Rave: Hardcore Heaven

Date: Saturday, 24 August 1996

Production: m&m productions, Hardcore Alliance and Teknosis

Venue: Started off at the old Film Studios in Redfern (19 Birmingham St, Alexandria), was shut down and the party moved to Graffiti Hall

DJs: Paul Holden, Spellbound, Subzero, Tymez II, Cloud 9, Akira, Geoff da Chef, Shade

Description: The venue for this rave seemed too good to be true (and it was). It was a warehouse-type place on a small street at Alexandria. I got there just after 11pm, the time it was meant to start, and outside the venue there were already a few police cars. No-one was being allowed inside, and the lights were on in the venue. We all waited, and waited.. until it was finally announced that the rave was to be shut down (before it even started). The disappointing part was that the promoters had advertised continuously that the rave was fully 100% legal and council approved, but obviously this was a total and direct lie. There was a whisper of the rave being relocated at the Graffiti Hall of Fame, about 2km away. So off we went to the next venue.. and waited for the organisers to get the key.. and waited for the sound and lighting equipment to arrive.. and waited for it to be set up. Finally it was all set up, and the music started. About 5 minutes later the first police car came past and saw what was happening. After 10 minutes or so another car came, and then another.. Within the next half an hour, around 20 more police cars and 50 or so police officers turned up to shut the venue down. The turned the music off, and tried to make all the ravers leave. But some people had the idea that if everyone sat down, then it would be a virtual impossibility for the police to remove them all.. so they screamed out for everyone to sit on the floor, and everyone did. It was quite hilarious – all the officers had a dazed and confused look on their faces not knowing what to do next. This lasted for half an hour, when I then decided to go home – I don’t know what actually happened after this, but I’m sure it would have been interesting. As I never actually went inside the venues (except when a lot of people charged in at one point), I still have my non-refundable ticket – what a waste of 24 bucks that was! This gets a 1 out of 10 for the nights humour it provided me with (and the fact that the first venue *looked* good from the outside). LATE NEWS: The party actually did continue, all the tonnes of police actually left! So a couple more points for this one.. a 3 out of 10. I heard the sound quality was pretty crap though.