First stop was to settle in a bit in the ‘old gits playground’ aka the 89-90 Jenkins Lane room. This is where you can hear all the original House tunes, and watch projections showing those early outdoor raves. I stayed with my friends for a while, before disappearing to the DnB/Jungle arch to check the first people on my ‘must-see’ list, Danish Mike and MC Lurch.
Danish played a great mix of classic and upfront tunes, backed up in all the right places by the non-stop-dancing Lurch. The best bit was when he dropped Taxman’s blistering new track ‘Too Bad’ Easy, now!

After that, I had to calm it down for a bit in the chillout area; seems like everyone else had the same idea 'cos I’ve never seen that room so packed! In fact the whole place was pretty full, but not impossibly so - you could still get around OK.

Decided to go for a wander, but never made it to the old skool and hardcore arenas. Raindance is such a massive rave that you just can’t get everywhere, but I’ve heard from my friend Graeme, it was rockin’ in the old skool room when Ratpack played. Not to mention the sexy girl dancers vibing up the place. Yes, mate.

By this time, I’d abandoned the ‘must see’ list, even though the place was full of helpful posters showing all the DJ line-ups.

Fancying a bit of retail therapy, I checked out the stalls in the Jenkins Lane and Old Skool arches. You can buy rave essentials like flouro jewellery, whistles and horns, badges, clothes, get a shot of laughing gas, drink tea & coffee, and the diehards can buy after-party tickets. There’s also various mix CD’s and tapes, including recordings of all the original raves from ‘back in the day’ in the Jenkins Lane arena. Me, I like my clothes: I came away with a fab new top with ‘Av It!’ emblazoned across it.

Back in the DnB arch, I caught the last couple of tracks from Junglist veteran DJ Ron. After Ron, came the most memorable set of the night: a heavy, gutsy, soulful, jump-up selection from another pioneer of the Jungle scene, Jumping Jack Frost. This DJ and producer always comes up with something fresh and new in his sets. The quality of the sound system was also spot-on - really clear vibrant bass. I just completely lost it dancing to that set.

Another good one was Viper. Like Frost, Viper’s set was also very jump-up, funky, and gutsy, with a lot of new stuff. He was backed up by two MC’s, not mentioned on the flyer - Lady MC, whose big voice rang out across the arena -and the inimitable MC 5iveO, wearing shades with lights on top, and waving a couple of fans. I liked him, not least ‘cos he kept jumping off the stage and hugging me!

Back in the chillout room, but no time to rest, ‘cos the sounds from the next room, the Can U Feel it breakbeat arch, beckoned big time. Music was from Apply the Breaks: four producers letting rip on five decks: each playing a few tracks in rotation. The tunes really hit the spot, with a seamless blend of funk, guitar riffs, heavy basslines, and lots of vocal tracks. I was just one of a lairy, happy, sweaty crowd, who kept dancing for a long time in there. To hear their highly original sound, check www.applythebreaks.com

In the furthest corner of the rave, a place I rarely venture, was the Mad Hatters House arch. The music was pumping hardhouse, and the room seemed to be full of nothing but young, energetic lycra- clad girls, who were really going for it.
I was a bit distracted by the prominent CCTV camera above the DJ decks: I pity the sad bastard who has the job of looking at all that footage of ravers enjoying themselves. Another thing was that unless you were right in front of the dancefloor near the decks, you could hear the music from the next room, whenever the DJ’s quietened it down a bit. Time to hit the bar, methinks.

I’ve been to Raindance loads of times, and the crowd is the most diverse I’ve ever seen at a rave. It’s always a good friendly vibe, with a lot of women going there, as my male friends always point out. Expect to see people aged 18-80 (well, almost!), ravers from London and outside, hippies, chavs, hard dance ravers, black, white, brown, dread heads, baldheads, all sorts of other heads. It was a good one alright. Shame if you missed it. For info on the next party, go to www.raindanceravefestival.com

Mandi Peers