I went to the Ministry of Sound (Mos) on Monday night for the La Cosa Nostra Valentines day ball, the only Underground Garage/2-STEP Garage event held on that night. (Well not strictly so, apart from Asia Garage held at Bagleys). I arrived early around 10:30pm. However, what surprised me was the amount of Police at the venue. There were about POLICE Patrol 30 cars on the streets nearby, they fenced off the road outside the club, armed police were in the club forecourt and the uniformed officers were doing the frisking. Staff gave out flyers explaining that the police were tipped off about serious trouble so took all necessary precautions. In my view they went way over the top and put people off as there were simply too many police. The flyers explained they were searching for weapons and not drugs and punters would not have been arrested if found with drugs. Amnesty bins were there for punters to put stuff in they did not want police to find on them. There was no trouble inside and the venue was packed out.

I spoke to the Promoters the next day about the police. He told me they never had any problems before as it was the second LCN held at the Ministry. The Police and club were tipped off about the possible trouble and the Met did that major operation upon themselves when they heard the news. He did not ask them, so did not expect to be billed for the costs. Furthermore the venue has very tight security anyway and guns and knives could not be smuggled in any case. As there was no trouble on the night (and no serious ones at LCN's raves) he did not rule out the possibility the said 'tip off' could have been a hoax one. Either from a rival promoter or someone out to cause mischief.

It reminds me of the those major Jungle raves like 'Jungle Fever' there was always armed Police there which affected the mood. He asked me how I felt about the Police presence as sometimes it is better for them to be there than risk another pointless shooting death. My reaction was, that I did not know whether to feel safe and assured the police were there, or intimidated by the sheer numbers as if they equate black raves with trouble and violence. Bearing in mind most Police deaths, assaults, wrongful arrests etc involve black males, and also their linking of blacks with the crime of muggings, (for some reason they do not racialise crimes committed by whites, like the paedophiles) you can never be too trusting where they are concerned. He did admit they did go over the top and it tarnished the night.

Once inside the punters were up for the music and thankfully the Police presence outside did not spoil the atmosphere. I had a brief chat to 3 young ladies about this as I queued up. They weren't put off by the Police despite being initially shocked at the numbers. They have witnessed the odd scuffle due to drunkenness etc but nothing serious involving knives or guns. Even MC CKP when he arrived later on (he was at Garage Asia earlier that night at Bagleys with Karl tuff enuff Brown) spoke he thought he was at Beirut when he saw so much police. "We don't want any bad vibes to kill our scene!" he added.

For the first couple of hours punters could move freely as most of the action was in the bar zone. The main box arena was less busy. The mini box was hosted by pirate djs and was a good chill out area to rave in as it was less busy when the two other rooms got packed out later in the night. The upstairs bar was good for sitting down and relaxing. Well it was not as most of the punters wanted to get down on the floor.

Whilst doing some steps in the bar zone this tall blonde bird who could pass for a model complimenting me on my moves on the floor. Well it was some way to break the ice! we ended up talking. She was from Kilburn, West London and said she guessed straight away that I was from East London. When I asked her how could she tell, she said it was my accent. South and East London has a distinct accent whereas West London hasn't. I knew that was interesting point and ended up giving a brief synopsis as to why this came to be. The reason for the accents is that the oldest parts of the capital is East and South London, that is where the oldest buildings are situated. For instance Tower Bridge and the Tower of London is situated in the City of London which is of course to the east. The first and for hundreds of years, the only bridge across the Thames, was the old London Bridge. It had buildings and shops built on it. The reason why the City started where it was close to the Bridge was because that was the furthest point overseas trading ships could sail up the River Thames. The London docks were situated in East london (around the Isle of Dogs- it is a corruption of the word 'docks'- and Silvertown) and South London around Bermondsey. London Bridge connected east and south London. When the capital grew and redeveloped the place to be for the monied classes was the West of the capital as one notices the size of the houses in West London compared to East. The area always had a cosmopolitan image has the residents came from all around the country and Europe particularly during the Post war era and it did not have a strong historic community like the East End of London.

Tower Of London, London, England

Well she did not fall asleep and she maintained a 'polite' interest. However she said she would speak to me later, as it was valentines night. I did not see her again that night.

I also saw ( Rio Ferdinand -Westham United and England Soccer star defender ) and his mates getting down as well. They fitted in well and you would never know they were footballers. No outward signs of drunkenness or drug taking associated with some players.

Back in the main arena Mr Blakey was on the mike with Bobby and Steve spinning the decks. The room was packed when the Heartless Crew came on. They began their set with with Bob Marley's 'Natural Mystic'. Some people began rocking to the opening lines of the familiar Reggae song, however there were a few boos as some punters clearly did not want to hear too much Reggae. Well maybe they are not too familiar with the Heartless Crew because that is what they tend to do at the start of their set. When they mixed in the garage dub everyone went wild.

Bobbi and Steve
Zoo Entertainments, London, England

I popped into the Bar Zone to catch Spoony-Dreem Teem Fame rocking the place later. A lot of regulars from Twice as Nice and Aquarium night clubs were there as well. A lot of women in there too! I got talking to a couple who could again pass for models, one blonde and a tall brunette, who were from south London. Well I later bumped into them in the chill out bar upstairs. I complimented them on their appearance especially the tall one, and made some comment about how the wonderbra is very popular now, veiled reference to the outfit she was wearing. Her mate then intervened and said it is not the 'wonderbra' but she had her boobs done with implants! "I bet you don't want to know her now!" she joked. I honestly said that did not put me off and she still looked very nice, otherwise I would not have spoken to her. They of course knew this as they were attracting the attention of many men in their. Maybe they spoke to me as I was not trying to chat them up. I strictly go out to party and rave not to pull!

We discussed music in general and the heavy police presence outside. I did raise the point how the law's over the top tactics at Black raves and how they and certain sections of the press seem to associate them with trouble. Perhaps they have a fear of places with too many black males. The only people one would suppose to be fearful would be the women. There were a lot of white women and others from other nationalities present, who clearly were not afraid or intimidated. The ladies agreed they were not frightened and did not seem bothered about the colour of the blokes there, unlike the press and the police. They just went out to party and enjoy themselves. Food for thought. Perhaps Sociologists could argue living in a white male dominated society they would have nothing to fear around around black males who do not have much control or influence in society apart from areas of music or sport. Those industries are controlled by larger corporations headed by white males at boardroom level. Well they soon got bored by sociological insights. Maybe the press and police should speak to ordinary clubbers like them before racialising crimes or heavy handedness at clubs.

Later on the dancefloors, Norris "da boss" Windross rocked the bar zone and did the final set which started at 4 am. The main arena was still packed to the rafters as everyone crowded in to hear EZ. The short bloke is in demand now having signed up on Kiss 100 monday nights 2-4, he also has a garage album coming out. The award winner is a big crowd puller.

All in all it was wicked night despite the police presence. La Cosa Nostra have been at the forefront of holding Garage raves since the scene started. The promoters deservedly given an award for services rendered at the recent Garage awards on Saturday 19th February, 2000.

Send in any comments that you may have about this, or anything that has captured your eye when wondering through the site. Hope to hear from you soon...