“Internatty style running wild..”

“Internatty Style Running Wild…Inta Inta!…”  . Inta Warriors –Special Forces Remix – Prototype Records.

Saturday the 26th of June 1999. It was finally here. The day of Scientific’s first Christchurch international show, featuring DJ Bailey and MC Flux.  The hype and anticipation around this day was electrifying and nerve racking. Joe and James were out and about all day, down at the venue finalising lighting and sound, and sorting door staff and door sales. Joe had played with Bailey the night before in Auckland, and it sounded as if it had been a very successful night, so I was hopeful that Christchurch would bring the same.

My work for Scientific was pretty much done so I didn’t have to worry too much, the next time I saw Joe would be at dinner with Bailey and his girlfriend Nina, who had decided to come for the trip, and of course, MC Flux. My friends and I were on the phone to each other all day, discussing outfits and pre drinks, and I appreciated how much support and positivity they were showing, knowing that I was actually a bundle of nerves. We had done everything we could with regards to pushing the event. Posters and stickers all round town, flyering at local events, and radio ads on RDU. But even so, there was an immense amount of stress. What if something went wrong? or we didn’t sell enough tickets?

Later on, we had an early dinner with Bailey and Nina (Flux was sleeping) where we all got know each other a bit better, before we dropped them at the hotel to get ready.

I had some of the girls around for pre drinks and once we were ready, we headed down to The Ministry in a taxi. As we rounded the corner onto Lichfield street I inhaled sharply. There was a queue outside the club. But not just a little queue.. it stretched right down the street to the next alleyway.  “Woah.. do we have to stand in that?” I remember one of the girls saying.. “Nah, Nah we go to the front!” I laughed. My chest swelled with pride knowing that by the looks of the crowd our first international event was going to be a success. Not long after we had entered the club, I was alerted to the fact that our guests were arriving and so I went out to greet them. When Bailey, Flux and Nina came walking down the alleyway to the entrance, people were calling out to Bailey and taking photos with their cameras. Again I felt a flutter of pride. We had made this happen!

The dance floor was absolutely packed and there was a genuine feeling of excitement from everyone that this was a night put on by Christchurch promoters for Christchurch ravers, with a completely fresh act that they had never seen before. The level of energy, and respect for Bailey and Flux was infectious. All around me people had huge smiles on their faces, and though I could see Joe was still slightly on edge with nerves, I could also see him and James were visibly so stoked that everything was going to plan. I remember Joe giving me a huge cuddle and kiss and saying something like ‘We did it!” before zooming off again through the crowd to attend to something else and how proud I felt in that moment to be associated with Scientific and to have Joe as a partner.

Bailey’s set was amazing. His reputation for long, smooth rolling mixes, blending soulful tunes in with harder, more driving sounds meant the Christchurch crowd were not disappointed. People screamed and cheered, clapped and danced, the dance floor continuously packed from beginning to end. However it was a couple of the tunes that Bailey dropped which are what I automatically think of when I look back on this gig. One of them was called “Inta Warriors’ The Special Forces remix, I feel like Bailey may have either opened or closed his set with this…does anyone else remember?

The other tune that really stuck out was another Special Forces tune called “Something Else” but I didn’t know this at the time. Looking over Bailey’s shoulder (like the DnB nerds were were), we could see the dubplate had “Bleep Tune” scrawled in marker pen on it. These alternative names that the DJs often gave their dubs meant any nosy trainspotter would be thrown as to what the tune was actually called. This gave the tune (and the person playing it), so much more reverence, as they had access to certain tunes that we would have to wait months to get our hands on. I remember this tune got a rewind as soon as it dropped,

the crowds voices lifting in a unanimous “woaaaaah” sound and all hands in the air.  I remember Flux really getting into it too, feeding of the crowds energy, whipping his towel around above his head as he got the crowd to join in with his call and response “When I say DJ.. you say Bailey.. DJ!.. DJ!..”

I listened to the types of rhymes he dropped, and the phrases he used to big up Bailey and keep the crowd feeling involved, storing these moments in my mind as pieces of inspiration I could come back to for when I was practicing my own.

The whole night went off without a hitch, and though I wanted to do my bit to help pack up when the lights came on and the club was empty – there was really not much I could do. So I left Joe and James there, finishing up and counting the money. When Joe finally fell into bed next to me an hour or so later, he gave me a huge hug and whispered “We’ve fucking rinsed it! We’ve covered all our expenses and made heaps of money!” I’m sure I fell asleep with a smile on face.

The next day we picked Bailey up for some dinner, leaving Flux and Nina at the hotel resting, and a group of us went out to the movies with him to see the new Star Wars Movie (“The Phantom Menace”). We had already seen it the week before, queuing up with a tonne of other people to be one of the first to see it upon release. Joe and I were both Star Wars nerds, and more than happy to see it again. Bailey’s jet lag however got the better of him, and he fell asleep half way through. We didn’t wake him until the end of the film when the lights came up. “Dammit now I have to see it again to know what happens” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes on the walk back to the car.

On the Tuesday I had to say my goodbyes to Bailey, Nina and Flux, but also Joe, as all of them were heading over to Australia to play Perth and Melbourne. I was sad to say goodbye to our new friends, but also excited for Joe, because as he was the main promoter of the tour, he could dictate that he was to play these Australian dates. This was something he had worked so hard towards. Now it was time for me to put the work in myself, focusing on honing my lyrical skills. One day it would be me on that plane heading over to Aussie to play. This was a promise I made to myself, as I watched their plane nose upwards into the clouds.