Frantic presents HARD HOUSE ACADEMY @ Carling Brixton Academy, London

25.02.2006

Well, it was the first HHA of 2006 and boy/girl did it have a belting Line up! This event SOLD OUT by Friday the day before meaning 4500 clubbers were going to attend this event! This confirms my belief in the quality Dj’s that Frantic and HQ used to Smack there stamp on the Hard House Arena. To name but a few there were:

Kutski, Mark EG, Rob Tissera, Cally Cage, Cally and Juice as well as Phil Reynolds and Alex Kidd. And my God did they deliver!!! More about that later.....

I walked in at about midnight after a short - ish queue which was very well maintained by the various officials. What worked best however, was the different guest list representatives walking up and down, to make sure they were giving their guest the correct treatment and speedy entry! Well done.

I went straight into the main arena and the mix of sound, light and clubbers were amazing (Not to mention the Heat too!) Instantly I knew I had come to the best night in London and arguably the best night in the UK! I was filled with much excitement and had to lose my coat immediately and get in there!

Coat queue’s were huge and were full by 0030, but in fairness it was freezing outside so everyone had brought their whole wardrobe with them! I had to use my inventive streak and dumped everything upstairs in the corridor ‘Driving Funk House’ room. I was happy to see this corridor chock a block again from the last Hard House Academy - as in my opinion it serves two great purposes:

1. It gives the coat queue a nice warm up set and bop to while they wait
2. when your running low on hard house energy it gives a great sexy dance edge which is thankfully - Slower!

Every time I came to this room the energy was really happy and the people remarkably friendly and chatty. The music was really good with excellent build ups and drops from the dj’s - great work! I hope you gave them some of your time, it was definitely worth it.

On to the main stage then and first off, the set up looked amazing - see the pics (paullifefit or Monkey Boy) for a great impression of what was on offer. The lights were one of the first impressions I’d had when I walked in - brilliant light show and lasers. Giant spiky balloons were also on show in different sizes but adding to the effect nicely. It was fairly obvious that no expense had been spared to make this about more than just a night of great  dj’s.  The last HHA had an even more spectacular diamond shaped ‘rig’ which Lab 4 practically scaled up, but   speaking of which, the dj’s were not out done by the light show as there was so much Muscle on the decks at any one time, I cant say I was ever in the main room and was disappointed. Sometimes hard house nights can get very industrial and techy but im pleased to say I didn’t hear any experimental dj crap all night - Result!

This was coherent in all rooms as I did do quite a bit of traveling around looking for good pics and despite the huge crowd there was room to move remarkably, there were bottle necks but nothing serious. Similarly with Bar staff and service, no long wait but drinks were a typical of an event this size and I am sure water was £2 or £2.50 a throw.  

The sound as always was awesome at this event, the main room never fails to deliver a massive punch when you walk in. Im not sure if I have ever been to an event other than the NEC this NYE who can compete actually. I have been going to Brixton academy since the Tony De Vit memorial and it is one of the best venue’s I think London has to offer, especially on this scale - No wonder Fat Boy Slim played here in Dec last year, who can fill a whole beach if he wants to. 

The second room behind the main arena was also good, but it does have two distinct disadvantages!

1. It’s cold! Brrrr
2. People are always getting in your way

The music then has to compensate for a lot, which most of the time it does - just huddle into the middle to save your self the hassle of points 1 and 2.
In closing I have to say, the crowd were on top form. I didn’t meet any attitude from anyone the whole night, in fact the total opposite, everyone was happy to pose for pictures and let me through or share their thoughts on how good the night was going.

Well done Frantic and HQ as well as all hands on deck from the Academy itself, my coat was still where I left it and the whole event dealt with the 4,500 clubbers with relative ease. If you have never been to HHA or Brixton academy - I thoroughly recommend you take the time this year and save yourself the heart ache of reading my or some one else’s review.

You can see photos from Hard House Academy in the UKCD Photo Galleries.

Review by paullifefit