Why am I Dancing in a Warehouse?
Anna Tankard
Research Project Stage 4
Word Count: 7814
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
A Brief History of Dance and Rave Culture in the UK (1980 – present)
1.1 The Invention of House Music in Chicago and its Movement to the UK (late 1970 – early 1980)
1.2 The Rise of Thatcherism in the UK and its Effect on Youth and Dance Culture (1980s)
1.3 Drugs, Dancing, and the Rise of Ecstasy in Rave Culture
1.4 The Impending Criminal Justice Act 1986
1.5 The Birth of the Super Club (1990s)
1.6 The Modern-day Rave Scene
Chapter 2
The Role of Post-Industrial and Repurposed Spaces in Rave Culture
2.1 Rave’s Black Origin: The Importance of Moss Side Community Centre
2.2 The Free Rave: The Use of Free Land - Castlemorton: The Rave that Changed the UK
2.3 Rethinking the Indoor Rave: The Hacienda and its Profound Movement in Rave Culture and Rave Spaces
2.4 A Critical Analysis of Why Post-Industrial Spaces Are the Sought-After Rave Spots
Chapter 3
The Decline of Dance and Rave Venues in the UK
3.1 The Modern-Day Rave: The Rise and Fall of Clubs and Business Techno
3.2 The Factors that Have Contributed to the Closure of Clubs Across the UK
3.3 An Analysis of Why Club Closures Affect Our Society and Urban Environment
Chapter 4
The Future of Rave Spaces: Temporary or not Temporary?
4.1 Why the Future of Clubbing Under Threat
4.2 The Work of Temporary Pleasure and Temporary Club Spaces
4.3 The Importance of Our Grassroot Venues: Cosmic Slop
Introduction Research Hypothesis, Literature Review, Methodology
For centuries, music and dancing have been a means of escaping reality, transcending social boundaries, and uniting people. Music can be seen as a tool to unite; it is a universal language everyone understands, it allows us freedom of expression and transports us into other realms. The spaces in which we experience music, venues such as nightclubs and youth centres, have adapted and evolved throughout history to foster new and vibrant cultures within our cities and have played a vital role in regenerating urban landscapes. The integration of such spaces into the urban fabric is essential for a community framework to thrive as well as supporting social and mental well-being.
Within the last four years, the UK has witnessed the closure of over 480 nightclubs1 driven by various factors, such as gentrification, property development, political pressures, and changes in social habits. Liminal spaces such as warehouses and repurposed industrial sites have, historically, been fertile ground for the development of club culture and new music, they have provided spaces that promote social mobility, identity formation and create a safe environment from societal prejudice. These genres of clubs grew out of the need for more inclusive spaces; those marginalised by society, and cast out of high-end clubs and bars, could join together to lose themselves in dance and house music. The closure of music venues and clubs poses a significant threat to marginalised communities, such as the LGBTQ+ community and ethnic minorities who built and nurtured these spaces out of necessity; by examining the history of nightclubs and music venues within the UK, such as The Hacienda in Manchester and iconic community music venues, this research will examine how the architectural design of these spaces has contributed to the success and decline of club culture and how space can influence social interaction and foster an energetic, inclusive community.
This research will explore how disused industrial spaces and repurposed community buildings have provided alternative environments for subcultures to thrive, the importance of clubs and music within an urban landscape, and the positive impact they can have on us. It will explore the role of architecture in creating cultural and social changes, focusing on the work of Temporary Pleasure, a group of young architects and designers who explore and aim to combat the decline of dance and rave venues, through the curation of temporary music venues Temporary Pleasure offer spaces that foster anonymity, freedom, and unification through the power of music and architecture. While traditional nightclubs have contributed to urban regeneration within our cities, initiatives like this show how architecture and the adaptive reuse of space are being used to preserve cultural spaces amidst ongoing challenges posing a threat to the dance and rave culture in the UK. This research will also focus on the words of Ed Gillett, the author of Party Lines, in which he explores “dance music and the making
1 NTIA, “Dancefloor Devastation: 65 Nightclubs Already Closed in 2024 as Crisis Intensifies Reports NTIANTIA,” NTIA - Illuminating the Night-Time Industry’s potential, September 24, 2024, https://ntia.co.uk/dancefloor-devastation-65-nightclubs-already-closed-in-2024-as-crisis-intensifies-reportsntia/
of modern Britain”2. Gillett is a London-based journalist and filmmaker who has written for The Guardian, DJ Mag, Frieze, The Quietus and Novara Media3; using his personal experience and interviews, he delves into the politics of dance music and gives a fascinating recount of raving culture and the importance it has within society, reminding us why the dance floor and the space it encompasses really matters.
The loss of these venues poses a threat, not only to the spaces themselves, but the communities, such as the LGBTQ+ and ethnic minority groups, that rely on these spaces for freedom of expression and social cohesion. Thus, posing the questions: What is the future of nightclubs and music venues in our ever-evolving cities? Is the temporary nightclub the future of dance and rave culture? Where are the best spaces for music subcultures to thrive and expression to be heard and accepted?
2 Ed Gillett, Party Lines (Pan Macmillan, 2023).
3 Ed Gillett, Party Lines (Pan Macmillan, 2023).
Chapter 1
A Brief History of Dance and Rave Culture
(1980 – present)
1.1 To truly understand the epidemic of club closures across the country and the spaces in which we love to dance we have to delve into the origins of dance and rave music in the UK and the movement of house music from overseas Rave culture within the UK rose to prominence over thirty years ago, a movement that changed youth culture and shaped generations. It was during the 1980s that the techno and acid house sounds of Detroit and Chicago hit the UK. Invented by black and primarily gay DJs, Chicago house and techno music were invented as a way of unifying marginalised communities. There was a need for belonging and underground warehouse venues and the living rooms of houses were the ideal locations. Lori Branch, a DJ and house music historian, “remembered the feeling more than I remembered the music, the way that the sound was presented, how it engulfed you when you walked, descended into the dance floor, down the stairs, and that there was no pause, that you just experienced it all night. It was like a story, you know like there was a beginning and a middle and the end. You just wanted to be there for the whole thing.”4 Within these spaces, there was an acceptance of all attitudes towards race, culture, sex, and gender. Clubs formed and made for the outcast
4 Rund Abdelfatah et al., “From the Warehouse to the World: Chicago and the Birth of House Music,” NPR, March 2, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/03/02/1160484070/chicago-birth-of-house-music
members of society were created for people to share personal space, to find joy and an accepting community in locations that can sometimes feel impossible. In the early 1980s, house music and the beats of Chicago made their way to the UK and started to gain traction in major cities across the country such as London and Manchester. The infestation of House music, which would manifest later into Acid House, was alive and rapidly spreading.
1.2 As Acid House and the rave scene became a cultural phenomenon amongst the youth of 1980s England, gaps within society started to emerge, and the perception of ‘ravers’ was becoming somewhat hostile. As Thatcherism rose, northern towns became the sites of political and cultural war, between the conservative government and grassroots movements. Policies surrounding individualism, the reduction in power of trade unions, and free-market economics, led to high unemployment rates, and deindustrialisation, which in turn led to the closure of coal mines, steelworks, and manufacturing plants across the UK, leaving factories and warehouses abandoned and a large percent of the working population without a job. By 1988 a bubbling undercurrent with the disillusioned youth and the unemployed was becoming more prevalent; the Thatcher government meant the rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer, and many people couldn’t afford and ultimately felt ousted from the high-end commercial clubs and nightlife of the city The inclusivity and acceptance that came along with the Acid House movement, were being recognised by ostracised members of society, especially the working class and marginalised communities; communities that
were confined and let down by Thatcher’s conservative government. A prevalent factor in the rise and popularity of house music and the illegal rave was racism. The attitude of the police force, towards Black cultural expression and sound systems, was instilled by the political figureheads of the 1980’s. Black people were being excluded from licensed venues, with Tory MP, Jill Knight, describing a blues dance as “a seething mass of people, 99 percent of whom were of the Rastafarian type, who can look a little frightening”5. These allusions towards Black Soundsystem and house rave culture gained traction and were met with resistance; the house party and illegal, unlicensed rave scene saw a boom, ultimately making Acid House and rave music the sound of liberation and rebellion.
1.3 As Acid House became more popular and beats became faster, the rave scene was becoming catalysed by ecstasy, sparking a reaction throughout the UK, and what the media referred to as the ‘Second Summer of Love (1988)6 , became a cultural phenomenon Due to the psychedelic and stimulant effects of ecstasy, people were losing a sense of time, dancing for longer, and transcending into worlds of freedom The want for music and a place far away from the disenchanting London and city nightlife outweighed the availability of space. Organisers of Acid parties and large-scale raves sought after alternative spaces with areas large enough to let loose, free from the constraints of local authority and struggles of everyday life. And so, warehouses, fields, and forests became the venues for such parties. These spaces were liminal, and freeing, a place people could make their own for the night. Acid raves and house music were bringing a sense of liberation and community to the forgotten youth of Britain. Ecstasy, along with the anonymity of space and the rebellious sounds of house music, contributed to these events hosting a wide mix of people in one area, from the LGBTQ+ community to the working-class, small-town members of society; it didn’t matter who you were or where you came from, everyone in that space became one, unified by dance music. However, this illegal rave scene brought along its own issues. The popularity of the illegal rave was gaining momentum, young people were waiting by phone boxes, or listening to pirate radio stations every weekend waiting for the secret location to drop; masses of people from far and wide were gathering in unregulated makeshift spaces Parties began to be fuelled by drugs, primarily ecstasy, and alcohol, leading, sometimes, to fatal consequences. Mainly due to the lack of health and safety measures put in place and the underground nature of such events.
5 Ed Gillett, Party Lines (Pan Macmillan, 2023). Page 20
6 Sharon Walker, “Thirty Years since the Second Summer of Love,” The Guardian, July 1, 2018, sec. Music, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jul/01/thirty-years-since-the-second-summer-of-love-1988
Image 4: Gavin Watson Archive/ Raving Series1989-1992
1.4 Towards 1990 Thatcher’s Government and the UK police forces were trying to crack down on larger scale parties, mainly due to the rise in ecstasy-related deaths and racially motivated attacks, plus the lack of authoritarian control over the ‘rebellious youth’ And so, the DIY party was criminalised, and laws surrounding raves, nightclubs, and licensing changed, allowing nightclubs, primarily in London, to open slightly later with the hope of pushing raves back indoors, in venues that could be monitored and controlled. Laws were becoming tighter as the Public Order Act (1986), which expanded the ways in which people who attended mass gatherings could be criminalised, and the Repetitive Beats Act (1994), in which Police had the power to shut down and ‘remove persons attending or preparing for a rave’,7 were being reinforced, the, once so hard fought for, rave scene was at risk of dying This brought about much controversy and backlash, as the ‘raver’ was now considered part of the oppositional culture and a threat to British society. In retaliation ravers and music lovers across the country began protesting the impending Criminal Justice Bill, which, unfortunately, would be passed into law in November 1994. Outside the bright lights of London, these laws were being reformed at a slower pace, and organisers of illegal raves began exploiting loopholes in the laws, finding disused factories, warehouses, and bingo halls as the new go-to rave spots. There was no requirement for licensing, as long as there was no alcohol
7 Harold Heath, “Dance in Protest: 30 Years of the UK’s Anti-Rave Criminal Justice Bill,” DJ Mag, May 1, 2024, https://djmag.com/features/dance-protest-30-years-uks-anti-rave-criminal-justice-bill
on sale and tickets were sold to ‘private members’, which in turn led the majority of partygoers to substitute drinking for ecstasy.
1.5 Towards the 1990’s, the days of the outdoor, illegal rave scene were dwindling, and the wave of hedonistic super-clubs was escalating; it was during these coming years that saw the introduction of prefabricated clubs such as Manchester’s, The Hacienda.
The commercial ‘dance culture’, brought about a new breed of clubs, where industrial spaces, that once hosted temporary, makeshift DIY parties, were being sold and transformed into permanent venues Places like the ‘Ministry of Sound’ and ‘Cream’, in London were born, establishing their own global brand, bringing in world-renowned DJs and investors, which were funnelling money into this new class of Super Clubs. A new social revolution began, these clubs became temples to dance and music addicts and attracted fans from across the country. As the shiny new dance and rave scene was being generated throughout the UK and worldwide, the socially progressive ideals founded in house music and club culture were being forgotten within these spaces. There was a return to the mainstream, straight clubs that the rave scene worked so hard to escape. Thus, mutations and splinter-groups of the underground rave scene once again emerged, as clubs became more commercial and leaned into the Super Club status, smaller venues across the country, offering alternative and somewhat rebellious sounds we know and love today, such as Jungle, drum’n’bass and grime appeared. As the underbelly splintered and manifested, the Super Club became even more mainstream, straying further and further away from the origins of rave and dance culture all together. Nights became drug-fuelled, overrun with ecstasy, and attending became a status symbol rather than a place to escape. The increased use of party drugs led to local gangs fighting over territory, prompting fights and violence outside and even in the clubs. The safe space that the rave once was, was slowly becoming a place of animosity and tension. Unsurprisingly, due to drug-related problems and unpredictable attendance, many of these clubs were shut across the country towards the late 1990s and early 2000s.
1.6 The modern-day rave scene has moved primarily to the online world which presents a range of benefits as well as a range of downfalls. The accessibility of nearly all types of music is at the touch of a button, all within the comfort of your own home, not to mention the added extras of consumerist media and advertisement pop-ups every two to five minutes. Physical music institutions and nightclubs are ceasing to exist, and online platforms such as Boiler Room and Berlin’s, Hör, which livestream DJ sets, are gaining worldwide popularity These types of platforms have provided artists with a wider audience network and during times like the coronavirus pandemic, have been a lifeline for artists and audiences alike. But what did this mean for the longstanding music institutions and the night time economy of our cities? A new wave of post-club spaces, such as the seasonal ‘Warehouse Project’ in Manchester, has gained popularity in recent years. The idea of using temporary architecture and venues, that change and adapt to the fluctuating rhythm of the rave scene, is on the rise. In some ways, the new-wave post-clubs that have no fixed venue, that can shift format to adapt to the music and artist, mimic the origins of the illegal rave, in which the rave had no fixed space. So, are we looking at the death of the club within our cities or a return to its temporary and progressive beginnings?
Chapter 2
The Role of Post-Industrial and Repurposed Spaces in Rave Culture
Image 6: Flyer, Moss side Community 8411 Community Centre, 26th September 1987
2.1 Mainstream media tends to white-wash the history of dance and rave spaces, however, the origins of dance and rave spaces within the UK reside in Black communities and communities marginalised by the conservative, ‘Victorian’ values, ensued by Margaret Thatcher. The 8411 Community Education Centre, in Manchester’s Moss Side, is a perfect example of reimagined and repurposed space created by Black and marginalised communities, that were central to the white-washed history of dance and rave culture. The Moss Side community centre, characterised by its wood-panelled walls and dark floor, was one of the first documented (1986) Black spaces, that re-centred Black people into the UK dance scene. The centre is an antithesis to the high-end, elitist nightclubs of London, it didn’t house the flashing lights, the expensive drinks, and the entry fee, it was simply a space for a community, exiled and let down by policing and the government, to gather and lose themselves in the reggae Soundsystem and the beats of house and electro. The space was an escape from mass civil unrest which resided on the other side of the door. With a makeshift dancefloor big enough to fit booming speakers and for people to practice their jazz footsteps, the repurposed space was transformed into a dancefloor, with minimal
additions. The space was made their own, it held no prejudice, no age, no gender, and certainly no racism.
Image 7: Molly McIndoe/ Notice to leave – Section 63 is served, UK Tek, Bramshott Common, Hampshire, 2001
2.2 The free rave of the late 1980s and early 1990s, held in fields, warehouses, and factories, were the spaces known for freedom. These locations were somewhat liminal, abandoned, and the perfect spaces for dance. The political climate of the decade created an unsettled political microcosm within the rave and music scene; dance music and the rave weren’t just a means of escape; they became the sound of rebellion. During the May Bank holiday weekend in 1992, rave culture across the UK became the forefront of media outlets and the largest talking point of the year. The largest free rave in British History, held at Castlemorton in Worcestershire in 1992, created a new political identity for dance music. In what was thought a small festival for new age travellers turned into a 20,000-to-40,000-person illegal rave. Carl Hendrickse, a band member from Back to the Planet, who played at the festival, explained: “There were no facilities for people to come and dance, gather with like-minded people, and that is why they [raves] started happening illegally because there were no proper facilities for people to have these kinds of events”.8 Ad-hoc spaces became breeding grounds for new music and the emergence of illegal raves.
8 Jerry Chester, “Castlemorton Common: The Rave That Changed the Law,” BBC News, May 27, 2017, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-39960232
Fuelled by media coverage, the largest rave in UK history would prompt the introduction of the law that would change raving and the spaces that hosted them.
The Criminal Justice Act of 1994 changed the trajectory of the rave and dance culture within the UK. The attitudes towards raving and ravegoers became much more political, and the policing towards the free rave was more hostile than ever. The Act was “about fear more than anything else”, says Cyrus, a former member of the infamous Spiral Tribe, “The authorities couldn’t understand how this many people could assemble in one place, in pre-internet, pre-mobile days. Add into that the fact that Castlemorton coverage was peppered with shots of police looking, quite frankly, helpless. That loss of control hammered them into cracking down much harder than they might otherwise have done.”9
The infiltration of illegal rave spaces from authorities meant there was a significant effect on the raving and dance industry, pushing the free rave into smaller, more underground venues, and the spirit of dance distorted.
9 Frankie Mullin, “How UK Ravers Raged against the Ban,” VICE, July 15, 2014, https://www.vice.com/en/article/anti-rave-act-protests-20th-anniversary-204/
2.3 With all eyes on the rave scene and the tightening laws around repetitive beats, super clubs found a market to capitalise on. Places such as The Hacienda in Manchester became the rave spots of the 1990s. Formerly a yacht builder’s warehouse, located in a rundown area of Manchester, The Hacienda, was a cultural phenomenon, known for its post-modern striped bollards and dancing platforms. Ben Kelly, the architect selected to reimagine the space, carefully curated a space that adhered to Factory Record’s ethos and space to appeal to the masses of ravers across the country. Kelly, when asked about what drove the design, explains “there had never been anything like it in the UK, because nobody allowed it to happen” 10 It was a club that seemed to
10 John Leo Gillen, Temporary Pleasure (National Geographic Books, 2023).
have a different agenda to the hedonistic, glamorous super club of the time. It was a hybrid space designed to open possibilities and reflect the values of the free rave and warehouse parties, and as Kelly goes on to say, “nothing was prescribed”11. It was the rise of mainstream rave culture and the movement of the rave from fields to indoor venues that helped places such as the Hacienda become so popular. The Hacienda lent itself to rave culture, its industrial heritage, shown through raw steel girders and its exposed brick emulated the history of rave culture in the UK, from its roots in Black spaces, and community centres, to the adhoc spaces reclaimed by new-age travellers and the raving community.
The hard edges and open platform spaces complimented the hardedged fast beats of acid rave, and the Hacienda aimed to respond and promote the LGBTQ+ and black roots of rave culture, including nights such as the Northern English queer night Flesh.
The exterior of the club had no implication of the design or goings on inside, the only indication of what lay within was the “hand-carved granite nameplate, Fac51Hacienda,”12 which became renowned within itself. The minimal exterior contrasting the strong and bold design of the interior creates a threshold, the entrance acts as an edge into another realm. By designing a liminal exterior, it creates no preconceptions or branding to a specific audience, the attendees of the Hacienda, at the outset, were purely there for the music and culture of what was inside. However, with the gaining popularity of rave music in media, the new sounds and genres being created in the club, and the anti-establishment nature of rave music in the early 1990s, the Hacienda, and similar venues became overcrowded with rave goers and new audiences With the popularity of the club, came the increasing use and misuse of ecstasy, and towards the later years, the Hacienda became overrun with drug gangs and drug warfare. Fights outside and within the club created many problems, it led to authorities creating “Operation Club watch”13 within the club to monitor drug dealing, drug use, and drugrelated violence. Police presence in the club resulted in a plummet in attendees; rave culture was born out of the need to escape authoritarian oppression, and yet the mainstream rave culture breeding in the club was overriding the free and accommodating values and ethos of rave culture and dance music within the UK.
11 John Leo Gillen, Temporary Pleasure (National Geographic Books, 2023).
12 Ben Kelly Design, “The Haçienda | Ben Kelly Design,” benkellydesign.com, n.d., https://benkellydesign.com/hacienda/.
13 John Leo Gillen, Temporary Pleasure (National Geographic Books, 2023).
2.4 Since the rise of acid house and illegal raves in the UK, warehouses and disused industrial spaces have been the key sites for both underground raves and in more modern times, mainstream dance venues. The industrial aesthetic has become synonymous with raving and dance music, a disused space that musicians and partygoers can make their own. By offering a liminal space, large enough to house thousands of people, with room to dance and express themselves, people can create their own worlds. By simply inhabiting a structure where “nothing is prescribed”14 as Kelly wrote, the possibilities of how the space is used greatly increases, there isn’t a fixed way people are guided through space or one specific audience the design adheres to, it is a place for people to gather with one thing in common, music. Rave culture in the UK seems somewhat cyclical in nature, whether that be through politics, the popularity of dance and rave music, or the spaces the rave inhabits, all linking in some way. Rave and dance culture have always thrived in ad-hoc and make-use spaces, born out of marginalised communities and those outcast from mainstream media and society Spaces such as disused warehouses and factories can feel like a safe space away from the high-end conventional clubs, which can create prejudiced and sometimes arrogant atmospheres. Post-industrial spaces that have been shut down by authority, forgotten about, and transformed into spaces of music, joy, and togetherness, reflect the people who inhabit them; the space and people come together in the face of adversity to create a beautiful energy. Within rave music and culture, evidently, there is no one-size-fits-all and certainly no rules when it comes to new, inventive music. Spaces that create opportunities for people who like to be seen or for those at the other end of the spectrum who like to see are the venues that are remembered and adored by attendees, by using and creating space that acknowledges and adheres to the variety of audience types, in turn results in the most successful and enjoyable raves. During the height of the illegal rave scene and the invention of new underground music, rave events were cultivated in warehouses and DIY spaces. The temporary nature of these events adheres to the architecture and spaces they inhabit, the hours in which the space is transformed into a state of ecstasy are temporary and adaptable, and the structures and buildings most often used also reflect this. Having an almost blank canvas of a disused space, which is transformed in a matter of hours, lends itself to the temporary and evolving scenes of the night and the dance culture, and by the morning the space transitioned back into its former shell.
14 John Leo Gillen, Temporary Pleasure (National Geographic Books, 2023).
Chapter 3
The Decline of Dance and Rave Venues in the UK
The Modern Day Rave
3.1 As previously stated, the UK has seen over 480 nightclub and night time venue closures in the past four years; an economy and culture that, during the early 2000s and pre-pandemic were thriving. Advances in technology, the popularity of pirate radio, and the commercial rise of house and dance music in the past twenty years have on one hand opened more opportunities for artists and rave-goers than ever before, with a continued creation of new sounds and the revival of classic rave and dance music styles accessible at the touch of a button, yet on the other hand, has further politicised the music scene UK dance music is and always has been defined by the physical spaces it inhabits; the transition into mainstream culture in the past two decades has seen the rise and fall of dance and rave culture across our cities
Redevelopment within our urban landscapes has not only seen the gentrification of neighbourhoods but also the gentrification of the dancefloor. Grassroot venues, the original fertile ground for the evolution and birth of dance culture in the UK, have been swallowed up by the commercial culture of a new high-volume, spectacle-like developer club model. A model that brings in new lucrative audiences, that in many cases don’t reflect the diversity of UK dance music. As dance music has continued to develop, there has been a consolidation of spatial control under wealthy entities, which has
homogenised the clubbing and rave scene, minimising the social and creative possibilities the culture holds.
The recent steep decline in rave and dance space across the country has had a detrimental effect on the industry, with more and more artists, organisers, and industry professionals, left with nowhere to go or perform. Whereas previously, dance music’s relationship with physical space, created alternative spaces to the wider political and economic power structures, these factors are now consciously used to capitalise on; areas of run-down post-industrialisation are becoming overwritten by the user-created, hedonistic large-scale clubs, that we began to see towards the late 1990s The modern-day clubbing and rave scene has seen the introduction of ‘Business Techno’15 a term coined by Berlinbased producer Shifted in 2018, and widely used by the electronic music press. The term refers to the commercialisation and capitalisation of dance music for economic gain, events that play music to sell out, with technology and social media making up the majority of the event and attendees. The rave scene is straying further away from the community and accessible-led initiatives that it once promoted and now shifting to an economically led industry.
15 Niloufar Haidari, “What the Hell Is Business Techno,” Mixmag, 2019, https://mixmag.net/feature/what-the-hell-is-business-techno
3.2 Today, electronic dance music exists beyond the realms of the raving community, transcending to festivals, online platforms, and mainstream radio stations. The shift from warehouse and in-person raves to the online world and high-end market reflects the broader shifts in society, spaces, that were once accessible, community-focused, and catered for the space in which to dance, are now becoming exclusive and materialistic spaces, designed with specific, money making, audiences in mind. The introduction of property development, licencing laws, the rising cost of living, and the shift in cultural ideals, as well as the Covid19 pandemic, over the century, has led to the loss of grassroots venues and the free rave ideals we saw in the ’80s, replaced by overpriced, commodified rave spaces, with little venues managing to remain open for long periods of time.
As redevelopment continues to push city limits wider and overwrite less developed areas with housing and large commercial buildings, local cultures, and the inhabitants of these areas, are being driven out of these spaces. This more often than not means that socially, economically, or racially marginalised groups are being replaced with wealthier more ‘desirable’ ones. When property development increases within our city the pressures on the night time economy, art, and culture sectors become increasingly tight. Michael Kill, the CEO of the Night Time Industries Association expressed “We are witnessing the systematic dismantling of the night-time economy. Our industry is not just about entertainment; it’s about identity, community, and the economy. The loss of our venues means the loss of jobs, culture, and a vital part of the UK’s social fabric.”16 Councils and the government are overlooking the importance of our night time economies and community, grassroots venues. When these culturally rich spaces are pushed out of our towns and cities, we are left with little to no space for marginalised cultures and community music venues to thrive. The continued push and pull between the large-scale developments of our inner cities and the small, ad-hoc community spaces on the peripheries, is leading to the slow reinforcement of spatial control over corporate rather than communal interests.
16 “NTIA Posts Grim Warning: UK Clubs Will Be Extinct after Last Night out on 31.12.2029 - NTIA,” NTIA - Illuminating the Night-Time Industry’s potential, October 23, 2024, https://ntia.co.uk/ntia-postsgrim-warning-uk-clubs-will-be-extinct-after-last-night-out-on-31-12-2029/
Relocation and tightening reinforcement of licencing laws is threatening vital community spaces and the shutting of hundreds of smaller DIY venues across the UK Due to the lack of nightclubs and the highly commercialised, expensive modern club culture, the resurgence of illegal raves, large-scale festivals, and online streaming platforms have become increasingly popular over recent years Illegal raves are still as prevalent, today as they were in the 80’s and 90’s, police statistics revealed that 133 plans for illegal raves were uncovered in 2017.17 Modern illegal raves are as underground and as private as possible; with increased media presence and advances in technology, everyone is more accessible than ever before. Underground raves compared to some of the larger scale illegal raves we saw towards the late 20th century, are much more intimate, unsafe, and difficult to keep hidden away from strict enforcement These types of makeshift dance and rave events usually take place in abandoned, industrial-type spaces, off the beaten track, with little to no health and safety measures put in place to protect ravers. However, with the perpetual rate of redevelopment knocking down these buildings, promoters are having to come up with creative and temporary solutions to create these events, to ensure dance music is still accessible. The underground rave and dance scene
17 Marcus Barnes, “Illegal Raves: How the Underground Scene Has Never Really Gone Away,” BBC Three (BBC Three, May 9, 2018), https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/66df895b-af1c-416f-b32abb3576dbcb82
is still as relevant as it was twenty years ago, the creation and importance of these spaces bringing together people who are being marginalised from the large-scale commodified spaces, which are becoming increasingly expensive, and that seem to have more of a focus on the advertisement and economic gain rather than the bringing together of like-minded people in a safe, unprejudiced space. Geoff, a promoter of illegal raves, in an interview with BBC Three, explains “It is a free atmosphere for you to feel safe and secure … there is no dress code, no VIP area, no heavy door search or security pointing torches in your face when you’re having fun on the dancefloor ”18 These liminal spaces on the peripheries of our cities are the spaces reinforcing the importance of grassroots community-focused venues in today’s society, albeit these raves being illegal, it emphasises the need for smaller, accessible and affordable entertainment.
One of the most influential and stark changes to UK dance and rave culture in the past century has been the transition of club culture to the online world; platforms such as Boiler Room and Resident Advisor have changed the way we experience and are introduced to new music and dance culture. Boiler Room, a broadcasting and promoter company, known for streaming and hosting DJ events online, has launched the careers of many of today’s most well-known and influential DJ’s. The online streaming platform has greatly expanded dance and rave cultures, within the space of four years, it had become one of the most powerful dance music platforms, not only in the UK but in the world. However, the transition into the online world and mainstream platforms is affecting our physical rave spaces. The process of Boiler Room becoming a brand in its own right has seen the privatisation of dance culture, it has become a culture of which to capitalise on. Club culture and the underground scene was about creating anonymity, having sacred spaces beyond the social norms and away from the constraints of laws surrounding club and social principles, yet the act of documenting the club scene seems to stray away from these foundations that the culture so heavily relied on. With the presence of cameras and a virtual audience much larger than the one within the immediate space, it begins to restrict behaviour and almost creates the idea of policed entertainment. The intimate experience of clubbing and the physical spaces it inhabits has been completely reinvented through such platforms, and the hierarchy of power within the space turned completely around. The central focus of the space and the video in a Boiler Room set is solely on the DJ and the immediate ravers surrounding them, stripping the power of the crowd within a rave and the anonymity that came along with raving and dance clubs when they first appeared in the UK.
18 Marcus Barnes, “Illegal Raves: How the Underground Scene Has Never Really Gone Away,” BBC Three (BBC Three, May 9, 2018), https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/66df895b-af1c-416f-b32abb3576dbcb82
Alongside the rise of the online empire, the emergence of daytime raves and festivals has sky rocketed, which has unknowingly added to the pressures of urban rave and dance spaces in cities. The cost-of-living crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an entire generation missing out on the cultural rights of passage and the clubbing experiences spoken about. With access to dance music predominantly online and the shutting of smaller grassroot venues, festivals and large scale planned events are the spaces that echo the original free party spirits of the 80’s. The sense of community and the intimate experiences can still be found in the modern-day festival scene, the ethos of the underground rave scene, that created spaces where diversity can thrive and showcase a wide variety of music styles is present within these spaces. Increasing ticket prices and the club landscape becoming gradually corporate is draining our city's out of grassroot venues and removing the anti-authoritarian quality of new music and sub-genres. The lack and loss of these institutions resulting in younger generations being more willing to pay for a large-scale festival or day-rave events to get their money’s worth. These spaces, although they may echo, or try to echo the free-rave ideals of the nineties, seem like another form of spatial control and economic gain.
3.3 Over the past ten years, with the pandemic shutting our clubs overnight and dance culture becoming increasingly mainstream, clubs have begun to lose sight of the political and social infrastructure that the culture was born out of. Spaces are becoming less about freedom of expression and more about individual and commercial gain. The pandemic in some ways has been a blessing in disguise for the attitudes towards club culture and the spaces it inhabits; there has been a moment to reflect on what dance music and club spaces collectively mean to people and the spaces it provides for people, giving the creative industries a time to find a political voice. Having lost sight of the core values the culture was built upon, there has been a resurgence of rave and club culture’s roots in LGBTQ+, Black, Asian, and minority groups, with collectives such as Pxssy Palace, creating nights and spaces focused on the Queer, intersex, trans and non-binary community19 Collectives such as these providing safe spaces for people to dance, connect, and encourage sexual freedom and pleasure, are the foundations to successful club spaces. It is when companies start to capitalise on underground culture and turn Blackness and Queerness into a sellable product, that we start to deter focus from the foundations and importance of these spaces.
Chapter 4
The Future of Rave Spaces
4.1 In a time where our club spaces are increasingly under threat and where dance culture is constantly evolving and changing, there is always a desire and a need for dance and club spaces within our society and urban environments The lifespans of our clubs are becoming increasingly shorter, due to increasing costs of venues, DJs, and events, alongside the consumerist and fleeting media culture of the 21st century. It is within dance culture where physical and philosophical spaces align, it is a temporary realm where ideas are formed, and relationships established. Spaces that reflect these very values, are slowly beginning to reappear within the raving scene post pandemic. The notion of the ‘death of club spaces’ portrayed throughout the media, is frankly untrue, there will always be a need and a want to dance, music styles will constantly mutate and in times of recession, DIY and underground cultures will thrive. It is up to us on how to create spaces that can be used as catalysts for cultural expression and community building, using smaller, repurposed and human-scale venues that celebrate, adhere, and build upon the community and root LGBTQ+, black, working class and minority values UK dance music was founded upon.
4.2 Innovative collectives such as ‘Temporary Pleasure’20 founded by John Leo Gillen, are paving the way for the new, contemporary club spaces, building a platform for local raving communities and music cultures. The club spaces the team create exist only in a certain place and a certain time before moving to a new city or location. All of the spaces used for each project will be in unused, industrial spaces and as lead architect Stan Vrebos explains “all temporary and meanwhile used architecture is a way to add and extract value from unutilised buildings temporarily”21 The post-industrial spaces, that collectives such as Temporary Pleasure are using, are rich in atmosphere; reusing and adapting unutilised buildings echoes the warehouse raves of the nineties, creating an otherworldly realm within the margins of society. Historically the most progressive and exciting rave spaces have been created in DIY, reused venues, none of which are purpose built. These are the foundations in which Temporary Pleasure employ through their visions and design. Vebros and Gillen’s ethos is built upon their value that the “whole essence of clubbing is to feel the moment”22, by creating temporary spaces, it changes the way in which we experience the space. It is a space that will only exist in one specific moment in time, it is not something that can be recreated, it is a special moment in which the audience and music align: a collective memory experienced. Temporary Pleasure not only design and build ephemeral club spaces but also host DIY workshops for communities, to teach and collaborate the making of these spaces. The community foundations which underly all of these projects pay homage and give back to the groups which built the UK dance and rave scene, people who have been marginalised by society and almost forgotten through the gentrification of UK dance music. Music and spaces designed by and for people create the more thrilling experiences. The experience of the club does not solely rely on the DJ, it is the way in which the materiality of the space, the social aspects and the political aspects are addressed in harmony.23
20 John Leo Gillen, Temporary Pleasure (National Geographic Books, 2023).
21 Juule Kay, “E-MERGING: Temporary Pleasure Builds Ephemeral Club Spaces around the World | Telekom Electronic Beats,” Telekom Electronic Beats, January 26, 2023, https://www.electronicbeats.net/e-merging-temporary-pleasure-builds-ephemeral-club-spaces-aroundthe-world/.
22 Juule Kay, “E-MERGING: Temporary Pleasure Builds Ephemeral Club Spaces around the World | Telekom Electronic Beats,” Telekom Electronic Beats, January 26, 2023, https://www.electronicbeats.net/e-merging-temporary-pleasure-builds-ephemeral-club-spaces-aroundthe-world/
23 Laura Krabbe, “How to Build a Club • a Talk with Rave Architecture Collective Temporary Pleasure | Minimal Collective,” www.minimalcollective.digital, February 28, 2023, https://www.minimalcollective.digital/editorial/how-to-build-a-club
4.3 Although the UK is facing the devastating decline of dance venues and night clubs across the UK, the human need and want for dance still thrives. Small venues across the UK are tirelessly fighting to keep and maintain grassroot venues, that contribute and provide essential services to surrounding communities. Cosmic Slop, a tiny northern club in West Yorkshire, founded in 2009, has built a reputation as one of the best clubs in the country. The club is part of a MAP (Music and Arts Production) charity, in which 100% of profits go towards supporting young people aged 11-16 who are risk at permanent exclusion from mainstream education.24 The space is adapted from creative workshops during the day, allowing children a safe space to express themselves and learn through creative practices, into a club experience at night, cultivating new sub-genres and the celebration of all types of music. Gillies Peterson, a DJ, who first played Cosmic Slop in 2017, explains the space to be “the antithesis of everything in commercial club culture”25, the welcoming nature of the community created within the space is what makes the venue so successful. The club has designed its own ecosystem, a system that provides joy and music and a system that gives back to society and services which have been gravely under funded by the government. Tom Smith, the founder of Cosmic Slop, expressed in an interview with Resident Advisor in 2017, after the threat of the Grade II listed club being permanently removed to make way for new flats, “I want to be here for 50 years. Seven years in, we’ve not commercialised or commodified it. We haven’t dispelled that air of mystery. I think it’s important if we’re going to have a culture that’s worth fighting for and doesn’t just crumble at the slightest whiff of financial gain, even if it’s for charity”26 It is institutions and spaces such as these, that reflect the need for the UK dance music scene to engage with physical space, whether that be in the political or social sphere. Cosmic Slop serves as a reminder of the potential and importance of grassroot venues in our urban landscapes.
24 Cosmic Slop, “Cosmic Slop,” Cosmicslop.org, 2024, https://cosmicslop.org/about/
25 Safi Bugel, “Disco, Jazz and Frogs Doing Techno: Cosmic Slop, the Leeds Club Night Resisting Gentrification,” the Guardian (The Guardian, February 14, 2024), https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/14/cosmic-slop-leeds-club-night-resisting-gentrification.
26 Ed Gillett, Party Lines (Pan Macmillan, 2023). Page 370
Conclusion
Rave and dance venues are essential spaces within our urban fabric. Spaces designed, adapted, and created to serve community needs, that build and celebrate cultures are what makes our cities so diverse. It is devastating to see the removal and demolition of grassroot venues across the UK, venues that have built and provided safe spaces for the raving community and marginalised groups for centuries. The nature of dance and rave spaces is cyclical, the political patterns of spaces, the anarchist values of illegal raves and dance music sub-genres amplifies this, spaces that provide safety, anonymity and a sense of belonging are the much loved and institutional rave venues When these spaces become increasingly less available, temporary spaces, which are liminal and repurposed, that echo the DIY culture the dance scene was founded in, are becoming increasingly popular. The UK dance and rave scene is going to see more of these spaces appear, the temporary adaptation of a space echoes the temporary euphoria of a rave. It serves its function for that particular space and time and buildings such as disused warehouses, factories, and industrial areas on the peripheries of our developed towns and cities, are the perfect conditions to create these venues. From personal experience, the most memorable nights have taken place in grassroot venues, usually towards the outskirts of town, places predominantly surrounded by industrial working community areas. Nights curated and made for LGBTQ+, black and minority groups are the nights in which I have felt the freest, and safe. These spaces, more often than not, are not focused on social media or economic gain, they’re about the bringing together of like-minded people to share a moment and share a space. The lack of social media presence and mainstream culture in these clubs is what makes them so unique and unforgettable. To look to the future of dance and rave spaces, we must look back in time to the origins of UK dance and the cultural foundations they were built upon. Smaller venues, that have an adaptable and temporary nature, that are designed with the human scale in mind, provide more for UK dance and rave, than large scale, hedonistic night clubs. Spaces that create, and serve communities, particularly those marginalised by society, are the spaces we need to preserve and build.
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