No pictures at the moment, sorry to say (actually, if I wasn’t a lazy good-for-nothing, I could have taken some myself), but let’s press on anyway. This event had Shibuya’s DESEO absolutely packed, partly due to the whole-new-CD-release aspect, but also the variety of DJs performing. It was actually quite entertaining to see all the different kind of ravers gathered together in one small space (rather uncomfortably, it has to be said) – from the NRGetic Romancer crew who’d turned up for Betwixt & Between’s set, to the overwhelming mass of otaku-tinged Sharpnel/Shimamura etc fans, and the speedcore/Akira Death nutcases. Guld himself made an appearance too, only to dash for the exit as soon as Betwixt had finished.
I managed to stick it out until the end though, and there were some great sets from DJs that I don’t usually see that much of. Shimamura and DJ Chucky in particular played some cracking stuff, and JAKAZiD’s effort was overall very nice too. His set seemed to have a few too many breakdowns, at least in the first half, but warmed up brilliantly towards the end (even if I only knew a couple of the tunes played, to tell the truth). Buzzmasta’s set was definitely worth catching, a fantastic mix of Happy Hardcore into which he managed to sneak a couple of NRGetic Romancer-style tunes, for good measure.
As for Betwixt & Between, he did a heroic job of appealing to the different groups of ravers present. Starting off with Skybreak, he also played Dust to Dust, The Awakening and his Airwave remix. Not to blow my own trancecore trumpet too loudly, but he even used one of my mixes from NRG Monogatari 2, Hellfire remix followed by Airwave – and it was definitely nice to hear that combination through massive speakers in a club setting.
The ‘Break’ area was a welcome extra, and I escaped there on more than one occasion when the speedcore/gabber all became a bit much. In fact someone (I’m ashamed to say that I can’t remember who) was playing an excellent old-skool Happy Hardcore set that took me back to my high school days (Mental Theo, Force & Styles, you get the idea).
(Photos by kent-law/Ravin’ Beatz Japan click here for more)