Ah, now this is disappointing – I was looking for news on the next Hardcore Tano*C event, and it turns out that it’s this coming Saturday afternoon, at Shibuya’s Amate-raxi. Once again, work will make that impossible…I was especially hoping to catch Betwixt & Between, Alabaster and USAO’s sets. No Umbrella this time, which is a shame after he played at the last event in Osaka. Perhaps I’ll check if any of the sets get recorded, they always seem to take a ton of video at these events, so it’s possible.

It’s been a YouTube frenzy recently, and here are a few more videos to eat up your idle moments. The first one is predictably me, playing Substanced and Grimsoul’s Harder Than U Think. I love this tune, and it went down really well with the crowd, helped no doubt by my *cough* carefully choreographed arm waving etc. Not quite Betwixt yet, am I?

The second video is a great glowsticking performance during Stanfield’s gabber set. This kind of atmosphere is why I love Hell’s Gate and NRGetic Romancer – it really is ‘otherwordly’ kind of stuff. Check IBM8001’s YouTube page for videos of KA-NA, Raithm and Stanfield (but no Zio, sadly).

Right, first the bad news – at the last possible minute, Hellraiser pulled out. There was a little bit of confusion as to exactly why, but Zio decided to go with the regular Hell’s DJs rather than getting another emergency backup guest in. It turned out to be a good choice, as although the attendance was nowhere near what it would have been otherwise, all the DJs pulled out the stops to give some great performances. Alongside the dance performances and glowstickers, it was a pretty spectacular event. Thanks to Hellraiser’s cancellation, I was shifted further down the schedule, playing again about halfway through the night (after Raithm/Minagi and before Stanfield).

We had plenty of time to get things set up pre-event this time (even if everyone except myself and VX Pasta were later than expected…), and so no troubles on that front. Warming up the crowd was DJ M.K.T, who played fairly pacy hard house with hardstyle and even gabber elements. I’ve only seen him play a couple of times before, but this was the best of his sets so far and a nice way to get things going.

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Here’s a video I came across the other day, taken during the last NRGetic Romancer (which I still can’t believe that I had to miss, the first one for a year and a half). Betwixt is playing Reincarnation, and it gives a great idea of the atmosphere during his sets. People aren’t leaping around too much, but that tends to be the case when Reincarnation is played these days, everyone knows that it’s hard work to dance through the whole track…

And here’s some rare video of Cogi, taken at the same event – but what’s he playing? I don’t recognise the tune. Anyway, check out other videos by this YouTube user (IBM8001) to find some footage of Guld and Yousuke, among others.

As a preview to his set at next month’s NRGetic Romancer, Android Lime has come up with a very nice promo video, using some footage of Betwixt & Between/Guld, as well as the DJ X remix of his new track, Robot Noize.

The Hell’s 1st Anniversary flyer has finally been announced, and it’s another impressive one. I’ve only just realised that there will be a Scouse! Tokyo event taking place on Cube’s 4th floor as part of Hell’s Gate itself – and so the flyer had to accommodate both of the lineups, but still manages to look great (despite the slight typo down the bottom there).

I’ll have to check, but I think people on the guest list will be getting in for 2500yen – anyone who happens to be in Tokyo at the end of the month, definitely feel free to get in touch. The timetable hasn’t been completely finalised yet, but it’s looking like all of the DJs will play for around 40mins this time, to make room for Hellraiser’s headlining set. I’m still very much picking the tunes at the moment, but there’s time…

Anyway, click for the event information, and for the other side of the flyer> Continue Reading