UV Nation And A Need For Night Vision Goggles

June 11th, 2007

it’s a given - anyone who parties knows who Benassi is. remember how back in 2003 and 2004, Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction seemed to be pounding in your ears everywhere you went? it was played in every club and party scene, in every DJ’s remix, and was the anthem of every roadside pirated DVD stand. and, of course, the anthem of all your friends’ cars. the song quickly became the new Sandstorm (you all remember Sandstorm!), the new Stayin’ Alive of our era.

i missed Benassi the last time he was on our shores spinning at Atmosphere (!), so when i heard he was headlining the UV Nation rave, i simply had to go. it’s going to be soooooooooo good, i would squeal with a big grin! uv theme + benassi + scot project + bass agents + joey g + rooftop venue = i am so there! :D

but alas, it was bad. marilah kawan-kawan i tell you why!

Bad Entrance
sieutheng, ivan and i got there at about 9pm, and we were greeted by this massive long ass line that snaked and coiled throughout the 1U carpark. oh mein gott. entrance was horrible - or fantastic if you didnt actually buy tickets - because people just shoved their way in. i cant believe ticket-check consisted of TWO girls who could barely manage the antsy crowd. where were the bouncers? my underage brother and his equally underage friends got in, and half the world went in without paying. also, you could have brought in your own liquor or drugs and no one would have stopped you. remember Revelation 2004 at Genting? now THAT was a door check.

Bad Lighting
i thought that the Ultraviolet theme was brilliant, but that was unexpectedly also the downfall of this rave, as we quickly discovered upon entering the arena. BECAUSE IT WAS SO DAMN DARK!! we couldnt see shit except for the purple glows emanating from people (cleverly) wearing white. it was valiant, i suppose, to want to preserve the UV theme by intentionally leaving the place dark, but it all kinda backfired. it was so disconcerting and a little irritating to not be able to see who you’re talking to or what you’re drinking.

Bad Opening
we arrived when DJ Desire’s set was just ending, and from what little we got of it, it was quite good. Benassi’s introduction was completely FAIL coz of some techy issue or other. after DJ Desire left the decks, the music went off and emcee Joey G was pulled aside into some backstage palaver, leaving the raving crowd in confused and restless silence. WTF. yet everyone remained good-natured; no massive booing or anything.

the opening gambit when Benassi came on, btw, was a fireworks display. yay. (clap clap) at some point during DJ Desire’s set, security ploughed through the crowd and i could have sworn they were leading a couple of people in bagpipes and kilts, and i was thinking wah so clever! it’s a Scottish gambit! but no! that didnt happen! what happened was a short and overused fireworks show. so pertaining to the kilts and bagpipes, either my eyes completely fucked up, or my imagination ran wild, or i wanted to think that there was more than just boring ol’ fireworks. or all three. bah.

Bad Benassi
to cut a really long night short, Benassi sounds better on record than he does live. so what if he had a Coldplay and Chilli Peppers mix? that does not at all redeem him from the lousy set he played that night. is it just me or can he not pick up on the crowd’s vibe? i didnt like all those teasing buildups that he kept doing, they were far too lengthy and too frequent. people kept leaving throughout his set. headliner or not, if you cant entertain, people will go.

and can you believe it but we missed Satisfaction when it played!! stoopid, donno how we could have missed it. haha but when he played Who’s Your Daddy, it was mad fun. sieutheng and i started spanking each other, heehee. summore we were in the gay area of the crowd, so that was all good fun and games, as it always is when you’re in the company of flamboyance and sexy queens! meowwrr!

Bad Light Programming
yes the music was boring. couple that with really unintuitive light programming during the sets, and you get a bad rave experience. a climax just isnt a climax without the right lights and flashes =(

Bad F&B
F&B was a disaster, more so the B than the F. beer ran out by 9.30pm, and after 11pm, EVERYTHING ran out! the thirsty, tired and dehydrated crowd was left without water, mixers or alcohol of any sort for the rest of the night. and not only was there bad supply, but the system was balls - one apparently has to hunt down these girls wearing red UVN shirts to purchase coupons for drinks, but surprise surprise, these girls were nowhere to be found. not that we’d be able to spot them anyway, seeing how the area was pitch black and you cant tell red from blue unless your red is white and therefore glowy.

kesian all the security and crowd management. you cant whack people when you cant even see who you’re whacking!

Bad Crowd
ah i’m sure everyone who went noticed this. almost 20,000 people turned up for the rave, but the crowd was filled with many, many, MANY rempits and neanderthal-like idiots who just spoiled the whole experience for everyone else. when the opening acts were playing, they would yell ‘mothafuckas muthafuckas get off the stage! we didnt pay to see you! you suck! bring out benassi! arrhhhh arhhh i’m so cool! muthafockas muthafockas!’ -______- shaddap lah tiu.

———-

the Bass Agents came on directly after Benassi’s ‘do, and immediately good music with a good vibe started pumping. awesome possum! unfortunately, we didnt stay long. twas a pity, summore we didnt even get to check out the other arenas, or Scot Project =( eh come to think of it, where was Scot Project spinning??? i assumed he was going to open for Benassi but he didnt. anyway we left lah. we went to Murni’s and then i got food poisoning (again!!) from their Mango Special! arhghghgh.

pictures! :


at the entrance. haha that’s kellyn in pink! i was so preoccupied with taking a picture i didnt realize she was saying hi


it was so dark i had to ++++++ Brightness


lisha and i. she’s sooooooo cute right :D


this is how dry we were at first


and how wet we were after that


hahahhaa fugz so fails in taking pictures!


the main arena, the only place you could see anything


an even wetter ivan, me and sieutheng


me!


seng ming, whom i keep bumping into!


eugeneeee! stupid barger got damn high for SAT


crowd


UVed us


clever ppl wear white so that we can be found easily :D


the light from some side exit that everyone kept flocking to like moths to, well, light. we all exhibit phototropism by nature


after the rave. LIGHT!!!

aiyah in conclusion, it wasnt a good rave lah =(

Satisfaction? hardly.

Entry Filed under: Events, Photos

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