A huge choice of events happening up and down the country this NYE, but the Atomic records party in East London was the chosen party to attend. We got the venue address shortly before leaving and jumped on a train heading to Waterloo. free train ride with joints being openly smoked along the way - ticket conductor didn't seem to care too much, so we carried on. Meeting up with a few people at Waterloo, we headed underground and into the masses heading to the Misery of Sound at the Dome. Jam packed into the tube all the way towards our destination of Hackney.... when we thought we couldn't take it any longer, everyone got out at North Greenwich for the dome.... only the 11 of us remained on the tube. Although there was a good vibe coming from the MOS people, I heard later on that 2 hour queues to get OUT of the dome pissed some people off.
we arrived in Stratford, and caught a train to Hackney Wick. Luckily I had memorised the area of the A-Z for Hackney so knew the way to Roach Road. When we came out of the station, a few random people from the train started walking the wrong way, but we guess they were heading for the party at the EQ warehouse just up the road. So after a few minutes of confusion, I started walking the way I thought was right, as it was too cold to be fucking around. Everyone followed and after 15 minutes of walking we arrived at the old film studio's on Roach Road.
We slipped in through the padlocked gates and into the courtyard. Followed it round the corner and into the warmth of the building housing the soundsystem. It was about 11pm when we got there and quite a few people were around. The place was still pretty dark as the final lighting systems were being put in place, but after a while they had it sorted. After I had freezed my arse off on the way up, (-5 degrees - I was only wearing t-shirt and hoodie! a few years of partying should have told me to wear more!) I wasn't leaving the warmth of the chill out/bar.
Midnight came and went. No real fuss was made, which in a strange way made the evening much more special. We danced for ages, before someone came back from exploring the place and had found a second room upstairs. Outside and up the external stairs we found the second soundsystem, with loads of people dancing on the wooden floor that was bouncing up & down with the time of the music. Man with No Name played downstairs, but sound leakage from the rig upstairs confused the beats. I still enjoyed the set though. A few other big names played. not that I was in any condition to be remembering important information like that!
We got wasted, did some UV juggling at the back, met a few people, and had fun on the night that most people have big expectations about which rarely live up to that. tonight was special. I was away last New Year. Millennium was fucked up. Spending time with my mates on a quality night made up for the last few NYE's. Quite a few of the squat parties around London got busted or hassled... Pan!K had their rig impounded overnight. Parties around the country got police hassle - Brighton police were blocking off venues, and farmers in Linconshire and Essex weren't happy about their barns being used for raves. (Essex police arrested the farmer for switching off the generator! - hehehehe.... can you believe that!)
We eventually started to make a move around 7am, and after walking back to Stratford station in the cold air we jumped on a tube, and were expecting 1000's of people to jump on at North Greenwich.... well it was pretty jammed in the carriage, but seeing as we had seats it made the difference! Pulling into Waterloo, we hopped on the train back to Reading. smoking spliffs constantly and the guard comes along, followed by a very official looking 'ticket revenue inspector'...well so said his badge. hmmm no ticket. smoking illegal substances. not much money. .... luckily he let us off with only a £2.20 fare and wished us a Happy New Year! wikkid! made the night! Top one to everyone involved. All the record labels. Rik from Atomic. The Awakening Crew. The Old bill for letting it happen and of course the ticket revenue inspector. Respect!
Bugs
