2010 Review3

Well what an epic year 2010 has been, rolling with quite literally the worlds best scene and most importantly the best dub club ever, probably.

The year started as always with the Ultimate indoor Vag Fest, Ultimate dubs of course. Rumor has it this is the show GazB first set eyes on his beloved Mk2 20 valve turbo. Back then it took the form of a white early D plate small bumper, cunningly disguised as a mere 8v. Surprisingly, as with quite a few UD ‘show’ cars, this one was all wheels, polish and not much else. Not long after Gaz scraped the shell, standard.

For those privileged enough to grace the UD halls the night before the show, it’s all about mingling with the relative ‘celebs’ of the scene. And in true NE fashion, proceed to rip the piss, drink their beer and generally rant about how shite someones car is or how much they’ve spent on a set of rims that look rubbish. Bring on the 2011 show then, will the elusive Oak Grün 20vt make an appearance? Probably not, because apparently it’s shite and the wheels are rubbish.

Wörthersee back in May, the ultimate car porn festival, a Weekend at Bernies (gästehaus Kitty) in Austria. Due to various factors including money, being loved-up, being bothered or just generally being a massive fairy about the whole trip, the 9 strong original members where whittled down to 3. Great, so that left me with a weekend away with bloody Di Sabled and his side kick ‘I broke my arse falling off a wheelchair’ Bailey. In all fairness is was one of the best shows/holidays I’ve ever had.

Of course there’s pages of stories to be told about the infamous Wörthersee excursion, but rather than writing them up you should ALL come along next June and experience it for yourselves. It’s worth the money, headaches, sore feet and sheer terror as you take off in a World War 2 plane with propellors!! Besides, 2011 is the 30th year of das GTi Treffen, it can only be massive!

GTi International. Early Summer late Spring. Time to don the high vis and stand around in blazing hot sun directing traffic. Fortunately, back in 2009 Autometrix (Gaz is on the board) were granted permission to open a camp site actually ‘on site’. So no more driving miles around Northamptonshire to water logged camp sites after a day sweating on the hot tarmac. This year saw the first appearance of the new NE 6 man club tent, which doubles up as a pretty impressive kitchen set-up I must say. No longer will we have to struggle with poxy pop-up bivouacs and sub standard no frills burgers.

I think I’m correct in stating that this was the first event that the GazB 20vt appeared and actually made a show, albeit with a gaffer tapped throttle cable and rubbish rims. Did I mention Gaz is well in with Teddy Ruckspin and is actually on the Automatrix committee. Inters is fantastic and probably the most loved show of 2010 for sheer thrill of driving and picking up a bargain in the auto jumble. After a long hot day of mincing about the cars, judging cars and making friends, how about a Sumo session?

Oh BVF, what would we do without you? I think most agree the British Volks Fest is the birth place or at least conception of our wonderful club. It was many many years ago around a camp at BVF drinking Fosters (we were driving), Taylord was probably strumming an Oasis number on his guitar, Lewis moaning about his ginger tan masked only by the laughter of Bailey fire walking in his Calvin Klein thong, that we all got together and vowed we needed a new direction for the club.

The show where we all fall in love at least once, usually in the form of an air cooled microbus or Karmann Ghia. A tranquil retreat in the shadow of the Malvern Hills where Air and Water folk alike generally get on with each other. The highlight being the fancy dress party/rave in the main hall on Saturday night. Very probably the only place in the world you will see Darth Vadar bumming a Monk or ‘half man half machine’ robot Taylord feeding children ‘robot juice’. Really Chris? Really? So what’s the theme this year then?

Back down the M5 to Bristol Volks Fest. A new venue and guaranteed spanking hot weather has made Bristol’s answer to the dub scene the best local show for us. Thanks to some quality negotiations via our massive club and the owners of BrisFest, we secured the best club display plot on the site. I actually think Gaz is once again, ‘on the board’ of the organisers. Turning up a day early meant first dibs on the camping spot was sweet, only to be told on the show day that we could have camped on out club stand, dismissing the need to walk miles between the two. We live and learn I guess.

What the hell happened to our Edition 38 crowd this year? Work work work that’s what. That and a lack of money across the club, I think everyone was feeling the pinch come late Summer. Still, I managed to get a Sunday session with the camera in and soak up some of the after party atmos. A favorite show for the scene whores and european visitors, Ed38 has dropped down the league tables after a year of theft and vandalism wreaked havoc through the campsites. It’s an expensive show to do the whole weekend, but again, well worth the effort for the sheer volume of quality metal on show. With arguably the toughest show ‘n’ shine judging panel on the dub calendar, it’s no joke that Ed38 winners are the best in the business. The G-Werks Winnebago and carpeted display stand is a reminder of how much wedge is still being spent on these cars.

Certainly not least but probably the last of the big shows this year was Players10. Located only a few clicks off the M1/M25 junction makes Players a hot favorite with the London crowd. What better way to start the weekend than a afternoon drinking session in Shoreditch and Brick lane curry house to finish the night off, or finish my toilet off in the morning more like. Described as a mini Ed38, pound for pound Players has just as much show space and cars but without the hassle of camping.

Two huge aircraft hangers on the North Weald airfield site provide some welcome shelter from the elements, so you get the best of both worlds when it comes to show stopping creations. The pan scrapping daily beaters are strewn around the outer hangers and the fine weather fairies polished to perfection adorn the hangers. It’s not all VAG here either. A heavy Jap and Euro tuner presence is quite a refreshing shift from the usual ‘Players’ around the scene, which is all good business for the traders. Happy days.

Well here we are stuck in the thick funk of random British Winter. Salt covered roads, the slushy remnants of paralyzing snow, sat under the stars at BVF with a cold beer seems so far away right now. But as I sit here flicking through all the past galleries, reminiscing over this past years road trips and forum build threads, it’s not hard to get excited about what 2011 will bring.

It’s all too easy to fall into our inbred British pessimistic ways and start having a moan about the economy, the state of the roads and how the wife wants to leave you for spending half your life in the shed. Yes there will probably be more student riots, petrol prices will undoubtedly rocket with the increase of VAT and yes, your cat will probably fall out of a window and land you with a massive vet bill. But bollocks to all that. Come the Spring chuck a bucket of water over the car (or not), wang a tent in the boot and tag along with us lot to one of the summer shows. Good times are only an M4 away. And remember, It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do to it!

From all at NewportEdition we wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.

EwanE

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