Re-Imagining A Seminal Moment in Scottish Raving

This month sees the unveiling of perhaps the most intriguing party the Scottish clubbing calendar has thrown up all year. The Pony Island promises to dip into the history of classic dance music and explore rave culture from a contemporary perspective, within the framework of a family-friendly and community-focussed street party. 

Taking inspiration in part from Coney Island boardwalk events, and with all profits going to Greenpeace, the party will also be alcohol-free (the family vibe being central rather than incidental) and will feature musical installations and performance elements which play on classic rave themes. To begin to understand the genesis of a such an ambitious party, we need to take things back almost three decades to the period when electronic music first properly arrived on these shores.

Slam and the second summer of love

In the summer of 1989 (dubbed the 'second summer of love', for any millennials who’ve somehow missed the countless TV retrospectives on the period) rave culture well and truly took off in Britain. Though acid house music had slowly been making its presence known since the mid-80s, this new movement undoubtedly reached its zenith in the closing months of the decade. This is when its period of incubation, confined to the clubs of Chicago, came to an end and British clubbers embraced the new sound with sweaty open arms.

All across the UK, driven by a DIY ethos and a healthy disregard for private property, massive raves began to spring up – in warehouses, in massive tents, in fields and in railway tunnels. A cultural dam had burst and the resulting tide would create waves which still shape our club culture and music to this day.

...And so it was that future Scottish techno pioneers Slam threw their hat into the ring with an epic all-nighter at Glasgow’s Tramway in September 1989. Bringing together the likes of 808 State, Graeme Park and Mike Pickering of the legendary Hacienda, the night would also feature a headlining set from chart-topping group Inner City, founded by Detroit luminary Kevin Saunderson.

The occasion is perhaps just as famous for the busloads of people who turned up from across Britain, the presence of police on horseback trying to contain a crowd of thousands trying to get in, and a burst water pipe which finally put a premature end to proceedings. For many this night was pivotal in establishing Scotland’s place in rave culture, and tales from the evening have gained an almost mythical quality (though techno producer/DJ Jace Syntax insists if you remember the Tramway rave, you weren’t really there).

Slam

Yet, for all it’s significance among Glaswegian ravers of a certain age, it’s a part of the city’s past which is perhaps lost on many. “I just couldn’t believe that I had lived here for years and I had never heard this story before,” says Pony Island organiser Jennifer McColgan, who became aware of the rave after reading an essay by Russ Forman, aka DJ Dribbler, at the turn of the millennium. “It was an amazing cultural moment that people should know about.

“When the Playhouse was born in the space across the road from the Tramway, and they were looking for ideas for events to put on, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss – to put on an event that pays tribute to that original party. The aim is to make that connection but re-imagine it in a different setting and in a way that suits the community as it is now.”

If you’re looking for a venue to help recapture the DIY spirit of the rave era, you could do much worse than the piece of land in Pollokshields where the Playhouse has quickly taken shape. Built up from wooden pallets and utilising found materials in gloriously inventive ways – adapted shipping containers will host The Pony Island’s chillout cinema screenings – the space was first put to good use last winter, after community members decided they’d had enough of the ugly pile of rubble which had sat there previously.

With its al fresco vibe and the flexibility afforded to those creative enough to adapt the space, The Playhouse provides an ideal spot for harbouring a welcoming atmosphere, as co-organiser and Pony Island DJ Natalie Davidson explains: “Whenever you go to a free outdoor party – a rave that isn’t within the confines of a dark club at night – it’s wonderful because it’s rooted more within the context of human interactions. It isn’t as dark and you can connect with people more readily.”

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The culture supporting house music in the US has also been  a key motivator for Davidson. “Russ [aka DJ Dribbler], who wrote the original essay on the Tramway rave, took me to my first ever Coney Island boardwalk party around 2001,” she says. “It just struck me how inclusive that was. There were four-year-olds dancing with 84-year-olds. There were maybe a handful of people on the periphery with their brown bags drinking a bottle of beer but essentially it was a dry event. That’s very much the New York block party vibe and that’s still going strong. Those parties happen all the time. So all of that is very much a big inspiration to us.”

As she points out, Glasgow doesn’t exactly have a reputation for throwing 'dry' parties of this kind – “it’s almost like we’re not to be trusted” – and the city does seem to suffer from a lack of variety in outdoor culture generally. The Pony Island is very much intended as a break from the norm in that sense.

“We’re kind of saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely if alcohol didn’t form the basis of having a good time?’” she explains. “If that means that people from the Islamic community can come, or other people who don’t necessarily want to be around alcohol, then that would be amazing. So we’re asserting that in quite a positive, confident way; we’re not apologising for it. We want it to be a celebratory thing. So far the response from families has been really lovely.”

Presenting things in as engaging a way as possible for all ages is perhaps a tricky task but the family-friendly atmosphere is crucial for Davidson and McColgan, who is herself a mother of two small children. “Ever since I had my children I’ve been really conscious of the fact there is a growing number of people like me who want to go out and socialise with their kids.”

“There’s this trend for baby discos now. I’ve been going to them and I think they are great, but I think baby discos are really for the parents, not the children. I think that has its place but we’re trying to do something where the focus is just slightly different. For me it’s quite important that the children are not an afterthought; we don’t want them to be quiet with some ice cream in the corner. The children are going to be a part of this event.”

Family and unity

Against a backdrop of vibrant music provided by skilled local selectors including Pro Vinylist Karim, David Barbarossa, DJ Dribbler and Davidson, kids and grown-ups alike will be invited to partake in activities such as rave mask decorating – think personalised Altern-8 dust masks – as well as Pin the Tail on the Pony and the aforementioned chillout cinema, showing ambient videos from the rave era to anyone who wanders in. “We’ll also have music installations and things which are quite interactive,” Davidson says. “It’s just about trying to make sure that the adults there are as mindful that this should be an inspirational space for wee ones too.”

As was the case with the movements which first birthed house music – emerging from predominantly black communities as well as gay scenes in the US – a sense of unity is as much at the heart of The Pony Island as anything else. For Davidson, considering some of the recent upheavals in Scottish and British society, the party is a way to make a statement about the value of community. “Pollokshields is a very culturally diverse area and that’s only increased since 1989, so we definitely want the event to be as inclusive as possible.

“I think community cohesion is really important, particularly in light of the whole Brexit thing,” she continues. “The biggest votes for leaving the EU came from communities where there weren’t a lot of ethnic minorities or a lot of integration. Obviously it makes sense that the more cohesion and integration you have, the less those problems will occur or escalate.”

For McColgan, the event also represents an attempt to reclaim electronic music and rave culture from promoters who have sucked the soul out of the movement to some extent. “It feels like there has been a reaction against the super commercialisation of dance music,” she says. “People are beginning to question things a wee bit and we’re trying to bring things back to their roots and to the people.”

In keeping with the original Tramway rave’s support for Greenpeace, The Pony Island will also serve as a fundraiser for the environmental organisation, reaffirming rave culture’s potential for creating positive changes through art and music.

“It’s a perfect cause,” says Davidson, noting that issues linked to climate change are often at the centre of migration issues around the globe. “Having an environmental cause at the root also hints at the fact that, when you’re thinking about inclusivity and benefits for all, you have to start at the very beginning with the planet. Obviously Greenpeace is the biggest NGO out there highlighting these issues, so when we found out about its link to the original Tramway rave, it seemed like a really perfect tie-in for our party.”

Much of what is planned for The Pony Island will only become apparent on the day, with some of the performance elements kept secret for the time being. What we do know is that, as a final nod to the musical legacy of Slam’s Tramway rave, and a reassertion of the community-focus of the event, the organisers have lined up a special appearance by local choir Govanhill Voices. The group will perform two rave classics from original headliners Inner City – the uber joyous Big Fun and Good Life no less.

“These are very positive, uplifting songs,” says Natalie. “They’ve definitely stood the test of time, so it’s really lovely to have a local choir be keen to be involved in reimagining them.”

Of those ravers who lined up outside the Tramway in 1989, waving tickets in the air in an attempt to beat the rush into the venue, few would have thought the night would have such a lasting impact. Soma label boss and organiser of the original party, Dave Clarke, speaks of being “enormously proud” of the legacy of that evening: “The fact that it has inspired many others in their lives is deeply gratifying.”

As he prepares to take to the decks for The Pony Island this month, DJ Dribbler is unequivocal on the source of the event’s inspiration. “What Slam did was incredible; it set the standard. The Tramway rave was straight-up acid house. I'm excited that organisers Jen and Natalie read my words and recognised something in the energy of that time that they wanted to recreate in a fresh way.

“It's a story that deserves to be told."   

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The Pony Island takes places at the Playhouse, Pollokshields on Sat 13 Aug, 2-7pm, Babies Free, Kids £3, Adults adv £6, Adults on door £8, Proof of unemployment half price