While some weeped for a saviour staked to a cross, and others rejoiced at the warmest day of the year, the mysterious RaveTap were preparing for what was to be the day of reckoning in the gloomy confines of their regular East London venue... At 4.59pm the District, compared to outside in the early summer sun, was as dark and miserable a place as you'd hope to find....

At 5pm Frisky Fingers lit the fuse which would start an 8 hour blaze of finest quality hip-hop, acid, booty, techno, tech-step, breaks, dancefloor electro and jungle ruffness hotter than a Scottish forest fire. Fingaz started with some cut-up, bassy head-nodders maintaining tension
to draw the largely pool-oriented crowd into his personal brand of electro-breaks - solid stuff.

Next up was an earlier-than-most-would-consider-safe appearance by legendary RaveTap cohort St. Acid. A set of Acid house anthems which squelched their way to the Saint's private selection of early 90's hardcore Essential dancefloor destruction for the Friday afternoon nutters.

Paul Blackford was up next - Strolling into the jumpin'est place to be found at 7pm on a good Friday flanked by two shadowy figures and a mysterious brunette. Paul stepped in, stepped up and threw down some cold-shaking booty platters. It was then that his 2 companions revealed their identities. A mic was grabbed and a flow spat as Method Mel and D Dub played off each other in a rhyming frenzy. Imagine two starving sharks in the water by a packed beach off the west coast of America. Imagine that instead of a blizzard of fat yank flesh being consumed at 10lbs per second, it was the other way around, and instead of bone, blood, skin and muscle, it was mind-boggling rhymes coming from their mouths the other way. If you can imagine that you're about halfway there. Not even a bespectacled crack addict could put a stop to what was unfolding. A fine London debut and a refreshing new dimension from the MCs and a set from Mr B to back up his standing. Nice.
Paul Blackford info on Breakin' site

With the venue beginning to fill and the pool table taken away it was time for RaveTap's "T" Smilex to "nice up the dance", and "nice it up" indeed he did. Taking the reigns from PB's wild Miami/Booty bass chariot, Smilex lost control and ran amok with the widely feted sound of UK Bass. Head-crushing bass, toe-tapping beats and mixing slicker than a junkies shoulder-blades after 3 days "off the Jellies" - proof if any were needed that Smilex has an ear for a banger and the technical skills to produce mass devastation on any dancefloor. A fine set which, once complete, left him free to get a closer look at that bar.

Braiken was up next, and with a LadyBoy cocktail in one hand and a crate of the freshest electro slabs that - truth be told - were almost too good for you. We were treated to an hour of deliciously crisp dancefloor electro delivered as precisely as the rampaging robots of the
back-wall visuals may have done if they were still behaving themselves. There's a big night coming up on the 17th May and with this kind of performance it looks like the Braiken-man could steal the show....

A new approach from Bolus saw him start with clunking 4/4 beats followed by House. "What's going on?" the crowd seemed to ask as they chatted to each other by the bar just using different words. Cue the breaks and the bass - it was time to settle into the rolling beats, tech-step breaks and sub-basslines which are becoming a speciality of JB. A valiant attempt at trying to chop tunes up without a crossfader could also be witnessed from Jimmy - misguided but awe-inspring.

The time was upon us, electronic music specialist Scape One hit the decks. Smilex summed this performance up better than anyone could when he said "I'm dancing." A set of such overpowering magnitude that all Smilex could to do stay on his feet was to clutch the bars of the DJ booth. A professional performance from a very nice man indeed.
Scape Once info

Dr. "Like Marvellous Cain but a bit more camp" Solaris = jungle ruffness Big Mash-up bizniz. Come back soon. Nuff said.

Let us not forget the non-musical entertainment that Robotmusic never fails to provide. This month is was the Robo-Wheel of MisFortune - organised thanks to the hard work work of Leah, Sarah & Deb. Saint Acid provided extra rave-tastic prizes from his extensive collection of 'smiley' merchandise - the acid face yo-yos were to die for. Thanks to everyone that played, wore the catsuit, blew a horn or raved.

Want to see the photographic evidence of Friday's proceedings? Go to www.saintacid.com, click the eyes to see, then enter User ID: 'saintacid', Password: 'pumpkinhead'.

Thanks to Jimmy Bolus for most of this month's review. Make sure you join us at the Impact Centre on the 17th May and then at the District again on the 23rd May.

See DELTA 9 DJ Dates for info on future RaveTap events.