It was that time of year again for the Goodgreef crew; it doesn't seem that long ago since it all began but as the years have progressed they have become one of the biggest brands in dance music in the UK. I for one am a big fan of Goodgreef, never a dull moment in sight and they always put on a top line-up no matter what time of the year its. But as always their biggest asset is the crowd that follows, always friendly and up for it. As I had such a good time in the previous year with djs like Agnelli & Nelson and Dark-by-Design, it was going to take an equally impressive line-up to match the previous years. And of course, they did exactly that and added a Halloween theme to the event which give the atmosphere in the crowd that extra good feeling. These days @ Nation there has been somewhat of a problem with certain members of the crowd deciding to fight each other, but the Halloween theme was just exactly what the night needed to make it a friendly atmosphere.

Unfortunately I had to arrive at the event slightly late due to work commitments, but we still managed to get a good 5hrs out of the night, and an excellent 5hrs they were. As we entered Nation we were greeted by several doormen who are usually quite unpleasant and greet you with a stone-faced expression, but surprisingly they were quite friendly which started the night on a pleasant high. My thoughts before I entered were that it was going to absolutely rammed and the usual bar being very overcrowded, but as I walked into the annexe it was just nicely filled with plenty of room for people to dance. Then once I seen the bar and it wasn't crowded I thought it just can't get any better as I tend to make quite a few visits throughout the night, but then once I heard the music from the main room and seen the whole crowd with their hands in the air with the lasers in full swing I realised it's going to get a whole lot better!

As me and John are avid trance fans, the majority of the night was going to spent in the main room we decided just to have a quick look into the courtyard since our opportunities to go there are few and far between since the classic night of Oakeys residency. Unfortunately there were no line-ups posted around the club, or they had been just torn off by clubbers for souvenirs as we arrived late so I couldn't tell which dj was on but the crowd were absolutely going for it. But the music was a bit too hard for me so it was back to the main room, first up for us was Adam Sheridan who is on the verge of becoming one of the biggest djs in the world having been a regular at Amnesia this summer and playing the last set at Creamfields this summer. But, also playing on Paul Van Dyk's float at the Berlin Love Parade. His set started off quite techy but then went into full on trance, but what made it for me was when he dropped pvd's remix of Blank & Jone's 'Cream'. An old tune which still sounds as fresh as the day it was created. Next up was Tylor-Leigh; fresh on the scene gifted with both looks and technical skills and knows a good tune when she hears one. She began pretty banging and maintained it throughout her set, there were plenty of good tunes in her set but unfortunately I couldn't name one which is quite bad for me. As the set was going really well and the crowd were loving it, a problem arose on the decks which was visibly winding her up. The sound guy turned up and it looked like he pretty much did nothing as the problem was still there, so in the end Tylor had to just stop the tune she was playing and start next. She was shouting sorry to the crowd so I think the message got across the crowd that it wasn't her actually mixing a tune to the best of her ability. Having spoken to the sound guy in previous encounters, he has made made it perfectly clear that trance is crap and should be banned. So whether he just couldn't be arsed or there was a genuine problem with the decks I'll never know. Only joking, he probably did try his best a fixing the problem? All-in-all Tylor played a pretty good set which the crowd really enjoyed; I can see her joining the band of elite female djs very soon. But the Goodgreef crew really hold her in high esteem as they believe she's the No.1 female dj in the world when they announced it before her set. Personally I'd have to disagree with that statement, but nevertheless I wouldn't disagree with it a couple of years down the line if she continues progressing at the rate she is now. Next up was Marc Van Linden, another trance dj from the Vandit stable and founder of Midway records, for me this was a first time listening to one of his sets. For me it was the finest set of the night, technically perfect and he was dropping tune after tune. He even dropped his latest tune that he's done with Giuseppe Ottaviani which is 'Until Monday'. Towards the end he cooled it down a bit and played Ferry Corsten's 'Loud Electronic Ferocious', which is a top tune and one of the best played on the night. I was a bit surprised that all the people hanging around the dj had pissed off and left just MVL on his own on the decks, they must've known what he was going to be like since they booked him but they really missed out on what was the set of the night in the main room. Well, from midnight onwards anyway.

We decided to have another wander around the club and then catch the rest of the set of Marcel Woods. We first went into the annexe and it was pretty empty by this point (4am), but none the less it still consisted of the diehard clubbers who are there till the end. The house sound wasn't really appealing to me that night since there was trance on, so we ventured on to the courtyard. As we walked through the yard which connects the courtyard to the main room, there were plenty of clubbing casualties about. A sign of a very good night in my opinion if you ask me. But still the courtyard was still pretty full with clubbers still going for it, I used to be able to keep up with Hard dance but these days I'm sort of slowing down so I can only spend short periods dancing to it or I'll collapse. Dj Kutski was on the decks and sounded pretty good, and it showed as the crowd were loving it. But we wanted to end the night listening to Marcel Woods in main room. Once again it was the first time I heard him, I did have the opportunity to hear him in Miami a couple of years ago but unfortunately I ended up in the wrong club so it was never to be. He started off pretty well with a sort of intro tune which was a sort of a mix of his productions. He was pretty banging throughout; he played his already classic 'Advanced', which is a favourite of mine. At the end of the set he was flicking through his cd collection ready to put on one more tune, but the notorious sound guy blatantly put an end to that idea. But what was a bit strange was that the crowd never even shouted 'One more'. It's the first Goodgreef night I've ever been to and that's happened. But when the music stopped in the main room it was still going on in the courtyard, but we didn't hang around long to see how much longer it went on for.

All-in-all the night worked well, the Halloween theme worked a treat and they were even throwing out masks and other bits so the people who didn't turn up in fancy dress could join in. One addition I was interested in was the CO2 ice cannon which they kind of compared to the one in Amnesia, but sadly I was very disappointed with what they had in place. It felt as it was nothing more than a smoke machine which cleared up quicker than usual. Fair enough they can't put an identical ice cannon in cream because it would just smash people to the ground and injure people, but for me in just never cut it in Cream.

There's one thing you can say about the Goodgreef crew, they never cut corners when it comes their events and always put their best efforts into the production and that's why their one of the leaders in the dance scene. I can happily say I had a great time with a good crowd and no scallies in sight. Already looking forward to the next Goodgreef Birthday.

Alan Tinsley

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