View Active ThreadsCreate an account on HarderFasterLogin to HarderFaster Information for Promoters Information for Advertisers Search HarderFaster About HarderFaster Link to this Page
[HarderFaster] - Work Hard, Play Harder!
Home | News | What's On | Annual Poll | Photos | Forums | DJs | Features | Music | Venues | Reviews | Links |

  Features
Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’!
Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases!
Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme!
Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works.
Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain!
Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September!
NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases!
Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup!
Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast!
Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music!
SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023!
The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023!
NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music!
Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project
The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22!
A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden
Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma
Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino
New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik!
PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records!
Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters!
N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood!
Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna
A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022!
'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022!
DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022!
TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022!
A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London!
Goa based party animal and artist extraordinaire Nirmal talks punk concerts, metal sculptures, flying and rippin' it up on a High Tide!
DJ Wired talks to us about the Rise of the Hope and parties, ahead of his upcoming set at Tribal Village on 14th January 2022!

Knowwhere @ Heaven ... reviewed

Reported by josie / Submitted 15-12-06 00:06

Clubland has been a bit reclusive of late — trance has been dominated as usual by The Gallery, and in particular Vaccine, but other big names have kept their heads below the parapet… notwithstanding the Wildchild débâcle. The promised Trancegeneration reunion was sadly not to be, but ElectronicSessions and others have been bubbling along under the surface, and fledgling event Ascendance is taking its first steps in Kingston. I’ve been even more cloistered… and God it feels good to go out! It’s been a while, and there was a manic gleam in the eye, therefore, when we rolled up at Knowwhere’s December shindig chez Heaven.



Newcomer (to me) DJL spun a very nicely judged warm-up set incorporating some powerful and euphoric tunes, and some more laidback stuff to keep everyone guessing. A fair bit of empty space around and about the place, but it’s been a while since there’s been any packed out night at Heaven and I guess they’re just resigned to that by now. Not impressed to find that drinks are only available in plastic glasses — we’re not Milwall fans for heaven’s sake.

Upstairs in the hard house room DJGRH is banging out some crowd pleasing classics and keeping an extremely up for it crowd bouncing. I’ve a grudging affection for the sheer energy and shamelessness of hard house. No it’s not big or clever, but you can’t occupy yourself with such high-mindedness as the global energy crisis and Nietzsche every hour of every day (ahem).



There’s a noticeable upturn in pace and volume of the kick when Ian Betts takes the wheel. His set is not as euphoric as he’s played in the past, but it’s driving and dancey and no mistake. Ian takes no prisoners with his trance — not one single one — not even one cute little one to massage his feet and put his vinyl in alphabetical order. I’m a big fan of the lad and wish him all the best, and the good vibes for him are palpable about the room.

The atmosphere is nicely hotted up by this stage, with a gorgeous laser flickering robotically from the back of the stage. There’s then an extremely driving start from Dave Pearce, who continued on a banging tip for the remainder of his set. It’s totally unlike him but really quite respectable, if leaving one or two die-hard Dave fans a bit bemused. He gets full marks from me for playing Three Drives — ‘Evolution’, one of the most glorious, euphoric, underrated tunes ever written.



Upstairs Billy Bunter (who really does look like ‘the owl of the Remove’) was playing some really quite silly stuff, to a slightly thinned out crowd. Not to criticise or owt, but a lot of it was a hard dance remix of some classic. The room fills up a bit for Lisa Pin-Up, with a bit more energy and focus, although she looks a tad fed up at times. Her set gets increasingly aggressive, with the dancefloor increasingly emptying.

Lastly downstairs, Adam White and Anthony Dean finished up with their customary b2b set. Very very techy and slow from them initially, and a slightly odd flow. As time goes on their set gets a bit more euphoric and accessible, including ‘Shivers’ and the one dimensional but ace Southside Spinners — Lovestruck’,. They finish with the anthemic (but cheesy... sorry, but it is) Knowwhere tune ‘Everyday’ from Agnelli and Nelson.



All in all… a lot of fun. If I might respectfully submit though, (and other people were saying this as well, before the Knowwhere massive follow me home and beat me up next time out) it does look a bit naff being able to see the people backstage on either side of the DJ booth. It’s a bit school disco, whereas I’m sure the look they’re going for is über slick international promotion. Anyhow, if Knowwhere are cunning (which I’m sure they are) I think there’s some trance slack to be picked up in London at the moment. Line-ups to rival Vaccine’s are what’s needed, and they’ll be laughing.

Photos by kind permission of James Rae. Not to be reproduced elsewhere.
Share this :: Facebook : Digg : Stumble Upon : Delicious
Follow HarderFaster :: Twitter
Other Features By josie:
It's the Generation game featuring Agnelli & Nelson, The Thrillseekers and Lange
Peach at Heaven: Reviewed
The Gallery at Turnmills: Reviewed
The International Indoor Festival at SeOne: reviewed
The double ender: interview with trance legends Darren Tate and Mike Koglin
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
Comments:

From: STACE on 15th Dec 2006 15:10.19
Hm.

From: ~deleted1390 on 15th Dec 2006 17:00.33
Hardly glowing, but at least it is an honest perspective of the night.

From: STACE on 15th Dec 2006 17:15.07
Not accurate though.

From: minimoo on 15th Dec 2006 18:52.31
Laughs out loud:
Who gave you of all people the permission to review KW?!!
Every single comment you've made on here is a blatent reflection upon the fact that KW have requested that they didn't want any of your involvment in reviewing their events!!
You know the reasons why!!

From: misstricks on 15th Dec 2006 21:05.25
Latex Zebra- We never even saw yu there Dan! I wonder how yu would know if it were accurate?
Personally, December 2006 Knowwhere was amongst my favourites, I thought the atmosphere was awesome that night and all the dj's were on top form, congratulations and many thanks to all involved!x

From: Stevie on 15th Dec 2006 22:23.37
Thanks Josie you could always be relied upon for the gritty review eh?
For the record we weren't going for an 'uber slick international promotion' look, actually, we didn't go for any look at all, we thought there were going to be more screens and false walls up like last time, and when we arrived, there weren't, that simple really, so no crew room mean't a lot of us hanging about on the edge of the stage.

Oh, and not that anyone's going to be interested in an ex-promoters opininon any more than yours, or anyone elses, but I reckon Adam White & Anthony Dean were absolute fucking qualityThumbs up



From: ~deleted1390 on 15th Dec 2006 22:34.55
I never said it was accurate, not being there I couldn't. I just said an honest perespective.
My comment was before I realised there are obviously some issues between here and I took the review, sadly, as will many others, at face value.

What is a damn shame is that a review of an event like Knowwhere now has comments of this nature underneath it. Not deserved at all.

From: garyoptim on 16th Dec 2006 02:23.37
thats good old mark landragin and me with the sign in that pic! lol. ave it

From: Norris123 on 17th Dec 2006 00:48.18
I've obviously missed something because I can't see anything written that could have provoked some of these comments!?

Heaven has always been a nightmare club in the way of a lack of 'back-stage' amenities.

Laughs out loud @ garyptim - you nutter!

From: Lizzie Curious on 18th Dec 2006 14:32.44
Well I had a fantastic night, probably one of my most enjoyable nights I've ever had at Knowwhere! Don't forget that there is a funky room too at Knowwhere - not mentioned at all in above review :-( - and in December, alongside a set by li'l old me, the Steamin Cartel boys had the room rocking!!

Dancing at the end of the night on the stage to Adam & The Ant DJing with all the DJs and crew was the highlight of the night for me!

Re: plastic glasses, having had broken glass stuck to my shoes/a glass dropped & smashed right by me while dancing many times, I personally prefer plastic glasses in clubs.

From: HarderFaster Editorial on 18th Dec 2006 17:17.45
Minimoo you seem to have missed the point about independent journalism and good honest reviews. I've re-read this review several times now and if Josie is indeed as biased as you say she is I certainly hides it well - in fact, a lot of what she says about Knowwhere is positive and constructive. Josie's writing style is always somewhat sarcastic and she's done a great job of getting a bit of controversy going here, surely no bad thing?

It's a shame you had to bring personal issues into it Minimoo, as it certainly doesn't do you or Knowwhere any favours. But please understand, it's not about you giving someone 'permission' to review a night! If someone comes forward and wants to review an event, I'm more than happy to sort out their guest list and ideally a few drinks tokens. All our writers on HF are volunteers and deserve your support and respect. Event reviews aren't always the easiest things to write, perhaps you'd like to give it a try Emma? We're looking for a reviewer for the HF Christmas party this Saturday if you're up for it. Please email me at tara@harderfaster.net if you're interested.

From: Adam White on 18th Dec 2006 23:59.43
I just want to say I support Emma 100% on this matter - after speaking to several other promotors, it would seem they're also unhappy about how their events have been reviewed in the past

From: Toxic on 19th Dec 2006 00:10.33
Still playing the wrong mix of Everyday eh? Wink Anyway, congrats to Stevie for all his work in promoting Knowwhere! Well done mate, all the best for the future Smile

From: Craig Luck on 19th Dec 2006 08:47.29
tbh the review does seem very negative. I've only been to one knowwhere @ Heaven but would rate them as one of the best promotions about. Only last week I was saying to a friend it's the only night I intend to visit in the near future.

There's a definite dig at the line up which I think is harsh. Adam White has been the most consistant trance dj I've seen out this year and they always have a big name headlining thats a bit different. I haven't seen Dave Pearce show up at many other London gigs of late.

From: STACE on 19th Dec 2006 19:03.09
I agree with Craig, although subtle and well covered, there are definite digs in this article. Might only be obvious to certain people though.

From: K.A.R.L. on 20th Dec 2006 12:48.49
Maybe HF needs mystery reviewers, a bit like mystery shoppers. Then no one can point fingers and we can actually have someone review a party properly without fear of being lynched.

From: blondie on 20th Dec 2006 13:45.53
Nice to see a review that's not too arse-licky for a change but feel that it could have been a bit longer and more comprehensive?

From: Alan-Banks on 20th Dec 2006 22:42.45
Agreed there KARL.

From: captin tictac on 23rd Dec 2006 20:04.17
well thats won me over so im coming to check this place out for my self

From: miss marie on 26th Dec 2006 15:06.47
well i had a wicked night, thanks Knowwhere yet again for a fun, friendly and tune packed night Go go go

From: Pathfinder on 27th Dec 2006 18:20.16
I have read and re-read the review and apart from the 'stage' comments thought it was a fair description of the night. Everyone had a great night, all of the DJs played blinding sets and yes Adam and Anthony did start their set off techier than normal. I only popped upstairs a couple of times so cant comment on the hardwhere room or funky room. All in all it was a good night for me Smile

From: super_star on 4th Jan 2007 13:16.23
This is a great review

From: Max Austerity on 15th Jan 2007 11:08.27
I love this review

From: Stakker on 25th Apr 2008 13:14.27
What a bunch of miserable cunts you all are. Do you want reviews to be honest, or just some sort of regulated 'Pravda' style sycophantic bollocks?

Shame on you.

HarderFaster Jump
Bookmark and Share
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. All other content is (c) 2001-2024 HarderFaster.

Terms and Conditions | Privacy Statement | Text Mode