Weekend Focus – “Remember The Rave” – Reactivate – Saturday 2nd October

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The late 80’s & early nineties (yes we are talking about last century, but it wasn’t that long ago), was dominated by the rave culture, the desire by the youth to take over some warehouse somewhere & party to pumping hard house cum techno music that saw a whole generation of clubbers immerse themselves in the trend that was taking over both the straight & gay scene. Indeed, the launch of legendary club Trade was very much an exponent of this phase in clubbing history. However, without question, the music was the key to the success of both these warehouse raves & of more conformist club nights like Trade, FF & the like, the recordings label brand that was very much at the forefront of this musical direction, React, very much leading the way & cementing the careers of D.J.’s a plenty, this spurning a club night dedicated to this style of sound.

 Without doubt Reactivate, not just through its club nights, but more so through the series of album releases, 18 no less, very much captured & captivated a market for this hard edged house music, catapulting stars like Rachel Auburn, & Blu Peter into the limelight, its famed nights at heaven on a Friday, who can forget Garage, very much setting the trend in trance, hard house & hedonist partying that has hardly been rivalled since. And whilst the 21st century has marked a distinct change in house music sounds, there is no doubt that there remains a penchant for this hard edged style of music that has promoted some of the names involves in the informative days of Reactivate to plan & organise a party devoted to this iconic record label & clubbing concept, primarily the man that was in the thick of it all (it’s even his middle name for heaven’s sake) Steven React Sharp, deciding it was time remember the rave culture & all things rapturous about Reactivate.

So, tomorrow (Sat 2nd Oct) the amazing Area venue in Vauxhall will take a step back in time to when rave was all the rave & Reactivate was the word  in trance, techno & hard house, as Steven & his promotions team bring you a one-off mash up of party, very much in the Garage style, but spread across three rooms of distinct sounds, showcasing the different strands in music that Ractivate became famous for and if you were not around at the time, or doubt the success of this brand then grab a load of this, It was one of the most Internationally successful dance album compilations series of its time, very much pioneering European techno, trance & hard house for more than a decade, its sound being huge on the underground scene, rave scene, club scene and gay scene where, old skool, bangin’ & bouncin’ music was the trend, but euphoric and uplifting beats were the desire of the day. 

Right, with the scene very much set, what can you expect from this special one-of Reactivate rave of a party? Well all these D.J. stars for a start, all iconic names across Reactivate’s history, BK, Blu Peter, Rachel Auburn, Simon Eve, Daz Saund, Trevor Rockcliffe, & Princess Julia and before you ask, yes Steven React Sharp, together with the other one, George Sharp, will be there too, serving up a barnstorming blend of old school techno, trance, hard dance and New York house music that will have Reactivate written all over it. The main “Reactivate” room will be set aside for BK, who was resident for Garage at Heaven, Blu Peter who will be known to many for his stints both at this Friday nighter & occasional guest slots at Trade, he making a rare re-appearance and very much a coup for the promotions team, while both Rachel Auburn & Simon Eve will complete the line up, both who were intrinsic players in Reactivate recordings, so should certainly draw in the faithful fans. This incredible line up will be polished off by a very special live P.A. from React’s very own diva performer S.J., who will be banging out her huge hits of the time, “I Fell Divine” & “Fever”, which will definitely bring the memories flooding back & plenty of hands in the air raving for sure.

Over in the Terrace room, aptly named the “React Technodrome for the night, D.J.’s Daz Saund & Trevor Rockcliffe will take charge, both these artists famed as the original London jocks whose support for the then pioneering Belgian techno led to the creation of the Reactivate series, along with the following the music gathered in London at the time  and who are still cutting it on the techno circuit today. And completing the line-up in the third “New York House Tunnel” space will be the boys, Steven & George, along with the goddess of NYC house, Princess Julia, she herself digging deep into her archives for some of those legendary sounds to create an uplifting set that can’t be missed, while Messrs React & Mtichell will also be flying the Kinky Trax flag, revisiting some of their classic tracks and remixes such as Sara Parker’s “My Love Is Deep” and plenty more besides.

Now to the important detail & “Reactivate Rave” takes place tomorrow night (Sat 2nd Oct) at Area in Vauxhall, doors opening at 11 p.m. and the club running through until 5.30 a.m. Advance tickets are still available on line at http://clubtickets.com, although if you prefer to grab one in your hands, a little birdie tells us that there is a limited stock available at Clone Zone in Soho. Otherwise get yourselves down to the door before 1 a.m. & its £12 too, otherwise its £15. Further information can be found by either going to the event page, Reactivate Rave, on networking site Facebook, or checking out the official website at http://reactivateparty.com.

So, all in all this looks like being an absolute corker of a party for those into hard house, trance, techno, with a bit of old skool NYC house thrown in for good measure and news on the ground is that reaction to this Reactivate on-off rave has been incredible, all meaning that it will certainly be a hot ticket & well worth a Vauxhall visit and, health permitting, we will be in the tick of the action too remembering the rave Reactivate style. (DISCO MATT)

About discomatt

The History........................................................Created in 2008 after a short period of blogging under his real name, the pseudonym, “Disco Matt”, was born on the back of a reputation for being London’s original party boy having partied and clubbed across the London gay scene since in mid 1990’s.........................................................Through his series of blogs via individual blogging pages which soon morphed into a full blown website (http://discomatt.com), Disco Matt established himself as an independent journalist come columnist who quickly gained a reputation for supporting & promoting one of the world’s most prolific clubbing scenes. He previewed, reviewed & recommended London gay clubs, as well as the diverse gay/metrosexual London club/bar culture, linking to & reviewing the scene top D.J.’s and generally covering the gay scene including international gay events....................................................Regularly reporting on the top events across the scene, Disco Matt’s reviews, over the years, developed a strong following, not just by clubbers, D.J’s, promoters, music producers & scene faces, but people far and wide that were looking for an insight to the incredible scene that was London. He also previewed upcoming events that signalled, either a major change or update of existing clubs, new ventures on the gAylist/metrosexual scene, or where he considered events that deserved more comprehensive coverage to that provided in other posts.............................................However, having pretty much reached the top of his game in his chosen specific field, due to a number of personal predicaments, challenges & changes in his life priorities, Disco Matt parked his writing and operation in February 2014. While the burning desire to continue remained, what this much needed period of inactivity did provide was the time & space to re-think & re-focus his activities on a broader spectrum of media and entertainment............................................................So, following this long two year lay-off, he built up the foundations for this diversification into the areas of film, theatre, radio & television where his reviewing, recommending & reporting was to be replicated & resurrected, also pointing his promotions through more visuals & video's linked to all these areas along with his core activities and passions ................................................................................The Present....................................After another (shorter) period of lay-off from mid 2016, a life changing event reignited his passion and early into 2017, Disco Matt has delivered on his promise for a new, more modern look to his website, shedding the old & tired skin in favour of something far more in keeping with the times and with his blogging roots. And he has waived a fond farewell to his clubbing days, this having also been ditched from his site & activity, rather now just focussing on the genres of film, theatre, radio, television, video and of course, music, in so doing, aiming to broaden his appeal to a much wider audience interested in the latest most cutting edge areas of media & entertainment.............................................................................His aim is to be highly regarded across the industry for his writing in these fields and ultimately become a full time critic in film &/or theatre.