Pawlett Manor Reunion

Nathan Wilson
Che Percival
Henry Norcutt
Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 9:00pm – 4:30am. Sands Nightclub, Weston-super-Mare

Room 1:
DJ FIGI
MARK RADFORD
DOM DOM
JIMEE
DJ CHE
KIDDER
NATHAN WILSON
SCREECH AND HOUSE MARTIN
THE BACK 2 BACK FINALE

Room 2
DANNY-J
MAESTRO
SAVAGE
KILLERWATTS
ENERGIZE
SKIPPY
SKITZ
BUGSIE-B B2B THE PUNISHER

MCS
ROYSTA...DANNY-J...OUTBREAK..


The legendary names of the South West underground dance scene - such as Sketch, GBH, Inferno, Galactic, Revibalise, Chapter 33 – all had their own connection with Pawlett Manor. Not a nightclub, The Manor's roots lay with the free parties of the region. All the DJs and MCs across both rooms were original to The Manor, some are still playing regularly, some in Bristol, some for Firewall, some are producing or even promoting but most have gone on to other things. This is why this night was so special for so many, although Nathan (Wilson) and Che had been planning this for some time, their genre was House not hardcore. So they asked Henry (oldskoolmadman) to organise the hardcore room, his involvement with Firewall meant that he was well placed to get the regulars booked and ready to rock and roll, as it were.

In keeping with the night being a re-union, all the DJs and MCs brought only their vinyls from the dates they played the Manor. The music policy is full on old skool and I lost count of the number of times a track would be played that sent everyone wild – and everybody joined in, at least they did in the hardcore room which was packed from the start! MC DJ Danny J (Firewall) didn't hang about and raised tempo as well as temperature which set the pace for the rest of the night.

The larger room was a little quieter at the start of the night and the dance-floor was fairly patchy, it seems people are more self-conscious in hard house then they are in hardcore? As more and more coaches and cars turned up, each new group of people quickly closed up the gaps in the room and inhibitions about dancing seemed to disappear. The developments in this genre seem to be more dramatic – it was a shock to hear how funky the “old” house tracks were, again in this room the DJs and tracks were all original to the time the Manor was going.

I talked to Dan Killerwatts – he and Glen (Savage) played the first decks on the first sound system ever put in. DJ Savage was also the first DJ that Henry really started to take notice of at the start of his love affair with all things harder!

“ The whole point was to get the underground tunes from the free party scene to a wider audience. We charged £5 to get in; we were playing early underground tunes - great but a really different music compared to what else was available. That’s why people are here now, why they have so much loyalty.

We started out getting maybe several hundred coming, by the end there was 1,500 every week. We had the 2 arms of it, the house room and the hardcore room; 10 years after it closed, looking round here – that there’s still this amount of support for it is just amazing.”

That sense of camaraderie was evident in both rooms; not just the club regulars from the dance-floor but also the DJs and MCs, many saying hello to people they hadn’t seen for 10 years. Within minutes the years seemed to drop away and everyone was dancing, smiling and more often than not; sweating. A lot! Some things never change and no matter how erm, experienced, like DJ Energize, or still young and in their teens – like his niece, dressed in the latest cyber gear – everyone had the same sweaty, happy faces within about 5 minutes of walking in

I chatted to Sue Stafford – a familiar face locally who has been giving it large since the start and is just as dedicated to getting out there and having a great party now. She couldn't stop smiling and told me that this night felt as good and had the same brilliant vibe as when The Manor was open. Every one I talked to was just happy to be there, as was I – what a brilliant night, full of memories and if the calls on various sites are to be believed, then there may be more nights like this to help those of us who were there at the start not just re-live old memories, but make some new ones too.

Fantastic night and again many thanx for inviting me, I had a ball and am now looking forward to the next one?

wicked review again hun...YOU JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER...SEE YOU SOON

BUDS IN

*blushes* Cheers for that - it has to be said that the vibe of the night was absolutely brilliant, it's easy to write about something that I so enjoyed.

Thankyou so much for asking me to come along - it was an absolute pleasure.

And I already invited mine . . . lol!

Great review,
nice 1 ;)

Wicked review hun,was sooo busy i did`nt even see ya there :OS

Was soo nice to see that the oldschool crew from the Manor dayz made a top effort to celebrate what we all used to luv and look forward to regularly.

Had a lot of good memories re-lived by hearing some of those tunes that night,and seeing the dj`s/mc`s and the ravin crew,roll on the next Pawlett Stomp fest :)

Mine r all in unall :)

Buds in

yah top review thank you for your kind words i had a wicked night and cant wait for the next time
for me it has always been about the manor back in the day and always will !!!! savage and killerwatts are legends and it was grate to see them back in action.

the best thing for me was seeing some of the younger people having there first manor experience most commented on how progressive and hard some of the old tracks are and it wasn't what thay expected.

big up all the crews involved, pat yourself on the back it was the best night iv been to in a long, long time

yea was wkd night loved it....spot on review fairplay ....roll on 20th dec gunna b another oldskool corker cant wait