Godskitchen Global Gathering - 26th July 2003 Danny and Miss Chichi’s world tour – part two The world tour ran into the great Global Gathering. Finally, after months of waiting for the day to come it had arrived. Despite cynics complaining that the line up wasn’t especially creative, the anticipation running up to the big day had been immense. This was to be the big clubbing event of the Summer: an all out, no holds barred, 15 hour session of the highest calibre. With Homelands clashing with many peoples’ exams, and Creamfields set to be overrun by scallies, this was all set to be the pinnacle of the Summer months. Clubbers were greeted at the festival site by suspicious looking people selling all sorts of glow-sticks, cameras, bottles of water and whatnot. Bemused partygoers would have most of what they had bought from the scallies thrown away by security. The buzz around the big day was of the unfortunate forecast of rain, which everyone played down, suspecting it would hold off and be sunny for the most part. The tides of furry boots and white trousers queuing up outside obviously believed this. As we queued, everyone silently hoped as hard as they could that it wouldn’t rain. The sun had been beating down in the morning, but as 4 o’clock drew nearer, the clouds made their presence felt and the first few drops of rain began to fall. Nothing to worry about, we all thought to ourselves. The gates finally opened and the laborious process of frisking and bag searches began. Everything from water to glow sticks, from sandwiches to deodorant was confiscated by security. Slightly hopeful drugs amnesty boxes were scattered around the entrance, and the wishful police shouted to remind us that this was our last chance to hand over any drugs. Nobody listened, and nobody used the boxes. A handful of playful sniffer dogs tried to catch us out, and one hapless clubber was sniffed and then dragged away by the police. Watching the sniffer dogs sniff passers by was even more exciting than watching Big Brother. Finally, the gates opened, with the rain still falling. A quick visit to the toilets revealed numerous condoms, proving that sniffer dogs can, in fact, be fooled, and also stamping a line underneath the fact that there is nothing substantial that anyone can do about people taking drugs, which we all know anyway. By this point, the worrying feeling around the site was that it wouldn’t stop raining, and sadly, it didn’t. The rain poured and poured non-stop until nightfall. Mud quickly formed and the whole site was transformed into the muddiest field I have ever seen. A few carefully placed jumps around the site later, and it became apparent that there was little to no chance of anyone keeping clean and dry. Everyone soon gave up this vague hope and trundled on regardless, ruining many an outfit and putting a dampener on the atmosphere. There was no way a little rain and mud would totally spoil the night, but it did bring every down considerably. The realisation quickly hit that, as predicted, phones wouldn’t work inside the site. The rain caused much confusion for meet ups, and though, by chance, we found two of our friends early on, we lost them again soon after. Unable to find or get hold of anyone else we knew, we were left to our own devices, which suited us fine as we darted about from tent to tent. The drum 'n' bass tent was rocking heavily to some real thugged out beats. A lot of people had come to Global just for the drum ‘n’ bass tent, and it was clear why. The floor was packed and the atmosphere typical of a quality, trouble free, rave. It was nice to see the occasional cyber kid brocking out to the beats, mingling with all the junglists and rude boys. We made a brief stop at the absolutely rammed Sundissential tent, but thought it wasn’t really for us. To really get into hard house it’s nice to have a little bit of space to yourself, and it was clear we wouldn’t get any here. The atmosphere was typical of a hard house crowd. The no nonsense, hard as nails vibe wasn’t too welcome at this point. We had a brief look at a handful of other tents, and had a little play at the Bora Bora beach, which wasn’t quite as big as I had been expecting. The sand was wet, but there were numerous beach balls to kick, so it wasn’t all bad. The party at the beach was warm and vibrant, and was a nice place to hang out for a bit. Medicine8’s excellent live set was refreshing and punchy. X-Press 2 were next up, and their progressive, slightly monotonous style did absolutely nothing to lift the mood. Technically they were faultless, but the general X-Press 2 sound is much like Sasha’s, in that to really appreciate it you have to be able to get really into it. It just wasn’t to be, as twitching, dark beats rolled slowly out of the system. We took this as our cue to have a little wander around the site. It was still cold, wet and endlessly muddy. The fun fair didn’t appeal too much at this stage, and we had seen all the stalls already at Glastonbury. Food and drink was especially expensive this year, as always. A round of a can of Stella and a can of Strongbow would have set you back £7. Luckily, there were multiple free samples of a yoghurt drink, iced tea and Strongbow to be had at regular intervals, which was a welcome treat. Upon enterrting the Godskitchen tent, hedonists were greeted by a spectacular sound, light and visual show, complete with fire dancers. This was clearly the most extravagant, atmospheric tent of them all. The floor was bustling and the air which filled with huge amounts of expectation as we caught the end of Mistress Barbara’s set, which sounded surprisingly good. Tiesto, the world’s number one DJ and figurehead of the trance music scene was about to take to the stage. Anyone expecting a run og the mill, predictable trance set would be in for a shock. Tiesto is different. As he romped his way through the set of the night (by far), it became quickly apparent that Tiesto is a class act. His tune selection was thoughtful and invigorating, and he dropped the tune of the night in the form of a remix of Radiohead’s Street Spirit, which went down an absolute storm, sending shivers down everybody's spines. When you can listen to a DJ and buzz off of the music alone its such a better thing than any chemically assisted attempt. After Tiesto’s monumental set, a trip over to the Sundissential tent was in order. Lisa Lashes was totally ripping up the dance-floor with her usual charming blend of tough beats and glaring sounds. The visuals at the Sundissential were probably the best out of all of the tents, as they really summed up the feel of what was going on. Enthusiastic and dangerously entertaining, it’s always a pleasure to see Lashes play out. Sweat rained down from the ceiling and everyone stomped hard. We didn’t stay for too long, though, as Sister Bliss was on at the Gallery. As always, her set was thumping and totally in your face. Tall Paul was next up, and though his sound can be a little bland, he dropped Nalin and Kane’s Beach Ball and a remix of Meet Her At The Love Parade, which made everyone smile. Armin Van Buuren was next to play in the Godskitchen tent. His set was a little bit of an anti-climax having not long ago seen Tiesto, and it all felt very tired and samey. He was good, but it wasn’t long before most people started to lose interest. Carl Cox awaited in the Global tent. By this time, everyone was covered in mud and feeling the strain a little. The rain had stopped and it was fairly warm, but it was quite a mission trekking from one place to another. On our travels we saw a few club casualties being rushed off to receive medical attention, which is always at least a little disturbing. Hopefully nothing too tragic happened though. The mood around camp was a little dejected, but for one night only we would be at Global Gathering and so there was no point in dwelling on the downside of the night. Global Gatherers simply had to make the best out of what they had, and Carl Cox certainly helped. A jam packed Global arena saw Coxy provide a seminal demonstration in dirty, dirrrty techno beats. Carl Cox is as distinct on the decks as he is in appearance, and you really get something from seeing him play out. Marco V's set was interesting and bright, but as the night drew on, the will to dance gradually slipped away. The atmosphere around the whole site really dropped around 4 a.m. and it was clear that people had started going home, as the arenas were a little emptier than before. Everyone was still having fun, but instead of the expected gleaming white teeth smiles, people were looking a bit disappointed. Miss Chichi had one final stomp to Ferry Corsten and then gave up for the night, sitting down and resting after a long, tiring day. Ferry was on top form, dropping anthems like BBE’s masterpiece Seven Days and One Week and Digital Punk, which got a chorus of half hearted ‘Duh Duh-Duh Duhs’ from the crowd. Sweat continued to drip on our heads, and as it got to just gone five we were exhausted after around thirteen hours of non stop dancing and skating around on mud from arena to arena. After wandering the mud stricken streets for a little while, taking in the sites once more, we felt satisfied that we had made the most out of a fairly gloomy day. We took on Global Gathering to the best of our abilities and came off muddy and satisfied. The Bora Bora beach became the place to be for worn out clubbers to congregate and rest, reminiscing of everything that had just taken place. From the beach we could hear Nicky Blackmarket rolling out jungle anthems like Chopper, Original Nuttah and Twist ‘Em Out. We settled down for a while and then after one final stroll around the airfield, we went back to the coach at about 6.30 a.m. All that was left would be sleep, cleaning our shoes and trousers and trying get it together before Monday morning came round. Overall, it was a good night. It wasn’t the best night, and no doubt was a little steep with the whole night draining funds considerably. It was memorable, though, and to be part of it was something very special. Much fun was had by all, and though we hadn’t managed to find and hold onto anyone we knew, it didn’t matter because we had our own little bubble of fun that nobody else was allowed into. Bizarrely, just as it didn’t start to rain until we walked through the entrance, so it decided to be gorgeously sunny about the same time we got back on the bus. The cyber gods were evidently not happy with something. The bus trip back was silent with everyone either asleep or in a state of general mass confusion. After months of waiting it was over in a flash and before we knew it we were looking forward to next year’s event, which will hopefully be bright and sunny. Top five highs: 5. Hot pants – always a pleasure. 4. Carl Cox 3. People who came up to me and said they liked my outfit. ‘Cyber is dead??’ Hehehe. Don’t think so. 2. The Godskitchen tent. 1. Tiesto. Especially his remix of Sreet Spirit. Truly in a class of his own. Top five lows: 5. Chichi, once again, dropping her sunglasses, only to stamp on them soon after. 4. Club casualties. 3. Sweat dripping onto our heads from the ceiling. 2. Finding some of our friends and then losing them, and not being able to find them or anyone else from the rest of the night. 1. The rain and the mud. Home > Features > Clubland > ^top