17th October 2008 : Hospitality, Valve & Andy C @ Custard Factory

With such a stupid line up at the Custard Factory on Friday it was
bound to be heaving and the music was bound to be heavy. With the soul
shaking, ear drum destroying Valve sound system powering the pool,
Hospital records hosting the Med bar and Eardrum Dubstep in room 3
things really did go off.

I arrived shortly after the doors opened at 10:30 to avoid any
ridiculous queuing and chilled in the Kitchen for an hour or so until
Dillinja was on in the pool at 11. As 11 o’clock came there was still
plenty of room in the pool for some stupid skanking and this is what
proceeded. Dillinja came with the bangers, plenty of familiar tunes
and couple of new surprises in there as well, Shining a strong
favourite for me!

Midnight brought “the executioner” Andy C, renowned as the best drum n
bass DJ for his unbelievable ability to mix, he was down for a two
hour set with partner in crime MC GQ> Personally I’ve lost a bit of
faith in Andy over the past year finding his two hour sets a little
boring, obviously they still have that amazing mixing but his
selection just seems to be letting him down and the same old tunes and
same old Ram classics just seem to be coming out the bag.. the crowd
thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it though. Don’t get me wrong there
were some highlights including Logistics - Together and Chase & Status
- Smash TV but other than that nothing remarkable.

After than dipping into the Med Bar to catch a bit of Nu Tone, playing
a little differently to the normal Hospital stuff, including some
disgusting Dubstep-esq tune??

Hopped over to the Kitchen to catch Jason X’s debut set, a purely cdj
set raised my eye brows at least, but he did well dropping some
serious bangers and kept the room bubbling. The next few hours were
really a wait for Plastician at four. Time passed slowly with Lemon D
on the Valve doing nothing special followed by Bryan G who decided to
bring UNCZ to the party which was definitely not a good look.

After chilling with Blaise, Grace and JP inside for a bit, 4 o’clock
came and went. Finally at 4:30 Plastician stepped up and absolutely
smashed through the next hour, working through all the familiar hits
from his Rinse show only 10x’s better live and with the added support
of SP:MC. Tune after Tune I skanked so hard to Jakes/Joker - 3k Lane,
Nero - This Way and plenty of others until Plastician finally brought
the curtain down with Japan and Intensive Snare. By then the vocal
support had switched to Stamina MC now and the “are you stupid in the
face” lyruc echoed around the arena a MASSIVE MASSIVE set from
Plastician.

My night was done, I’d seen everyone I wanted to see so we jammed for
a bit with Emile in the kitchen then headed home, Another huge night
from Broken Minds and Breakthru.

Words By Witts (bntl.co.uk)

Photos By Alina Ha

UltraExcentric Warehouse & Garden Rave Ft. Paolo Mojo, Fergie, Tim Sheridan, Deepgroove, Gavyn Mytchell, Ben Nott @Rainbow Warehouse Nov 22- Bham 9-6am

This is the big one…

If you have not yet been to the Rainbow Warehouse then this is a must, the venue is amazing and this line up is the biggest we have done in a long time, this will be mental…

Ultra+ & Excentric present

“ULTRAEXCENTRIC”
A spectacular event of mammoth proportions!

(more…)

9th October 2008

Wax:On @ The Rainbow Warehouse

Wax:On have been have been running successful nights in their hometown of Newcastle, as well as Leeds for sometime now. MixMag were nice enough to award them 2nd best nightclub in Britain in 2006, beaten only by the mighty Fabric (London).

It’s about time then, that they brought some of this magic to Birmingham, and with a huge line up of quality and genuinely “Live” acts booked, there was no doubt that this launch was going to be a big one.

Headling the night were the mighty Late of The Pier, and with recent NME front cover features, are certainly a band in the spotlight at the moment. No surprise also then, that Late of the Pier’s producer, Erol Alkan was in tow to provided Dj support (and who knows, maybe to be fiddling all the EQ’s behind the desk?).

This in its own would surely be enough of a line up to ensure a mob of neo spangled ravers raising the roof all night, raising some dust whilst sporting the most retro of all Nike High Tops. All that’s left to do is chuck in a few a few hardworking resident Dj’s to provide some fill before the main acts? Not likely, as this really was a “presents..” night worthy of the description. In support we had such fine acts as Midnight Juggernauts, Michachu, Simon Bookish and Wax:On residents People Get Real.

In essence the night ran more like a miniature festival, with 4 quality full live acts on the main stage in the warehouse. The stage was covered in a mass of undulating wires, synths, miniKorgs, guitars, drums, odd boxes with many a blinking light, and of course the sort of uber stylish hip ladies and gents (artists) that would make even the most hardened Hoxton resident feel like he’s not making an effort.

I get the feeling the set times were jiggled around a bit for various technical reasons, as Erol Alkans set, which was slipped in just before Late of the Pier graced the stage at a very *yawn isn’t it bedtime?* 2:30am, seemed a little out of place.

The crowd were up for it though, and both Midnight Juggernauts and Micachu were very well received. Late of The Pier were a climatic end to an action packed night, and despite following on from very strong support sets, still managed to set themselves apart and set the crowd alight. Plenty of people knew every single word of every song played and were happy to sing along, which shows a pretty dedicated fanbase.

In the beach garden area of the rainbow warehouse, Bigger than Barry played host throughout the night. I couldn’t quite grasp the style of things out there, as the music seemed to be going for an all round party medley than focusing on any particular style. Nevertheless, the area is always a very welcome break for chilling out and relaxing under the arches, and is a real winning feature of the club.

Wax:On will be back in Birmingham in the new year, next time for something a little more Dj / Nightclub orientated. They’ve made a big splash in Birmingham, and we really can’t wait for the next one!

Words / Photography :: Tom Horton

D Joust - Midlands Heats, 6th September, Rainbow

The Midlands Djoust heats kicked off at the Rainbow back in August, and the second heat was held last sat 6th September. Dj RCaine (Russ to his friends), is a top notch dj and was host to the midlands heats, from previous experience we knew we were in for a quality nights entertainment and hard wax grooving.

Dj’s battled it out in the Rainbow’s very own courtyard, and played a varied mixture from Jackin’ House to Minimal and Techno. Competition was tight, and not suprising since they were all battling for a place in the next stage of the competition, taking place in London.

Keeping score were experienced Dj’s and judges, Boogie Dave, Viny Kohli and Russ RCaine. Bass6 worked hard all night providing MC support.

Up to battle were EnigmatiK (Worcester), DJ Adam Horton (West Midlands), MissB (Barnsley), DJ Chris Kitchen (Mersyside) and Shep (Newcastle).

The judges were in for a tough time, as every single one of the Dj’s smashed the crowds with tight, thoughtful and creative sets. However, after a tight fight, and lots of pondering and adding up of numbers, it was MissB who was crowned best of the Midlands/North and is now getting ready to skip down to London to continue her quest for the DJoust 2008 title.

Photography: Alina Ha

New Era opens flagship store in Birmingham

New Era has opened it’s second european flagship store right here in Birmingham,

For those of you not familiar with the brand, New Era has been around since the 1920’s, and introduced it’s legendary  “59FIFTY” cap in the 1950’s. New Era supply many of the worlds leading sports, and since 1994 has been the official supplier of headwear for Major League Baseball.

These days New Era supply just about every kind of variation in design you can imagine, and work with numerous designers, musicians, and sports teams to bring a whole wealth of choice for even the most discerning hat connoisseur.

New Era design, make, and sell a huge variety of headwear, and the store is lined top to bottom with row upon row of vibrant and funky caps. Prices are pretty consistent across the range (around £25-£30), but some specialist caps can fetch as much as £200!

The staff are super helpful and friendly, and pay wonderful attention to detail. The layout of the store is immaculate, you can see them get edgy everytime they notice a cap slightly out of place. Not only content with having every cap under one roof, they also offer a great selection of T-Shirts.

The new store is located on the already pretty cool Corperation street, right in the heart of Birmingham’s city center. So get on down, you’ll not be dissapointed.

20th August 2008 Emerica visit Ideal Skateshop

Ideal Skateshop has found a new home at the custard factory, complete with its own mini ramp!

On Wednesday 20th August, some of the UK and Euro Emerica Team dropped in for a session on the ramps, joinen by a fair few locals. Here are some pics.

The ramps are run on a members only voluntary sort of basis, anyone wanting to skate is asked to pay a membership fee. A few quid in the pot everytime you turn up and you are free to skate away.

Ideal is open 10.30 am - 6.00 pm Monday through to Saturday and 12 Noon - 4.00 pm Sundays. But as they say on their website: “these times are not rules. just guidance. Please don’t grumble if we are a little late. we’re not the bank of England, we are a skateboard shop…Thanks”

9th August 2008 Ultra+ with Dan Ghenacia & Deepchild (live)

It had been a wet week in August, and everyone on the street looks depressed. Maybe things will dry up for Saturday, and we can break out the BBQ, crack open a can and try to recoup some of our lost summer with a night of fun at the Custard Factory?

However the rain was relentless, and even the thought of going outside to get such essentials as bread and bog roll seemed like things we could put off forever. What is it with British weather, or more to the point, what is it with our hope that it’s going to ever turn out nice?

Thank goodness then, that Ultra+ teamed up with Bristol based Empathy on the 9th August to battle through the dismal rain and bring some super summer vibes to the Custard Factory.

Once again Ultra+ transformed the rather dull interior of the Factory club into and an all singing all dancing light and laser show, with sparkled silver drapes running down the length either side. The center piece being the now trade mark appearance of Shiela and her now over protective boyfriend hanging from the ceiling - who watch over ravers, rather like cupid gone wrong.

Ultra+ regulars Steve Carter, Tanner Jarvis and Ben Nott did a great job of warming up the crowd in the main room, building up some great energy. By the time Ben span his last track and unplugged his headphones, the crowd were eager for headliner, Parisian king of techno, Dan Ghenacia to take to the decks and take them off into a world of luscious minimal techno.

Unfortunately things never really kicked off for Dan Ghenacia, and the crowd, now feeling rather frustrated, went in search of something else they could splurge their hours of built up groove all over. By the time Deepchild plugged in his array of exciting midi controllers and flashing boxes, there was not much left for him to impress - which is a shame, because I really do think he has a lot to offer.

Thankfully the people from Empathy were not going to let anyone down, and the outside pool mezzanine area soon became the focus point of the night. Hidden through banks of thick thick smoke, was a great lump of people dancing to the sounds of Empathy’s residents, with Jim Rivers and Stuart Wilkinson both providing top quality sets.

Some respect should be given to all the people who braved the rain and got their legs down on the night. The weather did put a bit of a dampener on an otherwise faultless night.

Ultra+ is returning to the Factory in October, so keep ‘em peeled!

Words / Photography Tom Horton

Taste Of Birmingham Food Festival  11-13th July 2008

Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston

This four day culinary extravaganza showcased the best of local restaurants, local farmers and suppliers, and entrepreneurs. The idea was to highlight the culinary expertise present in Birmingham and give recognition to some of its great restaurants and suppliers.

Sprawled across the central area of the park were wine and cheese tasting tents, cooking displays and marquees serving food from the best restaurants in Birmingham. Simpsons in Highfield Road, Edgbaston served up small tasters of such dishes as Scallop Dumplings, Mushroom Wellington and Chocolate and Orange Biscotti. Festival goers could purchase these dishes with a certain amount of crowns, which was the festival currency. People had to exchange their money for crowns upon entry to the festival, which seemed rather strange and pointless to me, especially as all the vendors had to pay a fee for exchanging these crowns back into hard currency after they were taken.

People flocked around the few stalls with free samples, such as cheese and olives, which were excellent. However, there weren’t enough free samples and too many local sellers were unwilling to promote their produce with samples. I think it would help them much more in the long term to provide a few free samples. People might feel a bit short changed having to pay for everything inside after spending twelve pounds on a ticket. It was also strange to see that Purnell’s, probably Birmingham’s most famous restaurant, was not represented at the festival at all.

However there were some excellent displays, interesting stalls (the game stall being a personal favourite) and gadgets, like the self twirling pasta fork. So, interesting and a nice atmosphere, and some beautiful food and drink, but a little strangely organised and I would have liked to see a bit more value for money in the experience as a whole.

Adam Moffatt

Photos:

03/05/08 Drop Beat Not Bombs

Drop Beats Not Bombs @ The Rainbow..etc

This latest Drop Beats managed to recapture the magic that has been a little lacking in recent Drop Beats Events - it was reminiscent of those crazy early days. The whole street closed down and several venues and spaces joined together to raise awareness for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Campaign Against Arms Trade. Highlights included the Stage Bus which is a converted double decker bus / mobile sound system that can blow your trousers off- and the Rainbow Warehouse which boasted the almighty Trigger Sound System and the mind bending holographic visual interface. The beach area was also a real winner, it managed to give the whole event an almost festival feel - someone mentioned the term “blissed out”, and I think that pretty much sums its up. As with most events, one of the biggest factors that can determine a good time is the sort of people and crowd that turns up. Drop Beats was a place full of happy, smiley, friendly people - and I don’t mean the kind that have had one or two many liquorice allsorts towards the end of the night, but the genuine people you always hope to meet at a gig.

Photos / Words Tom Horton