anabolic frolic

Expanding rave horizons
Passage.2 event brings together DJs, VJs, modern dancers and musicians

T'CHA DUNLEVY
Montreal Gazette


Wednesday, January 30, 2002

With the rave scene under constant scrutiny (and harassment) from the authorities and the club scene leaning ever-farther toward big bucks and the mainstream, what's a down-to-earth, open-minded, good-time party person to do?

The more entrepreneurial, sometimes philanthropic, answer is 'do it yourself' - throw an event, that is. Easily said, not so easily done. Clubs are businesses and it's hard to get that community vibe within the walls of a space that carries with it the connotations of what goes on there every other night. Throw parties outside the establishment and you risk getting shut down right quick, not to mention having to set everything up from scratch.

Tomorrow night, one of Montreal's cooler club-like spaces will play host to an event that is every bit about community, vibe and people. The space is the SAT (SociÈtÈ des Arts Technologiques), the loft-like, former bank across from the Spectrum that, in less than two years, has become a central meeting point for the city's cerebral-electronica, arts and club scenes.

The SAT is not a club. It's not open every night, but rather only for special events. In its discerning selection process has emerged a quality-control in its content.

And so, a week after Montreal DJ Tiga's NEON night brought 800 people to the venue for the electro kitsch of Miss Kittin and the Hacker, three elder (in ¸ber-youthful clubland terms) Montreal artists are preparing a sort of art-rave that they hope will, in its own way, expand the horizons of clubland.

The night is called Passage.2 (the first, in more rave-like-fashion, was held last January in a church basement). It brings together DJs, VJs, modern dancers, circus performers and musicians (on tabla, sitar, violin and more) for a night of eclectic revelry.

"This year, we're really hoping to get a wide variety of people out," says co-organizer DJ Neerav, "people who have never been to an event like this. We're hoping they'll take a chance to check it out based on the artistic elements being presented, and that they'll see how rich it can be when it's presented properly."

Neerav is working with visual artists Jean-SÈbastien Baillat and Mathieu BÈlanger. The three put on last year's event and have since collaborated on several editions of Trance 5000, a trance and ambient music 'zine that Neerav has run (with a five-year hiatus at the end of the 1990s) for a decade. A new issue will be launched tomorrow night.

As the four of us sit down to talk, Neerav pulls out old issues of Trance 5000, dating back to the early '90s (stapled photocopied pamphlets), as well as a sign-in ledger from one of the parties thrown at the time.

Tiga, incidentally, shows up in both - with articles and music charts in the 'zines, and a scrawled note in the sign-in book. In Neerav's show-and-tell, and in his voice, can be felt the excitement of a burgeoning scene. A scene that 10 years later, is more scattered, established and jaded than it once was. And yet a scene that forges on.

"On voulait faire un ÈvËnement rassembleur," BÈlanger says. "We wanted everyone to feel comfortable and feel like they fit in. So we tried to create an environment that's not overly associated with any one style. Raves at first were such a mix of different people celebrating their differences. Now everyone's divided (by their differences)."

Playing a major role in creating an open-concept environment will be the evening's players - how very 'MontrÈal' to have modern dancers and circus performers as part of a club night.

"The dancers will be doing choreographed pieces as well as improvising," Baillat says. "They will be joining the DJs in their sets, and they will be filmed and remixed into the VJs' images. The circus artists, too. There will be stages in the night, 'passages.' And there will be short acoustic breaks between DJ sets, for violin or tam-tam music."

"And some surprises," BÈlanger adds.

If all goes well, people may get a taste of that old-school vibe, crystallized by Neerav as he explains his passion for trance music:

"The rhythm is purely sensory, like riding a wave of energy. It's refreshing, coming from the city with so many distractions and things to take care of. It's like jumping into the ocean. It washes away all that stuff and allows you to go deeper and higher. If everyone is doing that at the same time, you get a collective vibe. People sense that, everyone is tripping on the same wavelength and they're all coming up together. And when the music peaks, it's like, 'Yayyy.' "

Party on.

D Passage.2, featuring Purform, Delage, Gordon Field, Tao-Nhan, Sitarissimo, Neerav, Dew, Mana-7 and VJs Johnny Ranger, EXP-3, Yan Breuleux, View-Zik, Hypnotica, Phosphene and Shayam, takes place tomorrow night from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. at the SAT, 305 Ste. Catherine St. W. Tickets cost $10 in advance (at the SAT, Rotation, DNA, Camellia Sinensis, Terminal Records and Music-Hall), $15 at the door. For more information, go to www.trance5000.com.

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COMING TOGETHER: Ottawa residents Rise Ashen and Trevor Walker converge to launch their collaborative debut CD, Common Ground, Wednesday at 10 p.m. at Jingxi, 410 Rachel St. E. A mix of house, Afro-jazz, dub and hip-hop styles, the disc reveals some seriously serene sounds, merging live instrumentation with refined production. Walker will be spinning a varied set, ranging from gems of the '60s and '70s to deep, organic house sounds, while Ashen, on top of spinning, will play bass, laptop and percussion. Tickets cost $8. For more information, go to www.fossilfuel.ca.

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STRONG ROOTS: Congrats to acoustic pop trio Bear Left, which launched its full-length debut CD,

You, Me, We..., Tuesday at a packed

Petit Campus. Smart, entertaining, thoughtful tunes - and some well-chosen covers (De La Soul, Abba, Joe Jackson) - kept the dance floor full throughout the two-hour set. For more on the band, check out www.bearleft.com.

- T'Cha Dunlevy's E-mail address is tdunlevy@thegazette.southam.ca.

© Copyright2002 Montreal Gazette