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Bar. |
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This alley isn't so scary in
the day! |
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Dancing with err..clubs? |
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Look closely: you'll spot
Col. Sanders! |
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What's left of room 2 |
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Fido comes out to play! |
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One too many. |
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The Piss Pit cum toilet. |
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"For those who know, stay low, stay strong, stay
ready, stay underground." - Unknown Writer, Underground
Resistance (Detroit)
 Mobile
soundrigs all over Europe and the UK are doing just that. Week
in and week out, they look for sites which will be turned free
spaces for parties - no dress code, no bouncers, no rules (and
often no toilets as well...). Usually, these parties are free
or organisers ask for a small donation upon entry.
 The
free party scene in the UK grew out of the rave and acid house
scenes of the late 80's and early 90's. At it's height, the
rave scene was a force to be reckoned with. The Castlemorton
rave of 1992 has gone down in history as the pinnacle of the
Uk rave scene. It attracted 25 - 40, 000 ravers to an outdoor,
free (and illegal) party that lasted 3 days, growing larger
each time it was televised on the news.
 However,
after several media campaigns against 'drugged up ravers' and
'killer pills', most notably the aftermath of Leah Betts'
death on her 18th birthday after taking an e, raves dug deeper
into the underground as police enforcement grew tighter and
clubs began cashing in. The Criminal Justice Act of 1994 was a
major blow to rave promoters. It outlawed 'gatherings of more
than a hundred people, at which amplified music (wholly or
predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of
repetitive beats) is played...'. The penalties were 3 months
imprisonment and/or 2500 pound fine. The organisers of the
Castlemorton rave were prosecuted and many left the UK to seek
asylum on the Continent.
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 Although
today's free party scene exists on a smaller scale than it's
predecessors, the spirit of the original raves is kept alive.
In London, crews like Stinky Pink, Crossbones and Pan!k run
mobile soundrigs and set up parties every weekend. Finding the
venues for these parties is an adventure in itself. There is
no advertising or advance announcement of any parties. You
have to call the info-line number (which you would know only
if you'd already been to a party) at a certain time (usually
after 10pm on the night of the party) where a recorded message
will tell you where party is being held. Then, you go hang
around a rundown neighbourhood (some might say ghetto) till
you hear the distant rumble of bass... follow the beats and
there you are.
 Free
parties are usually held in abandoned warehouses, although
I've been to one in a disused pub/restaurant..., and are
exactly what they say they are. No restrictions are enforced,
and punters can do whatever the hell they want. The crowd that
goes to these parties is interesting to say the least. Alot of
them are homeless people and squatters, so you get alot of
dogs (their pets) running around the dancefloor. Besides that,
you also get your usual bunch of hardcore hedonists, underaged
street kids, travellers, and a whole slew of drug pushers
(it's like going to the supermarket). Sometimes you get your
acid house old-timers and the occasional club reject who
wanders in by accident.
 Multiple
soundrigs get together to put on a party, so you get different
rooms, playing anything from ragga, drum n bass, darkcore,
gabba, hard house, goa trance, to idm. Rest assured, you will
NOT hear the latest "oakie" or sasha track
here. The main thing about these parties, though, is the lack
of toilets. Coupled with the copious amounts of cheap beer
being consumed, this usually leads to only one thing. Wet
floors. Which soak through your shoes. Nuff said.
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 Dance
culture today is dominated by hyper-commercialisation. The
dance press, the club industry, the rise of the superstar DJ,
all these things have created a culture where anything can be
bought. The philosophy behind free parties rejects that and
gives us hope for something untainted by the almighty dollar,
an experience and freedom that cannot be bought. That freedom
may be abused, but that is the risk we live with, as
individuals who take responsibility for their own choices. No
amount of baby-sitting by club bouncers will make drugs go
away.
 Paying
$50 to crowd into a club without room to breathe, much less
dance, to see Superstar DJ spin does not mean it will be a
great set (yes, even if he HAS been on Global Underground).
Our culture should be about individuals who make autonomous
decisions, choices for themselves, instead of mindless
trend-spotting, DJ worship and club tribalism.
-Joon, May 2002
*pix taken at Osborne St warehouse, 2pm, 260502
Being new to this scene, that's about all I can say. Read
our interview with London soundrig Pan!k here.
>back
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