I went to the One Night Stand Ayia Napa Reunion, held at Bagleys on Friday 8th October,1999. Bagleys is one of the largest venues in London, England with a 3000 capacity, and is the home of Freedom on Saturdays. What a night. All 4 Arenas were packed out.

What a line up, all the leading DJs and MCs on the Garage scene were there who tore up the "One Night Stand's" residence at "Emporium" in Ayia Napa in Cyprus early this year ( Please read the Club reports of my adventures in Ayia Napia,Cyprus on this web site. Go to the CLUB PAGE LINK to find out more.). I saw many faces from Napa and we had a ball.

However if I had to make a criticism or rather, an observation, it would be the music style. All 4 arenas played mainly 2 Step garage. It was getting a bit monotonous in my opinion, as Paul King Productions (promoters of A One Night Stand) refer to the music on adverts and flyers as 'Speed Garage', to the annoyance of purists who saw it as a media created label. The crowd were loving it just the same. In the Chill out arena, they did drop the original and faster '4 To The Floor' aka Speed Garage. What I did find strange was hearing the DJs and MCs calling it the 'Old Skool' sounds.

Well at one of the major garage promotions this clearly signified how the music is now changing once more. Tunes which were staples or regarded as industry standard a couple of years ago are now seen as 'old skool'. I can not claim ignorance on this trend because I have noticed the changes over the past 18 months, how more and more 2 step records were becoming more popular. This was happening before 'Chocolate Boy' broke through and became a English national number one. I have noticed how leading DJs like TuffJams and Dreemteem began playing a lot of the slower r&b influenced 2 step.

Some say it evolved out of the UK Garage scene. The main clubs: Twice as Nice, Cookies & Cream, Pure Silk and Bliss all had 2 rooms, the main one playing Garage and the other playing RnB soul and swing. They both had a cult following. Some say a turning point was Tina Moore's massive hit, 'Never let you go'. That record was originally an unreleased garage recording which had always caused a storm on the underground garage circuit. When released and after many remixes, a swing version came out which was popular to both audiences. So one can see how the 2 step merged out of the two styles. This should not be surprising because the 'Speed garage' evolved out of Jungle, (after it exploded apparently overnight spread of into many directions splitting into drum and bass).
The correct term should in fact be 'slow jungle'.

Well I am a so called purists if that is the correct term to use. I got into the scene because I liked the faster and funky 4 to the floor beats and basslines, characterized on garage anthems like 'As I am' by Todd Edwards,USA and 'Give me Good love' 'New Experience' by Tuff Jam, England etc. Now I am hearing these gems referred to as 'Old Skool'.

Perhaps its the sign of the times as the music is moving on and not standing still. I can remember when all the London illegal pirate radio stations played jungle and the Leisure Rooms in London was home to Metalheadz, Jungle night before Cookies and cream took over promotions and played Underground UK Garage. In those days the Garage scene was finding itself in the smaller rooms to a cult audience who were into the music. Now all the Illegal Pirate radio stations play 2 Step garage. 4 to the floor is becoming very rare. On the club scene, Paul K's 'A One Night Stand' on Saturdays at the Gas Club, London, England have changed its radio adverts on the pirates. He uses that word 'Old Skool' to describe the said faster beats of yore, before 2 Step Garage. Well maybe I should not be too hard on 4s to the floor. There are some mixes which are still popular such as Daryl B's 'Plantet Fat' and the Dreemteem's 'Buddy X' which features Neneh Cherry. However the latter's slower remix tends to get the airplays. Those who like the faster original format, have to look out for the smaller rooms playing 'old skool'.

Does it mean Jungle or Drum and Bass will be making a comeback, as those disillusioned with 2 step return? It has less vocals more heavy beats with mcs. That scene is slowly finding itself again after exploding too rapidly some would say for its own good which of course gave rise to Underground Garage. However it lost a lot of its appeal, after a lot of the main raves such as Jungle Fever, became associated with violence and shooting incidents as the odd crackheads were known to attend. Well some of them have crossed over to garage and some similar incidents have began to take place. I have heard it said that the atmosphere and vibe is due to the scene moving away from the "loved up" Ecstasy vibe, (which thrived under the communal 4 to the floor) to Champagne and Charlie (Cocaine) suited to posers out to impress.

Well for the "Loved Up Vibe maybe house/trance may offer an alternative. However that scene has suffered a knock recently in the press. The much hyped super club The Home which recently opened in Leicester Square, London has been the scene of several mass brawls, inside and outside the club, after the MOBO awards- UK Black music awards. Police were called and and it has been reported they may appeal against the club having its rave license renewed when it is up for renewal in November. Well try the Ministry of Sound, London, England(if you don't mind queuing for an hour and being around tourists) or Turnmills, London, England on Fridays.

Well I don't have any answers to the evolving music scene. Maybe I have got the wrong end of the stick, but I do know the music is definitely changing.

Soloman has put down a few pointers here. What do you feel about them? Please reply if you would like to via these e-mail address below.

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Solomon Malcom, London, England and Carl Brown, Ipswich, England.