TuneLab
Altern 8
Boiler Room x Sports Banger: Boomtown 2023
When Altern 8 takes the decks, it's not just a DJ set; it's a communal time warp back to a world of white gloves, smiley faces, and breakbeats that felt like they could power a city. This Boiler Room x Sports Banger: Boomtown 2023 live set is pure, unadulterated old-school rave therapy. The vibe is a glorious, muddy field turned into a skanking, bouncing mass, a celebration of rave's enduring, cheeky spirit. Technically, it's a breakbeat hardcore riot, averaging a hectic 147 BPM and bouncing between keys like 7A and 10B to accommodate the genre's sample-heavy, chaotic nature.
The energy is loud and proud across the spectrum, with a solid low-end (0.54) for the amen breaks, chunky mids (0.34) for the hoover synths and piano stabs, and piercing highs for the whistles and sirens. The mixing is fast and fun, often using cheeky cuts and quick doubles to keep the energy manic and the smiles wide. The tracklist is a '90s rave greatest hits package. Baby D's 'Let Me Be Your Fantasy' is the ultimate dreamy, vocal-led opener.
Bizarre Inc's 'Playing with Knives' is a timeless rhythmic monster. The Prodigy's 'Charly' is, of course, the cultural atom bomb that never fails to detonate. 2 Bad Mice's 'Bombscare' delivers that iconic, skittering breakbeat, and Awesome 3's 'Don't Go' provides a shot of pure, piano-driven joy. It all begins with the heavenly vocals of 'Let Me Be Your Fantasy', accelerates into the peak-time madness of 'Charly', and finally winds down on the optimistic, floating pads of Rhythm Quest's 'Closer to All Your Dreams'.