classic trance tracks and storming new sounds right up until the end of the night. The bouncers were telling the crowd it was all over, the crowd had other ideas, roaring "ONE MORE!!" until Beamish stepped back up for the last tune. At this point the system was crancked right up, literally pushing us backwards, really amazing to see and hear. The stage filled up with ravers who showed their appreciation till the last beat.