1996 March 30

Organizer:
Transcendence - Live Performance/ Rave

Performers:
Split, The Stickmen, Mark Farina, Ritchie Hawtin, Mayday, Jarkko, Legion of Green Men, Autechre, Mark Broom, Space Time Continuum, Sunkissed, Algorhythm

Venue:
123 Union Street close to St. Clair West. Another crowd of the black community gathered at a corner nearby, possibly hotspot for parties. Low ceiling, slightly claustrophobic interior. Few corridors to rectangular-shaped rooms. The entire interior lined with silver (fireproof?) linings. Reminds me of Cristo (the artist who wraps up islands.) Lines of tiny blue Christmas lights lined the corridor ceilings. The lighting effects warmed the place & went very well with the music. Merely 2 Portable Toilet facilities - main reason for my leaving at around 4.

Sound:
Two rooms - Performance room - extremely loud when high notes hit. Had to stuff the ears. The bass physically vibrated the nose. The House Room - crowded but everyone rather enthusiastic albeit not well-dressed enough. Loudspeaker acceptable.

Crowd:
Suitably crowded. More guys than girls (the recent trend). Wide mix - travellers/ cyberhippes, cultish hippies, older gentlemen in floral shirt, bald, bespectacled U students, pop-mag writers type, ravers, trendy/gay African-American clubbers, plenty of out-of-towners (Richie Hawtin Windsor following?) who dress in casual T-shirts & jeans, Brits (the street tough type)

Atmosphere:
That buzz I get these days when first entering a venue has not waned. This time was especially prominent since the silver lining, the bare/minimal light/dim atmosphere truly fitted the music & the crowd. As we walked towards the house room, we just wanted to melt with the music & the universality of the human spirit. Along the corridor linking the two rooms, tribal drums were played & the kids danced to it. The occasional flash lights left the silhouettes of revelers' backs ingrained in my retina. The atmosphere was really good. What broke this spell, however, was the neglect to the basic needs - toilets, coat-check (We had to drag our garbage bag full of our parkas from place to place, which made you reluctant to move around much, and this in turn made you feel stuck to a spot. You would then have to constantly keep watch. People trampled on your bag, because it was dark & the mud on the floor stuck to the bag also stuck to your pants, your shoes, your hands as you pick it up. No good music can truly erase this inconvenience. It definitely dampened the music. The body & mind works together!

Memorability:
There had been no human touch. No A.D., Anns, Vans to warm our hearts. The music was fine but we only stayed for Mark Farina's performance & some unknowns. We have missed Autechre which was the sole reason we went. We simply did not think it was worth suffering for . I had to pee & the line-up for the 2 toilets is a mile long.