Big Fat Rave review: stacked lineup pays homage to 90s rave culture

Big Fat Rave was born of a collective of Leeds & Newcastle-based friends and creatives looking to revive the spirit of early 90s rave culture. Having held parties at a series of venues across the North-East and Yorkshire, the latest edition was their most ambitious yet, taking place in the 2,000-capacity NX Newcastle.

The lineup was stacked and fit together nicely. e-kitty and Matty Jones b2b Hyphen kicked off proceedings in the impressively repurposed 360 DJ booth, allowing the crowd to gather around the decks in much the same way as for Boiler Room. It made the whole experience more immersive, moving the focus away from the DJs themselves and differentiating it from a typical rave.

Saint Ludo then spent the next couple of hours continuing to warm up a sizeable main room crowd at a slightly higher tempo, spinning a mix of rap-inspired UK bass and party starters at 140bpm. In reality, though, the night was all built around one man. Interplanetary Criminal is one of the most exciting producers in the country; having had a meteoric rise over the last few years. Pumping, all-energy UK Garage is back on the rise, with many of the early noughties tunes that you’d send over Bluetooth having a resurgence. It’s a sound which has bled into the mainstream, with 'Baddest of Them All' sitting atop the UK singles charts and bouncing out of every speaker in the country over the last couple of years. Its popularity has meant that NX would be one of the only venues in the city capable of hosting IPC and his merry crew.

Predictably NX was packed to the rafters, but there are plenty of nice touches since the redesign which meant it was never uncomfortable. Most notably the lovely rooftop smoking area, for when you can no longer resist a go on your friend’s Lost Mary. The speakers, thankfully, are very much up to the task. The main room feels very distinct from a nightclub, both in terms of atmosphere and aesthetics, but the promoters did an excellent job of bridging that gap. And the sound system itself is banging.

Finally, onto the music. Interplanetary Criminal ripped through 90 minutes of relentless garage which was littered with throwback vocal samples and stems from trance & house classics. There were Skepta samples layered over some funky bassline and an edit of ‘Baddest of Them All’ which was hard to pin down. It was a set delivered exactly for the room it was performed in; fun and at times a little bit silly. Summed up by dropping an outrageous edit of Shaggy’s ‘It Wasn’t Me’, but not reaching for his latest single ‘Races’ with Grime MC Blanco. There was even time to squeeze in a wonky remix of Yeah Yeah Yeah’s 'Heads Will Roll', as well an outstanding edit of ‘Day N Night’ by Kid Cudi. It was a frankly daft set for a wild Saturday night in Newcastle. What more could you possibly need.

For more raves from across the UK, check out our UK Rave Guide Inspire Me page.

Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.