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Friday, 21st of December 2007
Rezerection is a name that for an entire decade meant nothing but PARTY! With it's glory days at Ingliston in the mid 90's the event drew crowds from as far north as the Shetlands and down past Newcastle; everyone who went along wanted a night of complete enjoyment without the problems of race, colour or religion.
As with all good things, Rez came to an end exactly 10 years ago when it's ticket agency went bust, taking with it thousands of pounds worth of pre booked ticket sales. With its demise the Scottish rave scene turned from weekend enthusiasm to legend as people moved into house music and later trance and R'n'B.
There were still devoted guys promoting the music they loved, events such as Twisted and Brainfire have been a staple diet for dedicated Scottish ravers since 2000 then in 2004 the Colours organisation started to get involved with their BTTF nights, initially an every so often event that gradually became more and more regular as demand once again grew in Scotland for a more energetic form of dance music. So it was in 2005 that the name Rezerection would again rise like the phoenix from the ashes, this time headed by one of Scotland's pioneers in the field of techno music - Jon Campbell, front man for TTF.
Jon and his team put the hours in, got the PA's and DJ's booked and got the Glasgow Barrowlands sorted out for the return of Rez but as fate would have it, barely an hour into the event the management pulled the plug citing the use of pyrotechnics as the reason to turf everyone out onto the streets. With a setback like that anyone would be forgiven for throwing in the towel but that isn't the way that Dennistoun lad Jon rolls.
It took 2 years, an unbelievable amount of determination, passion and of course finance for Jon and the Rez team to create another night and this time they would make damn sure it went ahead. They booked one of Scotland's largest clubs, Room At The Top in Bathgate to host the night, they booked some of the most well known acts and DJ's around, the went back to the old school and set the event's times as a real all nighter running from 7pm through to 4am and last but by no means least - for all this entertainment and enjoyment they charged the public £15 a head. That's truly unbelievable value for money and as good an indication that these guys weren't doing this to make money, but to give the Scottish public the best bang for their buck possible.
With RATT having 3 main dance arenas, a chill out room and a completely separate VIP suite there was always somewhere for the clubbers to go through the night. With dance anthems and club classics in one room, old skool bouncy techno in another and live PA's on stage in the main room the whole night was a constant buzz. It was jam packed with every room being filled but not to the point where you couldn't move or breathe, it was the way a night out should be - loads of people having a great time without having to worry about anything at all.
The first PA to go on stage in the main room was Capella and as they played through their set the crowd went wild. I'd forgotten half of the tracks they played but the ravers knew every note, chord and vocal of their entire performance. After a couple of hours break in-between acts it was time for the band that most people had turned up to see - TTF. My own love of dance music grew from buying my first CD single back in 1993, it was TTF's Real Love so you can imagine that seeing these guys on stage performing in front of a capacity crowd was something I was looking forward to. What I didn't even think of was that the other thousands of ravers in the same room were sharing the same feelings. As the band took to the stage and Jon came to the front, the crowd were chanting "TTF - TTF - TTF..." it was almost ritualistic and reminded me of how the Scottish dance scene once was ten years ago. After some minor technical hitches with the audio equipment due to the heat and humidity TTF's return began and the place erupted. New Emotion, Ultimate High and of course finishing with one of the biggest classics in Scottish dance music history - Real Love. I've been to my fair share of gigs, raves, events and parties over the years and when TTF played their last track they blew the roof off the place! When they left the stage, the chanting continued so being the master showmen they are, the TTF crew returned for "one more".
After that spectacle the crowd were given another hour or so to chill before the final act of the night was to appear, that being another Scottish favourite QFX. It had been many years since I'd last seen Kirk and the QFX crew so I didn't recognise him with his long hair at first but as soon as he started hammering down on his synth I knew the melody master was back in the place and ready to cause chaos. With a vibrant dance troop caning it all the way through their set, their singer giving it her all and Kirk's musical talents, they all had the crowd lapping it up from start to finish. QFX remixes of Tiny Tot's Discoland and Nakatomi's Children Of The Night kept everyone bouncing through the full 30 minute set and when their anthem Freedom burst through the speakers you couldn't see for everyone's hands in the air.
Putting on an event at Christmas is always going to be risky but the Rez crew did Scotland proud. Clubbers/ravers/dance enthusiasts - whatever you want to call them also proved that if you deliver on your promise to host a party for the people, then you will be rewarded with a packed event, happy people and no trouble. By spreading the word with TV advertising, posters, on the street marketing and promotion through websites they really did a phenomenal job getting word out about the night.
Here's hoping it isn't too long until the next Rezerection event because I can't wait!
Words: Rikki Photos: Rikki
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