Nick Leverton
nick@leverton.org
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Gosh. It's a long time since I've typed a 1990s date in the blog heading.
This Party - Plots Lost - Lost The Plot
Music: Audio Pancake - Live@LTP - 1999 uploaded by magic_teacup
You wouldn't think hilltops could be that muddy but in Lancashire anything is possible. Shamania, August 2008 was a three day festival of psychedelic trance and techno held near Pendle Hill. Although in a different place than Shamania 2006 we continued with the "camping on bare hilltops" theme, unfortunately the weather broke just beforehand after a fortnight of sun. A good time was enjoyed by all but as you see in the panorama shot we were the first high ground the weather encountered coming off the Irish Sea !
Memories of long happy nights at the Boxing Club in Reading :-) These pics must have been taken some time in 2002, give or take a year ! Sorry about the grainiess of some of the pics, I was experimenting with high speed film (result of the experiment was a decision not to use it again). Your DJs are Dark Angel and, err I forget ...
To Shefstock this weekend, for a day and a night of festivity and music. First time we've been there, but it has always looked really good in the pictures. Unfortunately we didn't plan well enough for the weather since I didn't take enough dry clothes ! But it was a great little festie anyway and I'm glad we went despite the damp. When it said "50% chance of rain", this proved to mean 50% chance that there would be 100% rain. We lost the toss but won the match with the weather as everyone seemed to be smiling and in good spirits.
We got soaked just putting the tent up and thereafter never really dried out much beyond the "muddy wreck" stage. Fortunately the place we camped was ideally located for the shape of the valley to get 3 or 4 of the major rigs in harmonious balance. For most of the night we had the pounding fast acid beats of the Preston Mad Hatters pointing down the valley from the top entrance; then a trancier rig with some deep progressive sounds - I think the Camouflage Disco - plus a world/folk/jazz stage and a dub/reggae one all mixing in - without even getting out from under our quilt. We thought the fireworks which punctuated the rain throughout the night were a particularly positive and optimistic note !
So I'm afraid we proved to be lightweight festy goers but we had a great time anyway, drinking wine and eating brioche in bed, with four or more distinct rigs somehow swirling and merging around us as if the DJs were all jamming with each other. Basically our own personal chillathon 2007 :-)
Thanks to all the relaxed friendly people involved for a great weekend and we'll see you next year !
Pictures Shefstock 2007 Baraka Chillathon 2005I wish I had been there. Credit to Digital Frog - browse his wonderful photos (NSFW).
We were sorry to miss you play, Barclay and SNAFU and all our friends. We realised on the Saturday morning that it was Psycle.
We'd had a really busy week. Had thought of doing Pure Filet(TAWTBILI), Nottingham's self-proclaimed “Filthiest Techno night” last week on Saturday (3rd), but decided we really needed to take the stairs to pieces to mend them. So Sat 3rd was spent hacking off plasterboard, which was in turn covering cracked but tough and thick Edwardian (1901-10) lath and plaster, off the back of the upper half flight, to reveal the full horror of previous owners' bodgery on the staircase (separate report to come.) Dust masks were much in evidence of course.
Naturally the 4th was spent shouting at the kids to take it slowly on the staircase, clearing up a washing basket full of sharp laths and two rubble sacks rull of misc plaster and plasterboard, wuth some more shouting at kids to take it slowly on the stairs and a bit of vacuuming. Only then was it ready for screwing on support bits, where the treads were cut far too short to reach from side to side of the stairs, and for banging back in all those staircase wedges which still had some wood to support, before cleaning up and showering for dinner time. Phew !
And all week since then it's not let up really. Work is always busy but it is looking as if we may be getting somewhere at last. More on that if and when it comes clearer. If you can have such a things as a “social life online” then I've been struggling to have one and put some effort back into newsgroups in return for all I've read and adsorbed over the years. And I owe loads of people emails including JohnM and his publisher not forgetting catching up on family news. So we had a busy Saturday too and got various other bits of d-i-y done. Come 10pm yesterday (Sat 10th) and time to think of getting ready for Psycle we were just too tired.
So we hope you all had as good a time as we did at home. Cos we had a really nice weekend ! Tune of the night for me at least was probably Duran Duran "Rio Rio" which we listened to on some TV charts show with entertaining videos, a nice followon to our opening the weekend with hours of swing, soul, rock and pop randomness from Niquid and gal via Internet radio from Psystream.net on Friday night :-)
Who was the Mystery Guest ? We think it was someone from Tribe of Frog, we loved the familiar Froggy tunes :) We danced for an hour and three quarters continuously thanks to all those wonderful swirling acid lines. And no folk barging through the dancing pack to get across the dancefloor. Who were the crew in Post Office dayglo vests ? We couldn't get away from the floor until the Frogz finished, only then could we tear ourselves downstairs to hear the second half of Barclay's excellent chillout set. It was a really good night for exorcising the frustrations of the last few months. I have never tripped the light fantastic so much to Rest Proof Clockwork in my life. The final DJ downstairs was another deck wizard, with tunes like "1200 Micrograms" to get us on our feet (in the chillout nochmal). Didn't chuck us out until 2.30 and we eventually got home at about 3am. One of the best Psycles ever I think !
A peacable weekend at Shamania enjoying top psychedelic trance somewhere near Skipton, despite being camped on a pimple-shaped shade-free hilltop with little breeze on the hottest weekend of the year !
20th-21st August, 2005. A weekend of real ale, psytrance and chilling with our friends from Baraka at a very relaxed country pub, somewhere in deepest Oxfordshire:
More Chillathon 2005 pics
Inna?State By Nick Leverton Photos by Ian Manson Article copyright © 2000 O-Reading INNA?STATE is one of those wonderful nights where there's usually someone on the dance-floor right from the beginning, expressing the music and enjoying themselves. In fact, it's usually me. The whole crowd, both the many regulars and those who visit on the strength of its name and musical reputation, are always brightly dressed, happy, smiling and welcoming. I've always liked it because you feel involved there from the moment you walk in, and it's clear that although everyone knows each other, they also want to know you and to make you part of the Inna?State family, both young and young-at-heart. With all the weather and transport problems, plus the fact that the Boxing Club has just lost its 6am licence and the promoters have had to put the end-time back to 2am, tonight could have been a bit of a flop. The event has had to be drastically cut back, losing two of the visiting DJs (Mick Chaos from Chaos Unlimited records, and JP from Horaizon). To reduce costs, the chillout marquee has also had to go, with the chillout being moved into the back of the main hall, as it used to be for Float a couple of years ago. But Out of Our Depth (O.O.O.D) are still visiting for a live set and the 100 or so dedicated party-goers who have come along are determined to 'ave it large come what may, Reading's only regular psychedelic trance night has been running for over two years now, and back in August the team successfully moved venues from the After Dark Club to the Boxing Club for their first venture into an all-night trance party. It seems a pity they have been curtailed so soon. DJ Amanita Muscaria, one-time stalwart of Lost The Plot and now a regular at Inna?State, opens with a selection of eclection to entertain and tickle the auditory taste buds. I mean, how often do you hear George Formby played out these days ? But he manages to drop a snippet in, behind and in the middle of some large, swirling psychedelic number so that you wonder what you are really hearing. Next fluoro warrior DJ Dark Angel, prime mover of the Inna?State crew, gives us a trawl through his ever changing record box, a set that works at one and the same time for the psychedelic voyagers, the tune spotters and the energetic dancers. Being a bit of all three, I appreciated it anyway. But you don't have to be deeply into esoteric psy-trance to appreciate Barclay's sets. They are as musical and danceable as you will ever find anywhere in any genre. Finally O.O.O.D., visiting from their Oxford base, dance and jig as they play a stunning live set of innovative trance tunes, involving the audience and dancers and bringing the night to a close with style and energy. But Inna?State isn't only about the music. Dooza Lighting from High Wycombe provide one of the best light shows I've ever seen at the Boxing Club (get yerself over to Wycombe to Dooza's monthly night "Magic" if you want to experience it yourself.) Fluoro hangings and decor turn the Boxing Club into a red, yellow, green and blue ultraviolet wonderland. Where will Inna?State go next, now that Reading has no licensed venue for an all night event? I don't know, but I'm going to keep my ear to the ground, because I want to be there whenever and wherever it goes. In the meantime, if you see a copy of the petition which was launched last Friday, or if you can write to the council to express the need for 6am dance licensing in Reading, please do your bit - all the regular local nights need as much support as you can give on this one.
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Inna?State |
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I can see big insects - help! |
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It's been a while since I've been Inna?State, in fact well over a year now, but the thought of them moving to the Boxing Club is an interesting proposal. I don't think it was ever really suitable for the After Dark - yeah an enjoyable time for all, but the back bar just doesn't work as a chill-out area. So, with "likkle" email reminders from Inna?State master Dark Angel including promises of UVs, massage area and a tea room (YES!), I headed off through the hell that is Reading on a Friday night - pissed up anti-social lager louts - to see if they could achieve it all. Last week's Frontier Spirit set a new standard for all nights in Reading, but even yours truly is surprised that Inna?State have managed to pull off something pretty damn good. The chill out area (the usual Ooops! tent) has been decored to the hilt, full of vibrant colours and giant insects, brought to life under the UV tubes - they even put down carpet! |
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Lunatik Fringe |
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The tent is nearly rammed by the time I turn up. The numbers there don't bode well for inside of the Boxing Club itself, but, no, there's an adequate smattering of bodies dancing their proverbial nuts off to live sounds and (computer generated) projections of Lunatik Fringe and the gloriously monickered Aminita Muscaria who got the revellers revelling by playing the Carpenters classic 'Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft'. As the night progressed, the beats got harder and faster (moving into an almost Techno direction rather than Trance) and as the floor began to fill up, my foot started twitching, but since I have two left feet I couldn't do a thing about it! |
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Wandering around, there were enough happy, blissed up faces - no beer boys or worse still cattle market fever, that seem to ruin certain nights in town - all intent on getting down to the beats, rather than attempting dodgy chat up lines etc. Unfortunately, due to my, somewhat, hectic schedule over the next week or so, I bow out early (yeah, I know - lightweight!), but I know that the next Inna?State is going to be high on my list of club priorities, maybe next time even I might shake a leg. Damn! I even forgot to get a cup of tea - next time. |
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For some reason, there seem to be a lot of pictures of mud. It was my first and probably (now) only Glastonbury, and I had a great time. I wish I'd taken more pics of the non-mud features of the festival too ... mind you most other people's pics look the same !
The original Unofficial Glastonbury site
1998 pictures at Unofficial Glastonbury.
Google for Glastonbury Festival or for more Glastonbury 1998 photos.