EMMA @ Trax 2013

Last year’s Trax show was the EMMA UK car audio sound off scene’s finals and league trophy event. This year it was their penultimate round. For we have a short gap before the UK finals at Brands Hatch, Modified Live. This is just as well, because after a prime spot in scrutineering last year at the heart of Silverstone and Trax, this year we ended up show-location-wise, in what an hotelier would term their ‘˜last let’ room.
This is the small box room over the kitchen door, where the deliveries wake the occupants every morning, early. It’s the room you rent out last and only in desperation.
At Silverstone, this actually meant a length of the hallowed track itself, actually being the Trolls Under the Bridge below the very first one over the track to gain ingress to the site. It was really close to the entrance and also close to the traditionally remote-‘˜cos-of-noise dB Drag/Propper Droppers spot to the right and thus better for visiting between all the sound off fraternity.

It was also where all visitors, the folks on foot from the car parks – and there were thousands, could see the happy nutters testing cars from half seven in the morning at set up. Energy drinks have a lot to answer for! But it was the last place any walking about show going punters would ever see.

So it was a private show. No traders saw us, we saw nothing of the attractions nor action, being in a hole. The disabled stand was open and was a very close by spot. So we could see track action I did go look. We had ample loos. The site had acres of free picnic seating. Because on that part of the massive Silverstone campus, there simply were no people. In all prior years, I have been able to play hookey from the EMMA duties, go see and say hello to the audio exhibitors and get some love and motivation from the throngs and the promo girls alongside the pit garages. I was to interview Ryan Hawtin, I was to make video on the Fast Car stand with my mate Slim Jules.
But it had less of that this year for me than the Car Audio & Security one day dealer event which was far more nipple tingley for that stuff.
Yet in sheer real estate quality, it truthfully was the single nicest, poshest layout we ever had. Very mixed feelings on that one. Partly because for myself, I wasn’t convalescent, I was fricking Typhoid Mary. I feel really really guilty but I am sure I was infectious with the yucks I had just had. Well, was still ill with. So much so, the video I took that day was just below usable quality even for Internetz stuff innit. So sorry about that

The thing is, it was bass head and SQ tweak heaven as we had hard standing, were protected by EARTH banks that can stop the bass from spreading and with the bend, the boomers on one part were NOT peeving the SQ boys on the other.
We had a long slice of Tarmacadam to call ours and frankly as it was the end of the snake, space wise, we had a big old slice of extra footage to line cars up with room to spare. But all the people were going to the fair and we were not invited. I honestly think they need a fleet of little electric trains to trundle people en masse around the roads they so assiduously marshal during the day, so traders can get more footfall and the less likely to see the whole site, CAN without doing six miles of walking in the day.
Enough of the whinge, here’s the cool.
THE BATTLE WAGGON WAS DONE!! Ask Ackerley Papa Bear or Roo and they were well stressed about how it was running but way from finished and tuned. But it was a wall of PA that rocked and reached out and while very few people came by mostly the car club up the tarmac I was able to talk to them all. It comprised four SPACE fifteens, sixteen linen edged big format midbasses, two vertical rows of their QB oblate six by nines and a row like an artillery array of their Black Death line bullet tweeters across the top. With a DJ rig in the back and a single DIN headunit slot, all running on a battery bank inside, it will roar when it is done. We need better line driving and a sexier headunit than it is running right now.

I am so sorry I was a bit useless and had I been better or able to swag a golf buggy, hell, even a Segway and a crash hat woulda done, I would have got about better.
Here’s the small amount of footage I took that was of any use see if you can spot the lurker I utterly failed to spot had seen the red ‘˜record’ lamp come on at like, a hundred yards or more! I think it’s Mark Turner.
http://youtu.be/Y-1KZyi1RW8
And while I did get to see the excitement of everyone arriving, I was there barely long enough to fling the shutter about a bit in any case, here is the gallery of the shots I did take.. with some crop edits to see more details and some captions.
here