The nightclub scene has continually reformed and regenerated, whether lindyhoppers in 1920s Harlem nightspots or pill-popping mods in 1960s swinging Soho. Arguably the greatest reconstitution of music and intoxication came during 1988’s Second Summer of Love, where a rave might co-opt a beach, field or warehouse for a dancefloor.
Though all of these subcultural moments were undoubtedly socially important, clubbers, writers, academics and DJs have long argued whether this was ever a party with any political point. Music writer Simon Reynolds for instance called the rave scene ‘the cult of acceleration without destination’, with Rupa Huq adding that ‘rave was seen as ideologically vacuous’. Set against that has been major club events in 2016 including the mass shooting at Florida gay club Pulse, and the enforced closing of Fabric in London.
In order to decode the disco and drill down into these points, this panel includes celebrated writer Matthew Collin, author of Altered State, a definitive history of the rave scene in Britain, as well as several other critically-acclaimed books about music, dance culture and political activism, including 2015’s politically-charged Pop Grenade.
Joining Matthew is Martin James, a music writer who over the last 20 years has been punched by Goldie, kidnapped by Italian DJs and still found time to write books such as State of Bass: Jungle – The Story So Far, rising from subterranean dancefloor to reach the exalted status of Professor of Music Industries at Southampton Solent University.
A new and very welcome panelist is the club and radio DJ Paulette, who over an auspicious career has DJd all over the world, notably Paris and Ibiza, in process twice winning MTV Dance Awards’ ‘Best DJette’ in the French and International Scene. The panel will once again be chaired by Louder Than Word’s Simon A. Morrison, ex-columnist for DJmagazine and editor of Ministry in Ibiza; author of books such as Discombobulated: Dispatches From The Wrong Side, and the upcoming Reaktion title Dancefloors: Revolutions of Club Culture. Now Programme Leader for the Music Journalism degree at the University of Chester, he has never been punched by Goldie (at least to his knowledge), but he did once go raving in Ibiza with Judith Chalmers.
So, on Saturday night (when else) Louder Than Words moves to an altogether more electronic beat, in deciding whether there was ever a ‘politics of dancing’… or merely the ‘politics of oo oo oo feeling good’.
The Festival takes place over November 11-13 2016
Place: The Palace Hotel, Oxford Road, Manchester, M60 7HA
Tickets: Tickets are available via http://louderthanwordsfest.com/tickets/ and are available as weekend passes, day passes, or event tickets, ranging from £7 for an event to £60 for a pass to the whole three-day weekend
The festival is co-curated by Jill Adam and John Robb
