The tension had been building for months. Would Black Celebration's accoustic set work out or not? Would Darkside's stress finally get the better of him? Who was the new member of Black Celebration? Would Mum's knickers suffocate Steve-Dave? Who was Bitter Apple? And the most important question of all, would CCS be brave enough to face the dreaded Crewe Clutch Clan?

Read on and find out.........

Saturday January 22nd, the date of the long-awaited convention in the DM capital of the world, Crewe. As usual, forum members from the far flung corners of the UK descended on the Limelight Club. NOT as usual, one forum member turned up from the far flung corners of the world. Nutter, coming all the way from Seattle for one weekend :p Most of the usual suspects were there, plus some new faces. Apologies if I leave anyone out!

Present and correct were me, Tyger, Bitter Apple and Richard O'Brien, Girl Racer, Truckerted, Nichi and Dopplegahaner, Tommypotts and Julie, Darkside and Violet, Mum, Dad, Vicky and Van Helsing, Y.F.S and MJ (sadly without k), LMM, Mr Mercy and Zippy Lee Gore (in a leather skirt), OrangePeel, Soda and Mr Soda, DM Paul and his crowd (including Air Traffic Control Man), Dave's Angel, Crowman (was such a nice surprise!), Daveposer, Limp Halo, Joe, and all the way from Cardiff the young, nubile, young, fresh-faced, have I mentioned young yet?, DG-profiled, young, innocent, young......... sorry, where was I? Ah yes, CCS was there :D

The day began with an absolute stonking DJ set from Igbandy. Thanks sweetheart for playing some of my favourites, especially the Skinflutes, and WIME Cicada, and Big fish little fish, and Reload, and TR808 and pretty much the whole damn set if truth be told! and for giving me sore knees before the day had even started properly :D

Next up were Black Celebration, joined by a drummer and a guitarist for a semi-acoustic set. At last we found out who the mystery new member was and of course it was none other than our very own Darkside. Highlights of the set for me were Death's Door (despite the false start) and Personal Jesus. At the end of the set the Clan threw roses onto the stage to show their appreciation (great idea Nichi!).

Next up was DJ Marie with another great set which did even more damage to my knees! Then the big screen lit up and shivers went down my spine as Higher Love began to play and the Devotional DVD started. I know it was only a video, but I couldn't help screaming at it, honestly! Unfortunately the DVD player gave up after a while, but Darkside, the ultimate professional, stepped in and gave us an extended DJ set which was a real treat, given that he had to improvise a fair bit of it and that he was nervous about going back on stage for BC's second set.

And so we come to the piece de resistance. A three hour set from the boys which once again was absolutely breathtaking from start to finish. Black Celebration get better every single time we see them. As usual the setlist included some old favourites but also included some real gems like Sea of Sin and Fly on the Windscreen. The crowd screamed, Steve-Dave wiggled his hips, people waved their shoes, their arms, their lighters, and on cue to the first chorus of In Your Room the clan threw their knickers, much to Steve's amusement. I wonder if he's spotted Ewan's Y-fronts yet..........

After BC more music followed from Marie, and the clan danced the night away. Well some of them did - by that stage I was too tired to do anything except wave Zippy about and complain about my sore knees.

And did CCS enjoy himself? I would think so.........