I was lucky enough to get a free ticket – as a present – from my friends a couple of months ago. I was so delighted because I hadn't gone out for a while now and the lineup was looking good as well.

We arrived at the venue The Cause, just after 5 p.m. which allowed us to hear Skeptical's set as we got closer to the entrance. The security was medium strict, there were no signs of emotions at all, and I just don't get it: if my bum bag was emptied by them why they can't put back the thing that they just removed?! Whatever. Then ID check and a photo was taken. Again, why is that? Oh, apparently, for health and safety reasons… I did not get any answer beyond this, but what was I thinking? I'd let it go. We were in, the Sun was shining and D&B was chirping, that was all we needed, really.

We went to discover the venue and find the best spot to observe the artists and people too. As we entered the inside area (#2) we just experienced the young Bristolian lady, Latesleeper jungle/rave phase which did not last very long, unfortunately. We decided to make a camp at the top of the stairs and enjoyed the Skeptical & Rage set, we barely got back to the main area when he dropped 'Middlemen by Alibi & A-Audio' and there were many other remixes ('Balaclava') and own tunes, indeed. I have to say that on the main stage, his play was the most consistent and dnb orientated during the day/night. I highly admire all the other DJs who I experienced all along the party but after 6 o'clock all of the sets were identical for me. There were noises, waiting for drops, and many times we had to use a magnifier to find some trace of actual drum and bass in the sets. I know that this is the current craziness but how do you dance to this? How do you enjoy this drill bass mass? The sets were missing their arc and most of the tracks are soulless. (And I am not going to get into that I am not a fan of wobble/jump up style, etc…). However, I would like to highlight Rage, Rika Dan & Killa P present during Kasra's play. They were a refreshing addition to the show for sure.

I wandered between the stages to see most of the artists. Samurai Breaks was highly energetic and played his style well, which is…I don't know. Some IDM mixed with jungle and dubstep, I guess, or something like that. I admired his fierce style but it wasn't built up properly (for me). The next one in the line was Spectral whose speciality was dubstep. Pure, subwoofer killing, „old school" dub steppa' spiced with a pinch of grime as well ('Breakage – Hard, Thelem – We Ain't The Same (f. T-Man), Peekaboo - Dope'). Fast and precise mixing, blue hair and a tiny skirt, her set was one of my favorites on that Saturday.

I will not get into more details about the rest of the artists. Ivy Lab play was eclectic – as I presumed. Some hip-hop, some glitch, tiny footwork, a zest of bass, a bit of everything. I have to say, this is the beauty of being a (dnb) DJ in London, you can play whatever you've written and released people will love it. This is a great thing for the artists and for the audience too. However, those were just tracks thrown into the dancefloor. There were a few huge drops and massive bass but nothing extraordinary. The issue could be with me, who went to parties week by week (10-15 years ago) where the audience was the most important thing during the night. Of course, it is good to hear dubs, remixes, and experimental tunes, but I can do that while I am preparing my dinner at home.

Anyway, I had been a tiny bit tired and embittered before Tim Reaper hosted by Blackeye MC took over the decks. That changed everything. He started without any hesitation nor compromise on high-speed and energetic jungle tunes. A massive, dangerous amen breaks tide was it from its finest, that swept out the poser ravers and kept us dancing all the way ('Danny Breaks - Beat Science', 'Omni Trio - Renegade Snares [??? Remix]'). His performance was the absolute winner for the evening, no doubt about that. Fine selection, great drops, contact with the audience. That’s all we needed.

In sum, we are so grateful for this fabulous event to the organizers, this is out of arguments. The „flaws" mentioned before are part of the experience. I do not go out every weekend anymore and do not follow the actual trends and releases either. Nevertheless, the feelings and opinions about the main stage and most of the sets were shared by our group uniformly. Therefore, I felt like sharing it with the world, too. Keep it rolling and big up Critical Sound!

A few more Party pictures . . .

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