The Gathering
New Year's Eve.... that great, annual (anti) climax looms large on the horizon, and once again those crazy kids down Nelson way have organised (drum roll please)
THE GATHERING...b'chish! According to Grant Smithies, one of the many organisers, the party starts at midday on December 31st and is projected to run until midday on January 2nd.
"What we're looking at is 200-plus [actually that's 100-plus - WebEd] djs and a load of live acts spread across five marquees and stages and one main outdoor area," Grant says. The stages/marquees will take on (deep breath)... hip-hop, dub, reggae, drum and bass, house, techno (hard), happy hardcore, gabba, ambient, techno (soft) and the inevitable Goa trance wobbly noises. Live acts include both exUnitone HiFi arms, Short Fuse, the AK97 posse, Germany's Nonplace Urban Field and Welli's own Skankatronics crew [well, Isolation are playing, so I guess that's one bit of the crew.... - WebEd].
Along with the music, Grant promises this year there'll be a tent screening cult movies and NZ short films, an even bigger selection of food and cafe stalls, and an on-site radio station. "People got stuck on the road into the site for ages last year, so we thought our own radion station would be good this time." The Gathering is aiming to cater for over 10,000 [er, that should read 8,000 - WebEd] people this year, up again on the 6,000 who went hard last new years, and at present the local authorities are all smiles.
"We don't allow any alcohol on site so they just love us, they're still amazed that we can have a couple of thousand people from a massive range of backgrounds and not have any trouble or violence."
Full line-up, ticket prices and transport details will be made available shortly. Watch for flyers and posters soon.