 You might have seen various corners of the press banging on about ‘the return of rave’ to the UK’s clubbing landscape, to which the rest of us cried, ‘when did it ever go away?’ Legal raves though, those large scale underground music events which are the antithesis of glammed-up, mainstream club culture, have certainly decreased over the last few years.
Thank God then for Moondance, who are helping to hold the rave torch aloft after 12 years of running successful events in the scene. I’m not alone in making the distinction between rave and club though – don’t think this is just some arbitrary exercise in journalistc pigeonholing. There’s that heightened sense of occasion and anticipation at a rave...the impressive scale and production measures...and if it’s staying true to the original rave ethos, it’s got that eclectic music policy which says, ‘at the end of the day, there’s only two types of dance music – good and bad.’ And this is something Moondance do very, very well. Old skool rave classics, liquid drum n bass, full-on drum n bass, classic and upfront house and electro, the full spectrum of hardcore, and even some of this hardcore breaks business (essentially the old skool sound updated for the 21st Century) are all represented.
 Moondance has always been about uniting different styles under one roof, right from their birth in 1994 – a time when the dance music scene was in the midst of the whole jungle/hardcore split-up. The vibe of those days is still very much alive at their events today. Rave veterans who were there the first time round are lapping up a taste of memorabilia as well as checking out the upfront beats, and young wide eyed types fresh to the dance music scene getting an education on the very same dancefloor. This mixing of generations mirrors the combination of old and new in the music, and helps to create that all inclusive atmosphere that makes these events such a joy to go to. The barren shell of the SeOne in London Bridge makes the perfect setting for this classically styled knees-up, and kitted out with cutting edge sound and lighting technology, it’s truly the best of both worlds. With so much to choose from, hard decisions had to be made, but sweetened by the knowledge that whatever room you were in, the DJ was sure to be smashing it. Chase & Status and Noisia impress with dark sets in the d n b room, and the old skool room threatens to explode as resident Squirrel takes control for midnight, accompanied by a seriously stunning light show. The LMP room sucks in all and sundry with its sexy house and electro. For myself and the other 2999 nutters in attendance, this party really proved that New Year’s Eve needn’t be an anticlimax as it so often is. Who needs nu-rave when old rave feels this good?
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