GATECRASHER @ GATECRASHER ONE, SHEFFIELD, APRIL 11 Crasher has come a long way in nine years. April 11th was the night that would show the world just how much of an impact Simon’s reign of terror has had on the mighty lion. After a ninth birthday party that left many doubting whether or not Crasher even had a future, the importance of this night was clear right from the start. To say that cyber is dead is perhaps something of an understatement. ‘Try hard’ culture is as much synonymous with Sheffield today as ludicrous shirts are with Judge Jules. The crowd at Crasher felt unfamiliar and, at times, a little pretentious and arrogant. It seemed a far cry from the sort of crowd you might associate with somewhere like Godskitchen or PaSSion. This probably reflects more about club culture in Sheffield than about Crasher itself, but it is ‘try hard’ culture to such an extreme that it is impossible not to notice. Times have clearly changed, and Crasher in Sheffield seems to have been forced to follow suit. The décor around Crasher clearly showed that a lot of effort had been put into the night. The lions were out in full force and the venue reflected the better side of nostalgic Sheffield clubbing. Eddie Halliwell played an early warm up set that got the place buzzing, but the problems came in trying to find a place to actually dance in. Crasher made the mistake of opting for three rooms of music instead of the usual two. Without wanting to put down Ashley Caselle’s energetic five hour set in the makeshift second room, most people were out to see the DJs on centre stage. By not flooding the music through to the rest of the venue, Crasher forced most of the sell-out crowd down into the overheated and overcrowded main room, which made for a rather sticky few hours. The problems were made worse by the sound form each room being turned up so loud that it was often possible to hear the music from more than one room at the same time. Sets from the likes of Matt Hardwick and M.I.K.E were difficult to get into for any significant amount of time due to the excessive heat and crowding, and so the atmosphere felt a little disjointed. Lange’s set failed to spark much interest and was, sadly, rather monotonous. Crasher obviously thought that Judge Jules’ performance was what everyone had come to see, and so as Ashley Caselle’s set came to an end, the music from the main room was flooded through to the rest of the venue. It would be all too easy to attack what Jules did in his set, but to focus on the negative only serves to undermine all the good that was done on the night. Jules was lazy, arrogant, complacent and irritating. He failed to show the crowd any of the talent that he undoubtedly does have. Thankfully, Jules was followed by Riley and Durrant, who delivered the set of the night. They were emphatic and enjoyable, opening with ‘Barber’s Adagio for Strings’ and not easing up for one minute as they kept everyone jumping after what had been somewhat of a curious night. The lion was back with exuberant style and most people seemed to be enjoying themselves in spite of Crasher increasingly feeling like some sort of social club. Venturing into the incredibly small Electric Box was an instant cue for glares from the so-called ‘in’ crowd, which made the atmosphere a little tense and uncomfortable. Personal grievances with the crowd aside, it was good to see that the Crasher management had listened to their devotees and made a huge effort to make the night work, even though the line up left a little to be desired. With Ferry Corsten headlining the next event on May 30th, Crasher are going some way to making up for recent mistakes and disappointments, but only time will tell how long it is going to last and what the future holds. Home > Clubland > ^top