Big Chill Sundae Big Chill Sundae at the Big Chill Bar (off Brick Lane, London) went down very well last Sunday. Good atmosphere, good music, good people.
Solipse, Zambia, Africa – August 2001 Solipse 2001
by andy
Hungary 1999... The first edition of Solipse, missed due to being "musically challenged" at the time, was only known through second hand reports. A lot can happen in a few years... Tastes develop, including music, so Sepultura was traded for Kox Box and the likes, and Dynamo Open Air for Solipse. Regrets ? Read on, I'm sure you can derive you own conclusions ;-)
It's quite a trip (no pun intended) to get to Chisamba, the place to be from 15th to 25th of June. In any case, after plenty of flying, we got at Lusaka. Astonished by the fact that my fellow traveller had to pay lots more for his tourist visum just for being British (some could argue that's reason enough), we got a minibus that drove us to the festival site. As it took a while - plus the fact that we were not geographically adapted - so it was well after dark and we still had to set up everything ! And that mozzie net didn't really help either... But sure enough, all was ready soon well within the appropriate limits, which was hailed by a welcome spliff and a good night's sleep. In all our clothes. Because "a bit chilly", as the website stated, in our diaries is well above the frosty cold that cloudless nights can bring. No wonder the Zanbians complained they 'd never before had such a cold winter ! [First mental note : buy a better sleeping bag]
YAAAAAAHWN ! Good morning Zambia ! Still more than a day before the music starts... The first Sunday was unanimously chosen as "calm before the storm". A bit of wandering around on the site learned that we wouldn't starve, had an assortment of toilets to choose from should a lesser species stimulate our bowel movements, that the local currency has a funny name, that the local beer is close to good, and that all of it breathes an air of pure space. Local security was in the hands of friendly Zambians, who were keen to know where (the hell!) we all came from. Just about from anywhere. [fast forward:] Like this girl, Melissa, who asked me, wearing a Sepultura T-shirt (hey! vintage!), were I came from. She was pleased to hear that they made it to Belgium. She being Brazilian, it figured. Another friendly face that's become familiar ! [rewind].
And then the first moment we all waited for : the beginning of the music. But not before we were welcomed by the Zambian Minister of Something (politicians, who keeps track of names?), accompanied by a chorus or cheerleaders, who made it clear we should return and visit Zambia properly [mental note two : they were on to us rave bunnies!]. And then the music started... We'd already met Michael and his wife Tsunato (if I heard correctly, and the spelling can be dodgy), and he was keen on hearing Stella Nutella and George Barker, arguing that if you can pull it off with a name like that, you have to be good ! Well, another 12 hours and we could all enjoy her set. Which meant loads of dancing, plenty of space for it in front of the stage or elsewhere. Did we dance ! More than once I was in tears dancing in the morning, when chilly bones got warmed by the early sun, and realization that this was indeed the real life seeped in. Western luxuries and/or petty problems all seemed irrelevant, as long as there's Nature, music, and dancing people, all the rest is not even interesting. [Mind to Self : you fucking hippie ! You promised not to return as one - BOINK (head-to-wall collision - Self : that's better] After hours of decent tunes, I met Michael again for Stella Nutella's set. We both agreed that she fully deserved to be here, and later on she was bouncing along on the dancefloor afterwards. How could you not, hearing Mixmaster Morris ? Those 4 hours before the end of the first dancathon completely used up all of the resources that were left bodywise, but oh my they were put to excellent use ! Followed by wandering around, killing time before the next set at 8PM begins. Basically stuffing oneself, trying this and that...
...until we were ready for the next boogie. [note to reader : following is rather fuzzy. I'm sure you'll forgive my fuzzball state of mind at the time]. Is that you? No hmmmmm apparently not, Sorry! Smiles... Got the munchies, better catch a banana or whatever - One crepe with chocolate paste (Nutella - * grmble *) and coconut thingamies please ! What would Trala Lama think of this ? I mean, here I am, in the middle of nowhere, bouncing happily along with complete strangers yet cannily familiar, having visions that all this is a governmental experiment [the sub-subconscious would like to state at this point that yours truly, i.e. author of this poor attempt to convey with words the inutterable joy, happiness, spaced mindsets, humility at Nature's grandeur, and other previously unexplored emotions, that this person, has read too much conspiration-theory-laden novels and seen and read too much SF, so please put away the straight-jacketsm, he's a fairly nice bloke] where the ultimate frequency is sought that turns humans into mush-room enough to hide the bodies... Ridiculousness has just turned a page... Scary part: we actually like the idea... Oh hi! Pardon me! Hmmmm nice tune this one... And up and down and up and down, interlaced with diagonal patterns and specks of gold and neon... Hehehehe quite enjoyable this festival ! Whiieeeeeee ! Hey Michael, doing your morning gym ? Yep, Tristan sure plays a decent collection of tunes... (Where is my tent again ? Have I been there since like two days ago ?)
Well, still filling some gaps (I lost a filling there, so my dentist can confirm ;p) here and there, but I do remember that Alex Patterson goddamn rocked the place ! Amazing how my mates and me where flying during this mastering of a crowd. You had to be there, honestly... Words simply fail. Which is exactly, to a greater degree, what happens when describing the awe and humility, the excitement and intense inner rest one feels when the Total Eclipse hangs above your heads, that big black disc surrounded by a golden halo, you, small being, standing in the African savannah, as yet unspoilt, inhabited by the friendliest people... Imagine the birthday this Michael must have had (what are the odds!), sharing a sacred moment with his wife and friends... Try to reach deep down, when you where last emotionally stirred in a way that let a pearl form in the corner of your eye, and think how we, as simple by-standers, witnessed Sarah asking Glenn to marry her when the diamond ring appeared. Nothing can obliterate a glorious moment like that... And fair play it was as well ! Recognizing the fact that that moment was way (WAY) way too intense, she needn't hear his answer right away, the day after was time enough. While Glenn was kind enough to relieve Sarah, having only needed three minutes to make up his mind... Needless to say all of us where high in the skies afterwards... Which is the reason why we were kind of expecting some realy stompin' psytrance after the eclipse, and were a bit put off by the slower Former Orb Jam. But there was Atmos then, and Olli Wisdom, and Franke and KoxBox ... Who did the job of shutting us up and liquifying us quite nicely and this is no governmental experiment after all... bass thumps are used to graft secret messages on our skeleton... Could be the government though, or some secret Wise Men [Deus Ex again... it was rather addictive] trying to better the world and who better to start off with than this assorted lot of neon-fluoro-hippies, they sure wouldn't mind would they? Or maybe this music is truly alien, and they're trying to get a message through... better pay attention before we're all mush hehe. Better go to sleezzzzzzzz....
...zzzzz Woo-hoo another sunny day ! Shame we have to think of leaving allready, missing out on Anti and Logic Bomb... But then again, drank more tunes than ever before so no complaints here... Saturday was chill, more reggae-ish, so we could chill a bit before making preparations to get home [yet another mental note: this is such a relative term...]. We wanted to make sure we got to the airport before dark and as the plane was scheduled at 2AM (sad time innit), plus the fact that we learned to take our time for everything, we couldn't stay longer. So instead of enjoying the beginning of the next marathon session, we played pool in Lusaka, did a nap, and flew off.
Regrets ? Yes. THAT WE DIDN'T STAY LONGER ! Other than that...
Party Manchester Last Night Went to a free party for the first time in god maybe 7 years as a punter (without taking a rig). And found it quite boring there was no silliness apart from me and my mates. I watched a guy who had taken far to much k or something drawn on and kicked, beaten n spat on by his mates. There was scallys with pure attitudes walking around masked up. Granted it was a D&B party but it was just dreary.
Was good to shake hands n meet a few people and as I was sober I managed a few sencible conversations and seen some people I aint seen in ages but I left after 2 hrs.12
Pump Lane Anybody go to this?
Not many people but there was a really friendly atmoshphere :group_hug
Hope the crew got out without any hassle
I was behind the stack at one point trying to stop the mosh pushing it over :laugh_at:
Good mix of tunes hope to check you guys out again :bounce_fl
UK : East : Cops now considering mobile phone surveillance This is an expanded version of the report from last weekend...
it costs money and requires more resources to deal with the bureaucracy involved in getting mobile phone info
but the cops are now prepared to put in the effort..
its also fairly simple for them just to get lists of "who called what number" as its seen as less intrusive than tapping a voice circuit
http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=edponline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED02%20Mar%202008%2019%3A35%3A43%3A837
the more people keep pushing the more "freedoms" can easily be taken away..
Quote:
Police last night hailed efforts to stop a weekend rave in a west Norfolk village as evidence their new “zero-tolerance” of illegal parties was working.
Fourteen people were arrested after a tip-off that a party was under way from a landowner at South Acre, near Swaffham, early yesterday morning.
Another 20 were dispersed from an event across the border near Eye in Suffolk at almost the same time.
Chief Inspector Nick Davison said yesterday it was a further sign of Norfolk police's new tough line against raves, which he said disrupted people's lives, damaged the environment and put people at risk as some ravers might be tempted to drive home under the influence of drink or drugs.
But he admitted that the battle to stop raves was not easy.
“There is a bit of a cat-and-mouse game here,” he said. “We do not want to reveal our tactics as they do not want to reveal theirs.
“We will look to find our intelligence and resources from wherever we can get it from.”
Use of mobile phones to organise raves was hard for police to crack, he said.
But he added that the Association of Chief Police Officers was looking to get help from mobile phone providers.
Five vehicles and sound equipment were seized in the raid at a barn in South Acre, near Swaffham, before the rave had really got started.
Police were alerted to the event just after midnight by a landowner who saw vehicles congregating and heard loud music being played from a sound system.
Fourteen people found at the scene, aged between 15 and 45 years old - most aged in their early 20s - were arrested for a variety of alleged crimes including offences relating to the organising of a rave and the alleged possession and supply of Class A and B drugs.
At about the same, Suffolk police dispersed about 20 people and took vehicle number plate details at a rave being set up in Hoxne, near Eye.
Chief Insp Davison said: “We had pre-planned resources deployed, which quickly ended the event and led to the arrests. Early intervention meant the event had not turned in to a substantive event with many people attending it.”
He said he was grateful for information supplied by the public and appealed to landowners and the general public to be vigilant and report any incursions on to property.
The zero-tolerance approach would continue but anyone wanting to set up an event properly could contact police and ask how to do it legally.
UK : W : Swindon "mini-rave" busted cops even busted this relatively small party!
They also searched virtually a quarter of the rave.. this seems to suggest there is actually a nationwide clampdown this year across England and Wales
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/7249682.stm
Officers halt illegal rave party
Police have broken up an illegal rave party being held in disused farm buildings in Swindon. Officers were called to Mill Lane on Sunday morning and found up to 80 revellers and 50 cars at the site.
A total of 16 people were stopped and searched, two were cautioned for possession of cannabis and one was arrested for another drugs offence.
A police spokeswoman said a sniffer dog and force helicopter were used in the operation.
12
Bristol party Was anyone at the free party just outside bristol on saturday night, think alot of the people there were ones going to the big one that got cancelled. Was a phat night, police didnt turn up at all, great setting, and the ppl there were safe as. My mate drove past again at 6pm on sunday and ppl were still stomping away....crazy shit
Swaffam Rave Went to NYE in swaffam mint night old bill everywhere helicopter and all but they could'nt do anything cos' our numbers were too strong great night get yourselves on the norfolk scene!!!!!raaa12
Illegal rave is held in warehouse Not much information there..
Can't imagine stories like this, do ravers any good..
Quote:
Up to 200 youths broke into a warehouse in Londonderry and staged an illegal party there on Halloween night.
John Magowan of AC Glass Windows and Doors in Springtown said it would cost thousands of pounds to repair the damage caused by the rave.
"Outside, there are three plate-glass windows smashed," he said.
The approximate cost of those is probably about a couple of thousand pounds - but it is more just the sheer vandalism."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7074140.stm
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