Cyberkids: crash and burn

The following week, Mixmag bumps into Matt at Passion in Coalville. He's popped down the motorway to hear Judge Jules. And he's not dressed up. "You don't need to dress up to be a 'Crasher Kid," he shouts, helping us climb into the rafters to dance. He demonstrates his glowstick skills, and when JFK plays 'Bullet In The Gun" he phones his girlfriend (on his customised 'PVD' mobile) and leaves a message for her. He met her at Creamfields during Oakie's set. This is their tune.
An hour before the club shuts, Matt has to leave. He's going back to Gatecrasher for the last two hours, with his clubbing friends, a couple in their 40s. After that, he's off to his job, shifting boxes in a warehouse.

It could be the story of any scene. A group of friends trying something different at their local club. Others joiing in, getting involved, but before long it burns itself out. Blame Gatecrasher's door policy, the press attention, the decline in strong pills or the 'Crasher Kids themselves for creating divisions, but it seems the cyberkids as we know them have had their day.

In the UK, at least. On a recent tour of Australia, Gatecrasher's promoters encountered something they didn't expect. "It was mental", says Simon Oates. "All these kids were dressed up exactly like ours. Except they were calling themselves the Sydney Kids".