Ministry @ Knebworth 2001 Review

I only need three words to sum up my day at Knebworth 01 and those words are Paul Van Dyk. Following on from the deep and tribal Dave Seaman in the Renaissance tent, Mr Van Dyk laced his (longer-than-most) set with more build-ups than the Big Brother final! What with its blistering drumbeats, hats, snares and driving basslines, the Renaissance tent, kitted out in all its traditionally tasty décor was banging. As soon as the first tune dropped, we all knew we were about to witness something special. And we did.

Unlike previous long jaunts up north, my journey to Knebworth 01 was in comparison much shorter, which meant I could be tucked up in bed with a nice cuppa quicker than you could say, "This year, I'll mostly be dancing like a loon!" Knebworth 01 was brought to you by 'sarf' London's very own Ministry of Sound. Adding yet another name onto the ever-increasing list of summer dance festivals, could they succeed where others have failed? Well, yes they can and yes they did. Having triumphed at the Dome on New Year's Eve, the Ministry team put their reputation back on the line by organising their first ever summer dance festival. In conjunction with the World Dance promoters, the event was a roaring success. Indeed, there was much fun and rejoicing, despite the fact that it seemed to take me about 4 hours to walk from Golden over to the Renaissance arena! Please next year put everything a bit closer together?

The first jock of the day was the 'Lizard Man'. Mauro Picotto blasted his way through his thumping early afternoon slot before handing over to the all-conquering John 00 Fleming (click here for my interview!). But this wasn't before teasing us with a rather fruity remix of 'Arrizzo Da Bass' Doom's Night'. John 00 Fleming then built up the fast-growing crowd with a blinding progressive trance set, ending on 'Vincent De Moore, Fly Away.' What a great way to spend the afternoon!

We then had a good browse around the site, taking in amongst others, good old Brandon Block and Alex P on the Open Air stage. Now when I said Knebworth 01 was big, I wasn't joking. With 12 arenas, a massive fairground and all the usual other festival attractions, the whole place was quite overwhelming. In fact some of the atmosphere (outside of the tents) was lost because the area was sooo spacious.

There was nothing wrong with the atmosphere inside the tents however, as we checked out Nigel Dawson in Renaissance, before heading back to the rather pumping Golden arena for Mario Piu. Following on from the Italian wizard was a DJ who appears to have played at every gig, club and festival this year. The Judge bless him, suitably obliged. Which was nice.

Meanwhile, over at the Open Air stage the much-publicised performance by headline act Jamiroquai was well and truly underway. As we strolled down the hill, the vast sea of bodies were all moving and a grooving to the band's classic track, 'Space Cowboy'. Leader singer Jay Kay, hat on head (of course), turned in an inspired performance which was equally matched by the stage and lighting effects as well as his bright white suit. It was quite a spectacle.

It was then back over to Renaissance for more progressive delights with Dave Seaman. By this point my feet were screaming at me to stop and rest, so we quickly popped into the VIP area for a very tasty bacon baguette. Mmmm, that's better. I was now fully recharged and ready for some more action, aside from the fact that I had lots of blisters on my feet; did I mention the long walk?

Any pain I had in my feet soon faded way as Paul Van Dyk took to the decks. The Renaissance tent was now rammed and it's no wonder why. As he dropped 'Sygnus X, Superstring,' the warm feeling in our hearts grew, as did the number of people dancing in our crew. Everyone was smiling, everyone was happy and everyone was 'aving it. It was a shame that he couldn't have played the last set because now my feet really were hurting! As we sat around chatting to our newfound friends, Renaissance favourites Deep Dish began to play out their four-hour epic set; the last of the night. We then visited Golden for the last time to see Dutch maestro Ferry Corsten, DTPM to see Ariel and Headstart where Luke Slater was behind the decks, before wrapping the night up with the last hour of Deep Dish.

The walk from the station to the site earlier in the day had taken 30 minutes; the return leg however took an hour. Safely on the train we headed home. Lying in bed with a nice cuppa I had time to reflect on my day; I was right...this year I mostly have been dancing like a loon!