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Underground > Radio & Music >

Free parties/squat parties any thoughts?

13:02 / 22.05.02

I much prefer free parties to clubs. I'm aware that some parties can be shit with too many fucktards/junkies/crackhead but I've always found that good systems generally bring a following of decent folk.
Also I make tekno and a bit of drum and bass. I find that all the clubs in Dublin are shit and you get no variety in music so to me it seems the way forward.
Any thoughts?

13:14 / 22.05.02

Free parties. I'll take a free party over an over-priced club that makes you get all Gucci-ed up and cough up a fiver before you even breathe through the door.

I've got the same problem about the music direction in clubs & pubs in Belfast. At least at free parties you've usually got a DJ who's not got the bar manager eagle-eying him/her to make sure they play the same staid, boring, commercial crap you hear everywhere else.

...having said all this, I've yet to encounter a good free party in Belfast. Probably because a rough crowd in Belfast has all sorts of potential problems just waiting to surface.

13:23 / 22.05.02

As for as I know there's a pretty good scene in Derry. I've got some mates living up there at the minute. Funnily enough at the last beach party I was at down here, I spent ages chatting to a couple of guys from Belfast who just came down for the weekend for the party.
For myself its not just a price issue but its the general buzz and freedom that exists when a bunch of sound heads put some effort into organising a decent party that I like. I know people all over the place and I can't wait until the day when I get a rig together myself and spend a while just travelling around europe playing music and making people happy.

13:29 / 22.05.02

Ditto on the price issue...it's just one of the first things that comes to mind when I think about what I don't like about the Belfast music scene.

Your comment about the sense of community reminds me of the way things were when I first got into techno back at the beginning of the 90's in Holland. There was a great sense of community at *every* venue and festival, and that feeling has vanished with the commercialisation of techno. Not to get this thread off topic, but back then you'd at least get people apologising if they'd gone and elbowed you in the forehead. These days that's par for the course. Maybe I'm just a dinosaur, but I miss the old-fashioned raver etiquette.

14:53 / 22.05.02

I don't know about the feeling having vanished. I was living in Holland myself last year and the summer I spent over there was one of the best times I've had in my life, mostly because of the sense of community. I met a lot of really sound people that I keep in touch with when I can. Mind you, I moved home because I got a load of music gear nicked from a friends squat. Still, I've got things back on the go and I reckon it sounds better than ever.
I do get your point, some people just don't give a fuck and when you get that attitude it kills the scene a little each time. To me, peoples' behaviour is what makes or breaks a party.

15:31 / 22.05.02

The free underground party scene is still alive. There was one round these parts a bit back in an abandoned highway tunnel. Invite only, follow the caravan to the hidden meet point, whole deal. There's not so many anymore, but they're still the best. I hate clubs. I'm an old rave snob, I only go if I know the guys throwing the show

15:36 / 22.05.02

I'm off home now but I would be very glad to back into this tomorrow. Long live the underground
Fuck superstar djs
Long live music by the people for the people

No star here laces

17:23 / 22.05.02

I know exactly what you mean but I've got a few things to say in defence of clubs.

First off, a really good club is a club with residents and a regular crowd. YOu get a vibe going when the DJs really know the crowd that is irreplaceable - a club like this is a true community. Squat parties have groups of friends, but are basically a collection of strangers because the word goes out that somethings happening and random punters turn up from all over.

Second: sound quality. If you love your music, you love to hear it on a good system. This really makes such a difference to the quality of the experience. There are good quality sound systems out there, but the fact that the environment of a club is constant means you can really tune the system to sound its best. And its always louder.

Thirdly: superstar djs. Diss 'em as much as you like but there are some people out there who are true artists, and you won't hear 'em at a squat party. Of course there are good djs on the free party scene, but you're never going to hear Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, Grooverider, Mark Farina and the like at a squat.

wembley can change in 28 days

20:25 / 22.05.02

I'll be better informed on this in a few weeks - I'll be in Berlin, and I'm all about hunting down the free parties and other squat events. All I've heard is that the scene is alive and well... and of course my mother keeps reminding me that I shouldn't wander into certain areas of town, as there is a healthy market for body parts. Thanks mom.

If anyone has any tips on Berlin, do PM me. The only really great dance parties I've been to in Toronto have been at gay clubs, and while shelling out $40 to get in to Fly on New Years eventually ended up being a good night, I had a way better time the other week at It's a Boy's Life, where the resident DJ spun a fabulous set. And as far as superstar DJs goes, the best set I ever heard was Barry Harris (half of Thunderpuss) at Fly in December. It is bloody expensive, though. $20 to get in, $6 for a bottle of water you keep having to refill in the bathroom (where only the hot taps work), and god knows how much else for various substances. I can only afford to party like that once every three months.

Red Cross Iodized Salt

23:57 / 22.05.02

I'd opt for a free party over a shitty club, but nothing beats having a really good regular night on in a venue that you can get to without a lot of hassle (the worst thing about free parties being the three hours spent in your mates car going "Is that a kick drum? No, over that way..."). I'm talking about the kind of place that you find at exactly the right time, when it's still being run by people that do it because they love it (or better yet, people you know who do it because they love it) and it hasn't been written up in so many magazines that the entrance fee and number of bouncers on the door have both tripled. The kind of place where you see the same faces every week, rarely do more than smile and nod at them on the dancefloor but still feel like you've connected. Somewhere where you look forward to the resident DJs' sets twice as much as you do the headliners. Can't be topped...