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Travelling again? by Carl Brown - 26th December ,1999

I was on the road again. Garage tape blaring in the Car on all cylinders. Nodding my head to the beats and semi- singing, as the car cruised at a comfortable 75mph on the A12 to London. I felt good. The trip into London was relatively easy. No major traffic holds ups. This was Boxing day night for goodness sake! However, as I entered the borough of Aldgate (East London, England) I was lost. I needed to get onto the street known as "Commercial Road", which would led me onto the club night known as "Absolutely Sundays - Old Street" was a stone’s throw away from there.

After a couple of attempts of driving around and pass Aldgate Tube station in East London I thought I’d best go to a local petrol station and ask for directions. I was in luck. The assistant behind his plastic prison shield knew the area quite well. I had gone past the wrong Tube station which would have taken me onto "Commercial Road". I should have gone past Aldgate East Tube Station instead. Silly me.

True to his word, he was right. It took me less then, 5Minutes to get back on track. In less than 10 minutes I had found a parking space. Making sure that the car was properly secure and safe. I bounded up to the door of the club quite pleased that there wasn’t the customary queues that usually are present at "Absolutely Sunday" events. This was a one off. I had only got my invitation about a week ago through the post.

After my "Airport style" greeting by the Bouncers. I was ushered over to the pay desk which I parted with my pounds and pence to girl who greeted me with a warm smiling face. (I was parting with my money that’s why!!)

I made my way down the winding staircase, but along way I looked back only to be given the once look over by the bouncers. Boy they looked mean.

I was early. There must have been around 40 people in the club at the most. I may have been exaggerating with that number as well. 30 people would be a more truer figure. I was taken a back by the improvements to the club. Slight, but they had taken the time and efforts in making the club appear to be more spacious and elegant.

For instance, I got completely fooled, when trying to hang up my long over coat. The Changing/Cloakroom wasn’t situated at the bottom of the stairs anymore. It was located in the small back room that I thought was used as a chill-out room, and also for more USA House and Garage tunes to be played.

The main bar area that was apart of the main dance floor had been completely revamped and moved back on its own separate area. Allowing the dance floor to appear to be less cramped. The bar area had seats, stools and a bigger standing area so that you could take in what was happening on the dance floor gymnastics in front of you. Easy access to the Bar area, and now more space on the dance floor. Can’t bad I thought to myself. A few people where already situated which gave it a GQ type appearance to it all. Very American appearance that it was giving out. It looked like a scene out of "Frasier or Friends", when they go out as a team to a nightclub. The Bar area did anyway.

Exploring further with my coat in my hand. I decided to check out the small back room which I had been informed by a fellow clubber, who had just gone through the same dilemma as me that the cloakroom was in there. I was expecting a huge change to this room as well. I was wrong. It was the same, but it had a small room that had been coverted into a cloakroom right at the back I handed over my long coat, and dug deep into my pockets to find the One pound coin that was needed to secure my coat there.

After the ritual was over I looked around. The DJ Rostrum that was there hadn’t changed. It was still raised above the dance floor, small, cramped and dingy. But it served a purpose. It allowed the DJ’s to deliver his musical sermon to his followers. There were a few people milling around here but these were DJ’s getting ready for the "service".

I made my way back into the main hall. Once again I took note at the changes, or lack of them since I had last been there. The DJ stand of the main hall was still the same.It was more raised then the one in the back room, but tucked tight against a corner. It really was raised as if a Vicar or priest was going to deliver his Sunday Sermon.

I made a wrong turning, which saw me ending up at another part of the club that looked as if it was designed as a higher class chill out room. It really was. It had seats, sofa’s the lot. It was here that I bought my first beer.

"That will be £3.75p please", the girl uttered.
You what. £3.75? ( Yes I’m in London I Don’t argue Carl .I thought!!)

The bar attendant just shook her head, and I begrudgingly handed over a £5.00 note and waited for my change without another word I sat down next to 2 women. Who were nattering away to each other. I caught the eye of one who just smiled back and returned back to her conversation. When she looked back I returned the compliment, and then asked.

"I thought that this clubs always got packed at this time of night? The last time I was here, the queues stretched all around the block". "Are you talking about that August Bank Holiday bash?" She replied. She had long blonde hair, and was dressed quite stylishly.

"Yeah. I came down that night and I queued for 1 and Half hours. Now, tonight under the same circumstances there’s nobody around practically".

She explained that tonight had been well advertised, and it would be packed. Through that the ice was broken. I found out that the other partner that had kept quite during the initial conversation piped up and mentioned that she was the girlfriend of Timmi Ramjam -the chief promoter of the "Absolutely Sunday Nights".

Her name that escapes me at the moment, explained that she was not born and breed in London. In fact she was from Devon, but was now living in Kent.

I asked her about the demise of the club as a weekly venue for Us and UK Garage at this present venue. She explained that Timmi, had had enough of trying to provide a service for Garage Lovers. The last event of "Absolutely Sundays" was the last weekly one. To much trouble followed them even though he had received a number of requests from people from around the country to get this started again. He decided that at the very most he would consider Bank Holiday events, or special One off’s like this only.

She asked me where did I hear of this event, because coming from Ipswich, was a long way to come for something like this. I showed here the invite. It read

"The Absolute team would like to invite you to a new beginning. This new beginning requires a step back in time to refresh our minds with what we used to have. For this reason we have bought back the original line up of DJ’s, who helped make the Elephant and Castle Pub, Central Park, Arches and Spreadlove and Happy Days at the Gass Club- al sting memory in our minds. Those of you who were there will remember the good things we had. This is one of a series of Absolute Sundays Bank Holidays Specials. All of the chosen DJ’s will bring back the old vibes with their musical experiences.."

"The Jungle Fraternity bought over a moody atmosphere when they entered into the UK Garage scene during the end of 1996. So now we have gone for the approach of eliminating Jungle references from our scene. It was killing the club vibes here and around London" she added.

After about the going on about the state of the club scene in London and the home counties. I noticed that the club was filling up nicely now. Teams of guys and girls were streaming in the club in droves. The girls looked extremely appealing, many of whom sported a Stetson as part of their outfits. The influence of the film called the "Wild Wild West", has had a huge impact on London Girls. Or should I say the fashion that arose from it.

In the main room I was shocked on how quickly the club had come alive. However, no one was brave enough to put their foot on the dance floor. It seemed as if everybody was waiting or somebody else to do the same. The DJ was trying his best to chance that attitude. He was searching frantically throughout his boxes for the single that would see the club moving and gyrating to his musical sermon. But at the moment no such luck. I couldn’t watch this pretense any longer. I decided to check out the small back room again.

To my surprise it was packed to the rafters. Mostly with girls, who were thinking along the same lines as me maybe, who knows. The DJ that was playing there had them in the palm of his hand. It was so packed that I could even dance properly, and to make matters worse I was standing right next to a smoker who didn’t care where his smoke went. Mostly in my face.

I used this to my advantage though as about 3 feet away from me I noticed this smallish women, who as she turned around I found very attractive. Short, but stylish hairstyle and dressed in all black, figure hugging dress For some reason or another I looked at my watch. To stop me staring at her It read 11.50pm.She quickly turned back to her friend that was close by as she discovered that she had made unintentional eye contact.

However, I nodded her on the shoulder and asked, "What part of London are you from?? Why? She replied quite started. Well, I have seen you around here or and at the "Twice as Nice club in South London before". I was lying but it was one way of trying to start a conversation with her. Well, I’m form South London, so its possible that you may have seen me there, but this is the first time that I have been here" That to seem sort of break the Ice as the conversation flowed more easily after that. I told her all about me being on my own and everything like that, and she explained that she was originally from Liverpool, but had moved to London about 2 years ago.

I couldn’t get over the fact that she was visibly shocked that I had driven down here from Ipswich.

"Yeah I’ve heard of Ipswich. Its got a good football (Soccer) team haven’t they?" I smiled.( (*"Everybody knows Ipswich for their football ( Soccer) side. But we haven’t had a good side now for about 10 years. Were in Division one for goodness sake. We not in the Premiership anymore!!").

She asked what was the club scene in Ipswich like and the pubs which allowed us to chat more freely. However, she excused herself after about 10 minutes and stated that she had to go back to her friend. I agreed and stated that we could talk later on. "Time to move on Carl" I thought. The room was getting ridiculously packed. So much so that I found that I was sweating and didn’t even notice it.

After squeezing through this sardine can like room, and eventually saying my last sorries as got out of the backroom for fear of upsetting the wrong person. The air that hit me was as sweet as the being on a mountain side. The smoke, some of it illegal was unreal in there.

The sight that greeted me within the main room was a sight for sore eyes. Numerous colours and shapes were all present on the dance floors of the main room. Horns were blaring, hands in the air from ecstatic clubbers and punters alike. Where I was standing a number people were negotiating a path onto the dance floor. A nod of the head got you through on some occasions; a smile or a couple of words worked well in the ear of the Goliath who was blocking your path.

Norris " The Boss" Windross, was creating all the excitement at the moment. Preached on his musical sermon box ( The DJ area) he was in full flow. Every track for about 25 minutes brought about shouts of joy. Or the customary "Rewind Selector" or " "Touch it back"..

The girls, or should I say the pretty girls that tried to negotiate a path through this electric crowd didn’t far too well. They were hampered by being pulled up from men from ages, shapes and sizes. Some pulled them up so that they could put improper questions to them. Many of the girls smiled, and carried on through this shark infested dance waters of men, or some gave the most evilest stares imaginable to their questionnaires.

This was what London was about. I looked around and most of the bar staff where jigging as well to the anthems that were being laid down. "Addicted to Love" by Plutonic (The Remix version by DJ Disciple) really got the crowd moving. Then came "Get better with time" by Tuff/Jam. Where just two that had the crowd rocking.

I noticed that there was to be a change of DJ’s. How did I know that? Well, I could see that the terrible twins of Bobbi and Steve ( from the Zoo Experience- and Garage City fame in London) were making their way through the crowded floor to the DJ parapet. And it wasn’t easy from them either. You could see that they were struggling to get through. Eventually the club bouncers had to go into the crowds and free them so that they could get into the DJ area bay.

Bobbi and Steve in the house

Dancing just onto the edge of this arena was proving far too difficult for me even. I decided it was time for some liquid refreshment. On reaching there I found that is was 3 to 4 people deep. It wasn’t going to do me know good trying to slip in to the front of this mayhem. The size of Hercules built men in front of me made me think otherwise. They were having trouble themselves getting served. They were waving the £10.00 or £20.00 notes at the beavering bar staff. I felt sorry for them, as the punters were getting more and more agitated about not getting served quickly enough. Every once or a while whist waiting to get served a group of pretty girls squeezed past you on there way to the dance floor, which at least made the waiting more pleasurable.

Eventually I found myself at the front the queue. I nearly forgot what I wanted to drink. Then it came to me. You could see the Bar Staff wasn’t in no time for fools. So she went along to the next person along side me.

"You’ve got to be quicker than that pal", said a shaven head punter.

"Your not too far wrong" I added angrily.

She came back to me as soon as she return his change to him. I quickly ordered two cans of Red Bull. And handed over a £5.00 note, and received a pound change for my troubles.

The tunes and the anthems hadn’t stopped. I observed that Bobbi, from the Bobbi and Steve partnership was nodding his head in time with the latest floor killer that he had released to his flock. A classic. This time it was from Todd Edwards. "Saved my Life" ( Released around 1995 time). Everybody was smiling , joking and in good spirits as this was a favourite of everybody’s.

"I wish it could stay like this for the whole night", I thought to myself. I hadn’t seen any one thrown out, or taken to the side by the bouncers who were going through the heaving dance floors to see if they could nip in the bud any potential trouble spots.

I managed to grab a stool in the bar area, and rest myself for at least 10 minutes. It could have been longer that. I just took all in around me. From the couples arguing, to people dropping or spilling their drinks, to clubbers looking for someone to give them a light for that much need cigarette fix.

The next 30 minutes saw the DJ’s change again. Next up on the rostrum was Matt "Jam" Lamont from the famous Garage Tuff Jam team. He was the success of the night. He played some sceamers which let everybody forget where they were for that period of time.

I saw many people going up to shake his hand. He just smiled and got on with it. I thought that he played the most melodic set of all the DJ that were there that night. The dancers that the club put on went ( and there were 3 of them) worked over time to much the crowds pumped enthusiasm of Matt "Jam" Lamont set.

It was at that staged that I met another female. I actually bumped into her. I swear I did. I apologized, and the rest just carried on from there. She explained that she knew Matt, who was playing at the moment, and Karl "Tuff Enuff" Brown more so as she grew up with him.

She went on to explain that she also knew Dominic Spreadlove from the Speadlove nights @ the Gass Club, in The West End of London, and a host of other "known" Garage DJ’s within London. Coming from the East side of London, the area was small enough to build up a number of DJ’s that went through a number of musical stages before all ending up into Garage music.

It was interesting talking to her. She mentioned that she had just given up her trade as a fashion designer, and was going to move into becoming a Web development person. Her family were all into Computers, and her father owned a ISP in Spain.

We really did get on, and to be honest I didn’t notice the time speeding by. But she did leave to find her friends. And that gave me the opportunity to go back into the small back room again. I prepared myself for what I was about to get myself into. Smoked filled, unapologetic, unmoving crowd, where you had to apologies before you even moved an inch.

But low and behold, the crowds had disappeared. No more squashing and no more squeezing. You had room to move and to dance. Hermit was playing and he was touching on some those mid 1990’s classic Uk/Usa House and Garage tracks that sounded so good to hear them again. For instances he dropped "Colours" by Ramsey and Fen on Bug Records, Uk which I haven’t heard in a long time. For those that where there it brought back yelps of excitement, and he was asked to "Rewind" the track again.

I tried to get a closer look at what he was playing, and at on stage I did, but alas he was playing was white labels and Dub plates. Drat!!! I stayed in that room for a good hour. Nodding my head in appreciation of his tune selection and occasionally dancing. He was good. Pity that he wasn’t in the main room. This was Garage to me. He dropped "Alabama Blues" by St. Germain and Todd Edwards. It rocked then, and it rocked now.

I left that room once more, and on going into the that big room again I met up with Danny Foster, whom I shook hands with and noted that we missed him not playing in Ipswich the week before. He stated that he loves playing out side London. It makes a change to do so. He mentioned that he would be playing out of London, more so next year. That was an objective of his. I looked at my watch. How time flies when you having fun crossed my mind. It was a good event tonight.It was heaving and most people were on their best behaviour, in good spirits and enjoying themselves.

I decided it was time to leave. It was 5.15am in the morning. Most people were only just beginning to leave, but I wanted to get out of the way of the traffic that was sure to come after all this. I just wanted a clearest run as possible.. I collected my long coat, and as I was heading out I saw that girl that I had met earlier on from the East End of London. I gave her my phone number, and mentioned to call me if she was at a loose end, or if she knew of any other nights like this. I’d meet up with her. And with that I was trundling up the stairs. My legs were shot, but I couldn’t think like that I had a hours drive in front of me AT LEAST. But boy was it worth it.

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