Dizstruxshon's 12th Birthday Review

Dizstruxshon, or Diz as it is more affectionately known amongst its loyal fans, is a name that is not as widely known as perhaps slammin vinyl or vibealite, but it is a name that firmly deserves recognition and respect for being the longest running rave without a break in the UK. Solely promoted by Stuart since its birth in May 1992,

 

Dizstruxshon has provided a solid and continuous backbone for northern raving ever since.

Stuart’s interest in the rave scene was initially sparked by his first rave at an event called Phenomena at the Leisureworld in Bridlington in 91, but it was the 1991 NYE event at Raindance in Melton Mowbray that inspired Stuart to start up his own event. “The event was in a circus big top at the top of a hill in Leicestershire, after queuing for hours in the pissing down rain, me and the two lads I went with, eventually got it. As soon as we entered the tent I was blown away. There was full colour laser beams shooting all over the place, big fuck robots walking about and more noise in that tent (horns/whistles etc) than could generated at a cup final. The atmosphere was electric and that was it, I was hooked from that moment. Anyway to cut a long story short I told the lads I was with that I was going to have a go at organising my own event, “yea, yea, ok Stu”. Five months later Stuart started his first event called Dance NRG. “We did 3 of them then a guy called me from the Kilpin Leisuredrome in Howden near Goole. This venue became the spiritual home of Diz. We were there 3 years then unfortunately it went the same way as all the others and was shut down by the old bill.”

 

Over the next 12 years Dizstruxshon has gone on to hold events at approximately 50 different venues and covered pretty much the whole of the north of the UK, from Skegness to Morecambe and Scarborough to Sheffield. We wondered what changes Stuart has seen in all that time: “There have been many changes over the last twelve years, from the music to the acceptance of our industry by the general public and authorities. One minute they are introducing new laws and closing clubs down, telling us that we can not hang about with repetitive music if there is more than three of us, or whatever it was. Then next they are inviting us into council venues and just about any other venue that was struggling. But I aren’t a politician and I have no desires to be a preacher. But thanks for letting us use the venues anyway.

Anybody that knows me knows that I don’t know shite about the politics with the music etc. All the different styles that have evolved from house to hardstyle. All I know is that if you if you want to party then any style will do as long as it is in the right concept in the right place. We all have our preferences and every one has their freedom of choice to listen to what they want to. Whatever the changes im sure that some of them will not have been for the better and probably some of them will not have suited everybody.”

 

In 2002, with Dizstruxshon 10th birthday celebrations coming up, Stuart decided to take the event a step further and ‘DekaDance’ was born. “We felt that with the tenth birthday there was a chance to re-invent ourselves and DekaDance was the result. We needed a fresh start and the opportunity was there, we think we made the right move.

 

”DekaDance is Stuart’s multi-arena event that is held at The Dome in Doncaster, and compromises of three arenas, Dizstruxshon (Hardcore), Retro-Spekt (Old Skool 92-98) and Industry (Hard Trance). To support this event there are also individual club nights with Dizstruxshon in Hull and Retro-Spekt in Wakefield, with plans for more club nights around the Doncaster area, with the concept being that the individual club night draws the ravers in, who will then go onto supporting the multi-arena event. “Diz is now standing on its own feet at other smaller venues around our region. We will always be indebted to Diz and it will always be the shining light within any concept we put together and we hope that it can be a symbol to show that if you want something badly enough then it will happen. No matter what walk of life you are on.

 

”It’s a massive achievement to keep an event running successfully for so long, especially through the leaner years that our scene has been through, and we asked Stuart what has been the mainstay of his success. “I think the old VFM factor counts a lot, value for money, put on a good show and don’t rob your customers. We have since day one put on good events at the right price. Take our recent Tenth birthday for example, where else in the UK could you go to an event of that calibre for just twelve quid. A big mistake a lot of people have made over the years is doing their first event at a fair price, so they have a good night. Then they go and bung their price up for the next event, and you know what’s going to happen before it happens, they have a shit night. Ravers aren’t daft and they won’t be ripped off. Also we are very lucky that our customers are the loyalist crowd you could wish for and we can not thank them enough for it. But on the other hand they know over the years that we listen to them and give them whatever they ask for, within reason of course.

 

We are constantly bringing in new artistes from this country and abroad. We also pride ourselves on our production and introduce new and exciting concepts into our events. If we have a good night we don’t stick it in our bank account we go out and buy something new for the next event. I think individuality is also a factor. We try to keep our events fresh by constantly changing venues or our arenas around. One month we will have DIZ in the main arena, then maybe the next month our INDUSTRY concept will be in there. At the end of the day we are still here because our customers choose us to be, we are merely their ambassadors, we listen to what they have to say, then we act on it. We set our stall out from the beginning and we have not changed it since.

 

”So if you go to DekaDance what can you expect? We took a trip up to DekaDance V held on the 20th of March to check it out and we have to say we were blown away by the scale of this event. The venue is absolutely wicked, the promoters take over the whole leisure centre and the event incorporates 4 unique arenas all encompassing top notch sound and production.

 

Upon entry we headed from the bangin’ upfront hardcore sounds of Scott brown that was on in the Dome room only to be greeted by an array of striking UV backdrops and various inflatable’s. The balcony and staircase leading down to the room give you a great viewpoint over the crowd and direct you to where its at. However, the best was yet to come, the main hall arena opened up at just gone 11 and a MASSIVE expanse of sports hall flooring (wicked and bouncy to dance on!) was immediately rammed for the uplifting sounds of Breeze and Wizzkid. Two video screens provided a visual display of everything from car chases to live feed shots of the crowd, coupled with robot dancers, stilt walkers and was even indoor pyrotechnics (wow!) this arena was set to go off Doncaster style! This event obviously has its own following of ravers and an edge to the atmosphere which is different from many other UK raves. Having experienced Diz vibe we now understand why it has been successful for so long!“May I take this opportunity to thank all the people that have had anything to do with DIZ no matter what shape or form, and especially all you people that have supported us over the last twelve years. Thanx, Stuart