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Neo - The Awakening Review
Friday 4th October 2002 @ The Sanctuary, Birmingham
The word "Neo" may well evoke images of the caped crusader personified by the bodacious Keanu Reeves in "The Matrix". If so, I urge you to abandon these preconceptions and instead think Birmingham, think The Sanctuary nightclub, and more specifically, think Friday October 4th, for this was when Neo, "The Awakening" came to make Digbeth glow with its club night of hard trance, techno and hardcore.
 As we queued outside in the cold, I pitied the poor cyber guy next to me in his pink, fluffy miniskirt, since we had to wait forty minutes after the advertised opening time for the club to open its doors. When we finally got inside, we wandered up and down the stairs, checking out the rooms on offer in our alternative reality. Hearts were aflutter as we knew that the likes of Hennes & Cold (Germany); Scott Brown, Mark E.G. (both pictured), Karim, Ginge, Shan and other spine-shaking DJs were set to rock the night.
Downstairs provided an atmosphere favourable to the interspersion of conversation and bouncy dancing. Titillating trance tunes, and later, happy hard house, permeated through the floorboards and cajoled our feet into action. Unfortunately, the vivacious vibe was rudely interrupted every now and again by the jumping decks! By contrast, the music in the mainroom rained a constant thunderstorm on the senses. Techno, tougher and more twisted than your average pair of Levi’s, sparked off an eye-boggling variety of dance moves.
I must admit that something seemed to be lacking; the atmosphere wasn’t quite as electric as I’d expected. However, when the trusty Nu Energy trio took up their position to do a live PA, the place erupted. All of a sudden we were sent spinning through a laser portal of euphonic reverberations. The hive of hardcore activity buzzed around us so that the adrenaline rushing through our veins almost spilled out onto the dancefloor.
This was exactly what we’d been craving and although our hearts were ready to explode, the music had us hooked. By six in the morning, we’d caught the hardcore bug and will no doubt revisit a Neo night should we get the opportunity to be pummelled by its hyperactive beats once again.
Special thanks to all @ Neo and Lauren Pritchard-Gordon for the wise words.
For more, check out our Mark EG interview.
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