Notting Hill Carnival 06

The most anticipated (and messiest) weekend of the year kicked off in style on Saturday with a houseparty Chez Killaz. Complete with a BBQ, heavy soundsystem and a mouth-watering DJ line-up, the Party Palace was rocking until the early hours (did it actually stop?) to a blend of DnB, breaks, garage, old skool, reggae, hip hop, soul and funk. Bare sounds. Apparently too much sounds for the neighbours/council though. Not enough I say...

Every one of the hand-picked DJ's smacked it, of course, but special mentions to Spunky (Lil Rich) and Sabre for touching down with their blazing sets. Hold tight all the early morning cricket crew too - congrats to Wales for bowling over the English. Albeit on a basketball court. At 8am. With chairs for stumps. And a head full of mash up.

Thanks to Maxwell & Joker for providing the all important sounds, the other DJ's (Version, Bensun, Trademark, Lil Rich, Dai, Sabre, Subterra & Dark Angel) and those who eased the load to make the party happen (Skyla, Hustla, Snappa, Dai and the boys, Chick, Chris etc). And of course everyone who reached (from Sheffield to Newport, HoofLa to Big Chill, Rude FM to 1Xtra) ... bless.

Bounced out the door Sunday morning feeling worse for wear, but like a Carnival soldier in full attire I marched myself straight to Rampage's soundsystem on Colville Terrace. The sun was shining down on family day (N.B. f*** prams) and Masterstepz was smashing out dancehall to the appreciative masses. His 15 minute Drop Leaf mix (which has been the biggest Carnival riddim for years) brought a chorus of horns and whistles, culminating in Jah Cure's 'Love Is'. Pure vibes.

Spent the rest of the day taking in the sights, sounds and Jerk chicken. Strolling about on my jacks was actually quite liberating - no hanging around waiting on peeps amongst 100,000's of similarly impatient stoners. Bumped into lots of mates though - you can always rely on Tavistock Park! All the while Ash-A-Tak was rinsing out Drum 'n' Bass on CMC/Matrix's stage. Round the corner Garage legendary MC DT ("on the 1's and 2's") was spitting over DnB. Priceless.

Reached Carnival Monday in a slight panic, as I had overslept on the biggest day of the year - foolish. Dashed straight over to Rampage (standard) to catch Babycham perform Carnival 2006's ubiquitous anthem, Ghetto Story. Miraculously he managed to milk the tune for 15 minutes (acappella, rewinds, remixes etc. - lol)! Cham took the roof off... if there was one.

Disya Jeneration's tore up their block with a selection of dancehall anthems, while Gaz's Rockin' Blues kept things bubbly with live covers of Toots & The Maytals and similarly funky ska niceness. Ash-A-Tak was still causing mayhem at CMC (had he even left?). Being Monday there was attitude - standard - but nothing kicked off and no gunshottas at Rampage - so that was the smallest of blessings. Another great Carnival weekend closed with a small after-party back at the pad. Big grins, red eyes and empty pockets for the rest of the week ensured it was all worthwhile... "Badman forward, Badman PULL UP"