The Warehouse Phenomenon - A Study Of Temporary Unconventional Venues For Underground Dance Music...

The Warehouse Phenomenon

A Study Of Temporary Unconventional Venues For Underground Dance Music Events in Shoreditch

Sibilla Todaro

Music Industry Management

London Metropolitan University

September 2011

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CONTENTS

Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1

1.1. Research aim & questions ............................................................................... 2

1.2. Research rationale ........................................................................................... 2

1.3. Preview ............................................................................................................ 5

2. Research background ........................................................................................... 6

2.1. Theories of events and leisure studies ............................................................. 7

2.2. The mainstream, the underground and coolness in context ......................... 10

2.3. The largest youth cultural phenomenon that Britain has ever seen .............. 12

2.4. The industry in the new millennium ................................................................ 16

3. Research methodology ....................................................................................... 19

3.1. Research timescale & resources.................................................................... 22

3.2. Data analysis methodology ............................................................................ 22

3.3. Sample and setting ........................................................................................ 25

3.4. Secondary data collection process ................................................................. 28

3.5. Primary data collection process ..................................................................... 29

3.6. Reliability, validity and generalisability ........................................................... 32

4. Empirical findings and analysis ......................................................................... 33

4.1. The ravers viewpoint ..................................................................................... 33

4.2. Club or warehouse: the promoters choice ..................................................... 36

4.3. The Warehouse Phenomenon ....................................................................... 42

5. Conclusion: 1988 2011, the evolution ............................................................. 45

6. Future developments .......................................................................................... 48

7. References ........................................................................................................... 49

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8. Appendices .......................................................................................................... 54

8.1. Warehouses in Shoreditch ............................................................................. 54

8.2. Questionnaire 1 (preliminary) ......................................................................... 54

8.3. Questionnaire 2 (final) .................................................................................... 57

8.4. Interviews transcripts ..................................................................................... 62

8.4.1. Enzo Siragusa, Fuse ........................................................................................ 62

8.4.2. Isis Salvaterra, Toi Toi Musik ........................................................................... 65

8.4.3. Nix Venter, Excuse The Mess .......................................................................... 77

8.4.4. Rob Star, Mulletover ........................................................................................ 79

9. Tables ................................................................................................................... 83

9.1. Age ................................................................................................................ 83

9.2. Gender........................................................................................................... 83

9.3. Area ............................................................................................................... 83

9.4. Preference ..................................................................................................... 83

9.5. Correlation area / preference ......................................................................... 84

9.6. Correlation gender / preference ..................................................................... 85

9.7. Frequency - going out .................................................................................... 85

9.8. Frequency clubs.......................................................................................... 85

9.9. Frequency - warehouses................................................................................ 86

9.10. Correlation frequency clubs / preference ........................................................ 86

9.11. Correlation frequency warehouses / preference ............................................. 87

9.12. Reasons for going out .................................................................................... 87

9.13. Features of a good party ................................................................................ 88

9.14. Attitude measurement .................................................................................... 89

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Abstract

The Shoreditchs night time event industry has recently witnessed a shift from conventional

clubs to unconventional spaces as new venues for underground electronic music events,

The purpose of this research is to understand the events organisers viewpoint on this shift

and the rationale behind it; also, it aims at identifying the characteristics and the opinions of

people who attends such events. Finally, it defines the phenomenon according to existing

literature and the primary research outcome, potentially determining its evolution and

possible future development.

A search of the existing literature was conducted in the fields of leisure, events, sociology

and history; primary research was carried out on two self-selected sample through two

separate surveys, and semi-structured interviews with local promoters. The research

approach is mainly descriptive - although an explanatory approach is also attempted - and

follows an inductive pattern. From the research it emerged that the warehouse phenomenon

is the tip of a movement began in the eighties, when dance cultured exploded in the UK;

from the statistics a remarkably positive attitude emerged towards warehouse parties; also,

ravers consider music and sound quality, as well as the crowd among the most important

factors when going out. The few flaws of warehouses are only related to organisational

issues, rather than concept. On the promoters side opinions on warehouses respectively

clubs are divergent, but the idea that in the former one there is more freedom is common

across all four.

The study plugs a gap into the existing literature about warehouse parties at present times,

and aims at defining the characteristics and opinion of both ravers and promoters. The

research can also form the basis for future research within the leisure and event industries,

as well as from a marketing or business perspective. The paucity of relevant literature in the

past decade allows for this paper to make an original contribution to knowledge in the study

of events and underground music subculture, in particular in and around Shoreditch.

Key words: warehouse parties, dance culture, raves, music community, house music


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1. Introduction

The phenomenon of night time events held in unconventional spaces has seen a boost in

the past few years across London, in particular in the East London area of Shoreditch.

Often advertised as secret location or secret warehouse the use of these pop-up spaces

is not a new presence in England.

Tracing its roots in the development of the dance culture from the end of the eighties, the

phenomenon has been considered both as a come-back and as a continuum from its

inception as a mass subcultural movement (Reynolds, 1998a:63).

While some have argued that rave culture was over about a decade ago, other can still see it

booming at present times: this is however a matter of interpretation, as it is the relationship

and affinity between old raves and contemporary warehouse parties.

The phenomenon also coincided also with a wave of clubs closing down in London across

the period between 2007 and present; whether there is a connection between the two will be

found out throughout the research.

Definitions of rave and dance culture, rave and warehouse parties, as well as underground

in relation to the mainstream and the coolness factor, will be given in order to proceed with

the development of the analysis.

Understanding the phenomenon as a whole, as well as both sides of a warehouse event

(ravers and promoters) is core to the research; furthermore, the research will provide a

comparison between inception and present times of the phenomenon, possibly to

understand the patterns of similar subcultural movements.

Due to the limits imposed by time and resources it is however important to understand that

this paper only focuses on a small portion of the whole phenomenon; the research targets

Shoreditch and close surroundings as the geographical area under investigation, and

warehouse parties that happens specifically in this area.


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1.1. Research aim & questions

The aim of the research is to understand what lies behind the existence and increase of

warehouse parties in particular in the East London area of Shoreditch; in particular, this

paper has the purpose of investigating the rationale for the use of such unconventional

spaces such as abandoned warehouses, disused train stations and tunnels and parking

spaces. Also, the paper aims at understanding and defining the preferences, opinions and

characteristics of ravers, and whether there are any salient relationships within them.

Finally, the paper will look into the similarities and differences between the phenomenon

before and now in order to understand the evolution that has occurred and possibly find

similarities or differences between the two periods.

Three questions have therefore been formulated and are to be answered by the end of the

research:

1) What are the characteristics of ravers today, and what is their opinion on the warehouse

phenomenon?

2) What lies behind the choice of a warehouse - respectively of a club - for promoters that

have experienced both?

3) How can the "warehouse phenomenon" be defined and understood at present times?

To gain understanding of the phenomenon and the ability to answer the three questions

above, different means of research have been adopted depending on each one of the

issues. Research methodology and methods, as well as the different approaches adopted,

will be explained in the following chapter.

1.2. Research rationale

The demonization of raves (Hesmondhalgh, 1998) throughout the nineties has for long

prevented the phenomenon from being viewed as a sociological and cultural matter, thus a


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paucity of academic sources until very recent times when scholars have began to research

and document the matter; the modern phenomenon of warehouse, however, has not yet

been academically researched a gap that has provided the room for this research.

During the secondary research process the author has discovered that very few academic

sources address the issue, and they usually do it in very broad terms or on a similar - but the

same matter (e.g. festivals), whilst many non-academic sources (books mainly, or

magazine and newspaper articles) are either fairly dated or not particularly reliable. The

most recent books are from 1998 / 1999 (Fritz, 1999; Garratt, 1998; Reynolds, S. 1998a and

1998b; Thornton, 1996) excluding Collin (2009) which however is a slightly updated version

of his 1997 edition.

Academic articles tend to focus only the sociological aspect of similar issues, in relation to

motivational theory and subcultures, which despite providing a good sociological

background, are not particularly useful to answer the research questions.

Events related theory also fail to provide a realistic framework for the purpose of this

research, as despite providing a practical approach rarely if ever addresses the night

time industry, let alone the underground events under examination; this latter has started to

be considered in some very broad leisure studies, which however focus more on the facts

from two decades ago rather than on present times. Also, according to Veal (2006:31), a

comprehensive history of leisure has yet to be written, let alone of underground dance music

related leisure.

The lack for a study that in particular analyses both sides of music events in unconventional

spaces has provided the author with an extended area of possible research, to investigate

what are the practical or ideological issues that lie behind those choices; also, to identify

those people who attend such events (ravers), and their characteristics and attitudes

towards it; understanding the similarities and differences from the phenomenon twenty years

ago and now will provide a clear overview of the evolution that has occurred and possibly

define a pattern in the development of similar underground cultures or sub-cultures under a


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sociological perspective, as well as a better grasp on the issue from a leisure practices

viewpoint.

Brief conceptual framework

This section explains how the work fits within existing research and the key factors and

variables that it examines towards answering the research questions; it provides the

framework within which the research will be carried out by identifying the concepts and the

relationships among them, defining them, and operationalize them, i.e. understand how

information might be gathered about the concept and how definitions are considered in

practice.

The research has a multidisciplinary framework (Veal, 2006:10), ranging from history to

sociology, and draws theories form events and leisure studies.

The majority of the studies in the latter two contexts are either remarkably different from the

industry in which the phenomenon under study is positioned i.e. the night time event

industry, seen under a sociological (rather than managerial) perspective, or have been

carried out to research similar issues, e.g. on club nights and festivals, rather than on rave

culture and warehouse parties; the historical and factual background is however taken from

directly related sources.

Following the four step theoretical framework presented by Veal (2006:54-59), the first step

will be to identify the relationships within the concepts: whether or not there are any

connections between factors such a ravers preferences, opinion, reasons, and their age,

location, and gender. Also what are the links between promoters and warehouse parties and

what factors influenced them to chose (or reject) such places.

Even though chronological age may be deemed an inadequate basis for segmentation

(Chua et al. 1990:880 in Goulding and Shankar, 2004:641) - thus not necessarily a valuable

variable in the rave context since no other study has been found with similar finding the

relationship between age and warehouse events will be investigated to either confirm or

contradict those results. The author aims at finding possible patterns and interdependability


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within some of these variables, or alternatively to prove the independence of the factors from

one another (Veal, 2006:22).

To understand the results of such analysis however, the identification and ensuing definition

is fundamental, in particular for the following terms: dance culture and rave culture,

warehouse parties, underground versus mainstream, and the concept of coolness. Those

definitions will emerge through the literature review, and adapted in practice for the purpose

of this research. Finally being able to gather the information about those concepts and the

phenomenon itself is equally important; primary data collection has been carried out through

surveys and in-depth interviews, the analysis of which lead to define the phenomenon at

present times compared to its historical, sociological and cultural background.

1.3. Preview

The paper is divided into main chapters and sub-chapters - starting with the research

background chapter, in which what is already known about the topic is established so that

the dissertation can advance that knowledge by filling a gap or apply it to the particular case

under examination; the chapter is in turn divided into four subchapters, beginning with a

review of theories drawn from events and leisure studies, which can possibly apply to the

phenomenon of warehouse parties; then the distinction of mainstream and underground,

as well as of cool will be clarified, in order to proceed with the subsequent subchapter

which aims at exploring the historical background of the issue. The author will finish the

chapter with an overview of the current situation of the phenomenon.

The following chapter deals with the research methodology and is divided into four

subchapters covering data analysis methodology; sample and setting of the research;

secondary data collection process; and primary data collection process.

This chapter provides rationale for the analysis to be deemed valid and reliable; the choice

of a suitable research methodology, as well as the choice of appropriate research sampling,


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data collection and analysis methods and the setting, is fundamental towards high level of

validity and reliability of the research.

The findings chapter represent the main body of the research as it presents and discuss the

analysis outcome against the background of the literature previously researched.

Also this chapter is divided into three subchapters, one for each one of the research

questions.

It is followed by the conclusion, limitations and recommendations, which summarizes the

research as a whole and its findings as well as providing advice and input for future

research. Limitations and obstacles encountered during the course of the research are also

mentioned in this section.

2. Research background

This section provides a description of the secondary information gathered and analysed to

establish the background of existing knowledge and apply it to the researched phenomenon.

The review considers all type of sources relevant, whether academic or non-academic

including articles, books and magazine / newspaper article, online or video sources.

Despite the author is aware of the minor reliability of many non-academic sources, she has

found herself in the position to have to use some of this type of literature, due to the paucity

of more reliable recent academic sources.

Nothing has been found in close relation to the phenomenon of events held in

unconventional spaces over the past 5 years in London; in particular no study has ever been

carried out to understand the pull factors behind these events.

Nonetheless, academic sources from different fields have been consulted in an attempt to

find an explanation to such or similar phenomenon; thus the background work of the

research ranges from various fields and disciplines, among which leisure and cultural

studies, events management, sociology, anthropology and popular music.


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Some research has also been carried out to identify the legal framework surrounding the

phenomenon.

The review begins with a broader overview of the academic sources found within events,

leisure and cultural studies; it will then shift towards defining some important terms and the

phenomenon of dance and rave culture, to understand the origin of the warehouse

phenomenon; finally the legal framework and current situation will be considered.

2.1. Theories of events and leisure studies

According to the Goldman and Getz paradigm an event is the production and creation of a

special leisure, social or cultural experience, beyond the normal everyday activities and that

satisfy specific needs (Getz, 1991 and 2005; Goldblatt, 1990, both in Berridge, 2007:5).

Their definition suggests then both a physical object and a psychological element are

involved; more specifically, a need is recognized and subsequently fulfilled through the

event.

In addition to that, Goldblatt (Goldblatt, 1990, in Berridge, 2007:5) attributes to the

terminology also a character of ceremony and ritual, from which Berridge gather that special

events can have common characteristics in type and reason for occurrence and in the type

of experience provided, so that where these attributes occur they can be acknowledged

based on the experience from previous incarnations (of a similar event) (Berridge, 2007:6)

This definition has been modified by other scholar to include the involvement and importance

of the community in which the event takes place (Bowdin et al., 2006; Brown and James,

2004; Van Der Wagen, 2004; Wilkinson, 1998, all in Berridge, 2007); from a tourism point of

view (Jago and Shaw, 1999 in Berridge, 2007); and in the perspective of non-celebratory

events such as business and corporate events (Shone and Parry, 2004 in Berridge, 2007).

It is worth noticing that part of the events theory tend to focus on the business and

managerial side of the issue e.g. on aspects that need to be considered when organising,


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managing, promoting and selling an event, as well as on events in the tourism industry;

experience and motivational theory are also frequently mentioned in relation to consumer

behaviour (Bowdin et al., 2011; Donald, 2007; Goldblatt, 2008).

For the purpose of this research however, the first definition will be taken into consideration

and a shift towards a more cultural and sociological approach to leisure studies will be

adopted.

Defining leisure can be presents many difficulties, and is probably easier to experience than

to define (Bull et al., 2003:32); a number of definitions have been given by scholars in

relation to time, activity, state of being, an end in itself, an all-embracing holistic concept and

recreation (see Torkildsen, 2004 for an explanation of all different theories). For the purpose

of this research two definitions are taken into consideration: the Kelly model (1983, in Veal,

2006:30), that defines leisure as a medium in which individuals develop their identities,

styles and social role; and similarly, leisure in its idealistic sense is described by Torkildsen

(2004:120) as experiencing activities, chosen in relative freedom, that are personally

satisfying and innately worthwhile and that has the potential to lead an individual towards

self-actualization and, ultimately, play a part in a self-fulfilling way of life. Among the

synonyms mentioned there are absence of necessity, choice, freedom, self-initiating and

self-expression.

These conditions can be identified in some motivational theories that have been considered

in relation to the events and leisure industries; Iso-Ahola seeking and escaping model

involves simultaneously avoiding annoying aspects of personal life as well as seeking

personal rewards (1980 and 1983; in Getz, 2007:173, 240-241; Veal, 2006:30); a more

complex structure of motivation is the one drawn by Cromptons (1979, in Gelder and

Robinson, 2009) seven socio-psychological motivational domains socialization, novelty,

rest and relaxation, prestige / status, education, value / intellectual enrichment, enhancing

kinship and relations / family togetherness, and regression which however relate to the

case of festival motivation. Whether all domains relate to this research is questionable, but


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no similar study has ever been carried out on warehouse parties, and the closest similarities

to this phenomenon are with festivals.

A study in a similar field (festivals) carried out by Jaimangal-Jones et al. (2010) has

suggested that dance events can be seen as liminal places, in particular in relation to the

journey undertaken by dance music festival attendees which does not closely relate to the

warehouse phenomenon as it is now, but can does have a meaning in the context of the

historical background of raves and free festivals1; liminal places are originally conceived as

transitional passages and detachment processes associated with rituals (Van Gennep, 1909

in Getz, 2007); a spiritual character has been attributed to some of those events in relation to

their connection with the free festivals movement (Partridge, 2006; Jaimangal-Jones et al.,

2010), however, the more appropriate term Liminoid was coined by Turner (1969) to

indicate the same state of transitional being but in a profane sense more related to fun and

escapist event experiences (Getz, 2007:179), also referred to as ludic liminality (Turner,

1969, in Sommer, 2001:72). Similarly, the temporary staging of dance events contributes to

their character as liminal spaces because they exist only for a very limited period of time and

then either disappear forever, or reappear but in a different form, decor, structure, etc.

(Jaimangal-Jones et al., 2010).

According to Hannam and Halewood (2006, in Getz, 2007) Turners concept of

communitas (1969) can also be applied to the event scenario; gatherings of likeminded

people, based on lifestyle and tastes can often be seen at raves and dance music events

(Sommer, 2001); Similarly, Maffesoli privileges a role for the crowd as of being-

togetherness , which is based on an empathetic society (1995:11, 81, in Malbon, 1999)

and the constant coming and going between these crowds or neo-tribes (Hetherington,

1992, in Jaimangal-Jones et al., 2010).

1 For a detailed explanation of the link between rave culture, free festival and spirituality see Partridge, 2006; Collin, 2009 (Chapter 6 - techno travellers); Fritz, 1999 (chapter 10 the tribal experience - and 11 rave as religion)


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Conversely, Malbons study on clubbing argues that Turners concept of communitas is too

general to be applied to the clubbing scene and not even that important as [...] what matters

is that many clubbers understand the clubbing crowd, of which they are part [...] (1999:186).

Whether or not the former argument is applicable to the rave scene is highly debatable2, the

latter assumption can however be true to the rave scene as much as it is was for the

clubbing scene at the time of Malbons research (i.e. around 1998).

Following from Hannam and Halewood and Maffesoli then, these neo-tribes are rarely

formed on the basis of the age, which is not seen as an important factor as demonstrated by

a study by Goudling and Shankar (2004) in which the existence of an older consumer group

(30-40) associated with raves is exposed. All other sources tend however to refer to the

entire scene as made up of youth thus suggesting a majority of younger people among the

dance scene (Collin, 2009; Fritz, 1999; Garratt, 1998; Reynolds, 1998a and 1998b;

Thornton, 1996).

2.2. The mainstream, the underground and coolness in context

A major point to be cleared at this point, before beginning with the historical background of

the phenomenon, is the distinction between mainstream and underground.

According to Thornton (1994) and Malbon (1999) mainstream is a difficult concept to define

for two reasons: firstly because it is usually identified in the other, and secondly because of

its complex makeup. Nevertheless it is still possible to isolate the enduring elements of the

mainstream, which in general terms include the well-recognized, young-tourist-London-

guide-style weekend commercial provision of chain and theme pubs, and traditional or

super clubs, characterized by strict door selection, smart attire, commercial circuit-drinking,

pleasure-seeking, hedonistic behaviour (Furlong, 2009: 250) and last but not least, chart

2 As it will be highlighted further on, raves are and have always been characterized by gathering of

people that feel part of a likeminded community.


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music, also known as cheesy or commercial music, because it has been commercialized

through charts and major radio stations (Furlong, 2009; Malbon, 1999). Despite this

distinction Malbons states that club cultures, dance cultures, raving and nightclubbing

all mean the same (1999:16), which in the context of this research could not be more

inappropriate.

Also the definition of cool can prove difficult, as it relates to a perception of coolness

rather than a set and given explanation; the conception of cool lies in a subjective

interpretation, so for example while super-clubs could be considered very cool by many

(Malbon, 1999), the opposite is true if the underground dance raver is interviewed, as he or

she would probably define such clubs as un-cool because mainstream and cheesy

(Furlong, 2009; Malbon, 1999).

According to Thornton and Malbon (1996; 1999), Cool or Hip is important in the clubbing

culture and is mostly related to such things as dress codes and personal style; in the context

of warehouse parties however, the importance of cool assumes a completely different

meaning: it relates to the different, the alternative - as in against the mainstream -

underground and especially to the new or yet undiscovered by the mainstream (which

usually happens through media coverage). The idea of cool atmosphere or vibe, despite

also being heavily reliant on perception, is nonetheless a common aspect of the two scenes.

In the past decade there has been widespread consensus that because of great media

coverage and the interrelated phenomenon of superstar DJs3 the underground as it was

intended in the nineties does not exist anymore; instead it has become mainstream and

commercial (Collin, 2009; Furlong, 2009). The media sell-out (Thornton, 1996) of dance

culture has had a similar impact on the scene as the release of Saturday Night Fever (1977)

had on disco music, which also started as underground (Collin, 2009:10).

3 Refers to those DJs with incredibly high fees and VIP style behaviour that have emerged from the

nineties dance culture (Phillips, 2009).


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The current use of the distinction between underground and mainstream in dance music

does prove however that the definition of underground is a mutable one, depending on the

times and perception of a certain scene.

2.3. The largest youth cultural phenomenon that Britain has ever seen4

This chapter provides the historical background of the phenomenon and is a condensed

version of Reynolds (1998a and 1998b), Collin (2009), Garratt (1998) and Fritz (1999): all

these authors agree on the same sequence and explanation of the facts between the mid-

eighties and 1994 (specific quotations and reference to separate sources will be made).

The origin of rave culture is inextricably bounded to the birth of dance music, and to a few

other factors among which drugs, the English legal framework, and a particular economic

and political environment.

Dance music includes a myriad of genres nowadays, but its roots are to be found in the

development of techno and house music5 in America at the end of the seventies.

House music or acid house, as it was mainly called in the UK - in particular, is to be held

responsible for the development of rave culture; the genre developed in the UK from the

combination of American house music, the existing local black, gay and Northern Soul club

cultures, and the influence of the vibrant and eclectic club scene of Ibiza.

At this point a clarification of the definition of rave might come in hand: according to Evans

(1992) the term rave first came into use in the late fifties to indicate wild bohemian parties; it

did not reappear however, until the emergence of the illegal warehouse party scene in

London in the early eighties, where the term is likely to have been derived from Jamaican

4 Collin, 2009:293

5 Many books focus on the birth and development of those music genres, in particular Techno Rebels

(Sicko, 2010); House Music ...the real story (Saunders, 2007).


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usage. The definition given by Thornton as clubs held outside established dance venues in

unconventional places which tend to feature certain genres of dance music including house,

acid house, techno (1996:14) is more up to date and encompasses the main features of a

rave, although it does not specify that degree of legality (zero to full); the word rave has

also been used in official legislative context (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994

sections 63-66); according to Reynolds (1998a and 1998b) raving perfectly describe the

out-of-control dancing of the acid house scene in 1988.

In the Jamaican party context, the aim was to hear good quality soulful music and to relax in

a more laid back atmosphere the scene was also drug free at the time; similarly, dance

music6 raves were originally small and mainly clandestine, at the back of clubs or e.g. a

fitness centre (Shoom 7 ); the rationale was both to maintain an intimate community of

likeminded people, and to be able to party all night long as the antiquated British licensing

law did not allow clubs to stay open later than 2am; while this had not pose any particular

problem in the past, the same could not be said of the moment in which the stimulant and

euphoria-inducing drug ecstasy (or its core substance MDMA) appeared in the UK

underground market directly imported from Ibiza and The Netherlands (first in small

quantities, then in larger amounts); the pleasant effect of MDMA is particularly enhanced by

the sound and vibration of the repetitive and incessant beat of dance music. Thus party-

goers wanted to dance more intensely than before, and for longer (hence the name dance

music): the search for a solution to this problem was found in the organisation of illegal

raves held in abandoned and less noticeable buildings such as abandoned warehouses and

industrial units, which could continue for hours - often into the next day.

6 For the purpose of the research the term dance music and electronic music will be used to

encompass all genres derived from and including techno and house music. 7 Shoom (originally Sh-oom) is considered one of the first illegal parties where dance music flourished

in London (Garratt, 1998:110-114)


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The definition of the term has then become a unique cultural phenomenon, one which

involves new electronic musical form and the ritualistic, neo-tribalistic gathering of people

who dance all night to achieve a collective trance state (Fritz, 1999:22).

By 1988 a few clubs has been both become popular and raided by the police; February 1988

is considered the time when the first real dance music illegal warehouse party took place

organised by Hedonism.

Within the end of 1988 however, the movement had became somewhat mainstream; as it

often happens with something that is underground and cool, at some point it reaches the

masses and looses the underground characteristics (although the music and the settings of

the events did not lose it).

The main player in this spread was the media attention: positive at the very beginning and

good for the music, but soon turned into very negative; it didnt take long before a media

frenzy started demonizing ecstasy and dance music, and the widespread panic of a British

youth in the hands of illegal substances and incessantly hard beating music.

As a consequence, police forces, who until then had adopted a softer approach, were forced

to show authority and the ability to protect and redeem the British youth; at the same time

the illegal parties around town had become huge raves of thousands of people; the clash

between police and ravers started becoming more aggressive, at which point events

organisers started relocating their raves in more remote location, finally extending to barn

and disused airport hangars in rural areas of the countryside.

In 1990 the entertainments (increased penalties) bill was introduced to provide a stronger

legal basis to fight raves, and by the end of the year the situation seemed to have become

quieter, the Pay Party Unit set up by the police in 1989 was already being dismantled and

the newly elected labour Government was adapting British licensing law to the European

standards (late opening hours, some 24hours license issued); for this latter reason many

organisers decided to go legal. However, others kept following the illegal path and lead the

authority towards the introduction of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 after an


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enormous event in 1992 at Castel Morton, where a weeklong free festival8 attracted between

thirty and forty thousand people. The act is considered by many what killed free parties and

rave culture9.

Besides drugs, which posed a problem for obvious reasons, there were other grounds

behind the relentless position of the police towards raves: firstly, most of the times health

and safety issues were widely overlooked; and secondly, illegal events attracted illegal

people - as in criminals and unscrupulous figures, thus fuelling criminal acts and illegal

activities (drug dealing, extortion, threats, violence).

Politically, rave culture emerged during Thatchers last mandate a Conservative

environment, promoting among other issues the privatization of land, which led to most of

sites on which raves were held to become private, thus involving in the confrontation also the

private sphere, i.e. local communities, and individualism.

Considering that raves were considerably about occupying for a few hours pieces of free

land (state-owned) and being together, forming a community (in particular when ravers and

travellers joined forces), the clash of ideas is evident.

The idea of freedom in the context of raves assumes two different connotations: one in

relation to freedom of expression as in dancing, clothing style, behaviour (Reynolds, 1998a

and 1998b) - and the other one in relation to freedom from the establishment, which

represents the just mentioned contrasts between the establishment police and government

- and ravers, in particular at the peak of the rave culture movement at the end of the eighties

(Reynolds, 1998a and 1998b; Garratt, 1998; Collin, 2009; Fritz, 1999).

8 Free festivals are typically linked to travellers, and differ from traditional raves because they are free,

whilst raves impose an entry fee (Carey, 2000:20 in Partridge, 2006); from the beginning of the nineties however, the police adopted a hard line towards both movements, which consequently decided to join forces to organise events. 9 The act prohibited raves of all sort unless fully licensed and introduced high penalties such as 3

months imprisonment and 2500 fine if the directions were broken (CJA, 1994 63-64)


Page 16

2.4. The industry in the new millennium

As previously mentioned, the above chronological section only refers the facts until 1994;

only sporadic sources document the evolution of the phenomenon from then until more

recent times.

With regard to the situation of dance and rave culture after 1994, an interesting difference of

opinions is evident: in a review written in 1998, Hesmondhalgh refers to dance culture as a

genuinely significant cultural moment (247) but concludes by saying that it is decline;

similarly, Wazir attributes the closing down of dance music magazine Ministry10 to the fading

of the whole scene, due to the changing patterns of its surrounding scene, especially of

clubbers tastes. In fact, he does however refer to the death of super-clubs, the clubbers

choice for something less impersonal and where the atmosphere is a bit more informal

(2002). On the other hand Collin, in his 2009 edition of Altered State11 advocates that the

scenes highest point in Britain came some time after year 2000, although his statement only

refers to the number of the people involved; Goulding and Shankar nonetheless adopt a

analogous stance stating that rave (at the time of their research) had entered mainstream

popular culture and is stronger than ever. It has become a global phenomenon [...]

(2004:643). Leblanc supported the same theory as electronic music12 became mainstream in

Canada, to the point that it was backed by HMV and Archambault Musique (2001).

As a matter of fact, from the end of the nineties there has been a general decrease in the

number of raves (whether legal or illegal), and Collin does also admit that by 2009 dance

culture was in crisis, but the venues were still full of people dancing (2009) which indeed is

an interesting contrast; there clearly seems to be no right or wrong answer, instead it almost

10 The magazine, published by Palumbo founder of Ministry of Sound in south London had been a

ravers bible for many years before it shut in 2002 (Wazir, 2002). 11

Altered State was published the first time in 1997; the book referenced here is an updated edition published in 2009. 12

In more recent times dance music is often referred to as electronic music and encompasses many genres.


Page 17

entirely depends on which definition of the term rave and its culture is considered. If the

phenomenon of huge illegal indoors and outdoors events, secretly organised (insofar as

contacting thousands of people can remain secretive) and in total and open contrast with the

authorities and the police is considered, then it is viable to think that that era has come to an

end by more than a decade; however, according to other sources (BBC, 2006), the rave

scene never went away, it only scaled down in size13. This brings the discussion onto a

second option: perhaps the terminology has changed, as partly also the definition or more

appropriately the size, but if we consider Thorntons definition of rave as an outdoor event or

an event held in unconventional spaces i.e. not specifically built for that purpose then

rave scene is far from being over (1996).

Indeed nowadays the term is commonly used in a more general way to encompass both

outdoor and indoor events, or parties, held in unconventional spaces such as warehouses,

parking spaces, old train stations, disused art galleries, barns, and so on, and is often used

instead of warehouse party (although the contrary would not be correct).

The interest towards the use of unconventional spaces, in particular warehouses, remains

and has possibly increased; according to Paul Jack of London Warehouse Events,

warehouses have always homed dance music; their double-life space is raw and exciting.

[...] The warehouse experience, for me provides something unique, something raw,

something a little naughty, and more exciting than most club environments. You get an

empty template, which you build from the ground up to create a unique, bespoke experience

for each event (2011).

Having this sort of blank canvas is certainly a positive thing is we consider the assumption

that people might be bored of clubbing (BBC, 2006), which would justify clubs like Fabric and

XOYO adopting a similar industrial impression (Jack, 2011) to rebel against the standardized

Londons uptight clubbing scene (Reynolds, 1998a:41).

13 The article refers to Essex police breaking up an illegal rave involving 600 revellers on the August

bank holiday weekend in 2006.


Page 18

Jack (2011) also points out that these spaces arent defined by illegality any more, theyre

less and less about rave-culture; on the other hand, raves like the one shut by Essex police

in 2006 and parties held at secret warehouse location are all but rare14. At the same time

the local Council15 - in this case Hackney Council for Shoreditch - has been increasing the

attempts to clampdown on parties by refusing or revoking temporary events notices16, due to

the increased criminal records in the area, which the police attributes to the night time

economy in the area (Helou, 2009).

The local community has however opposed such measures as they could damage the

boroughs burgeoning nightlife 17(Dean, 2011).

Nonetheless, the area is already in a process of gentrification (Furlong, 2009), partly due to

the almost natural expansion of the city, and partly due to the powerful attraction force that

cool areas have in the long-run towards people with higher financial capital, thus

developers, investors, etc. As previously mentioned, when something, whether it is an area

or a music genre, becomes cool, it soon attracts media attention, which in turns has the

power to transform the object into something mainstream.

According to Helous proposal (2009) [...] it is also unclear whether the night time economy

makes a positive contribution to the local economy; given the above (refers to increased

criminal rates, ed.), it is inappropriate to describe the area as a model for inner city

development. As part of this process of gentrification, a cleanup action of all those

situations that are not considered attractive or appealing for this new typology of people /

residents is involved, hence the strictness of licensing and permits, and consequently of

more parties held in secret locations.

14 Secret warehouse is usually stated on flyers of events which might not have a full license in place,

thus cannot risk to disclose the venue too early for fear the council will intervene and shut the event. 15

Local council revise their policies every three years but have to comply with Licensing Act 2003. 16

A temporary event notice is the license to do party in a venue that has not a permanent licence. 17

A proposal to introduce a SPA (Special Policy Area) in Shoreditch, Dalston and Stoke Newington in 2010 was opposed by a large majority of the community (Dean, 2011).


Page 19

Finally, another aspect worth of consideration is the closing down of many clubs in London

across the past four to five years: Due to a massive redevelopment of the area, December

2007 has seen the last nights of The Cross, The Key and Canvas in Kings Cross leaving

London bereft of the semi-derelict quarter that has fostered some of the finest warehouse

parties in the capital since the mid-80s. (Dodson, 2007); similarly, in March the following

year Turnmills, in Farringdon, was also shut after 23 successful years of activity, while The

End in central London shut its door and its legacy in 2009 to re-open under a new

management and far less reputation than its predecessor (Church, 2008; Swindells, 2008).

In 2008 a second group of clubs was faced with closing due to redevelopment in the West

End (Chinawhite, Paper, Caf Royal and Dolce) (Hussey, 2008). These latter closing were of

much lesser importance, compared to the former ones, to the underground dance music

scene, as theyve never really hosted any such events and mainly played mainstream music.

The fact is however important to highlight a general tendency towards sacrificing the night

time industry for the purpose of economic development.

3. Research methodology

As previously mentioned, academic studies on the matter under study have not been found;

the research methodology has therefore been drawn from a combination between theory in

text books and methodology adopted in academic studies on similar sociological and cultural

matters.

The research methodology found in previous similar studies draws especially from social

sciences such as anthropology and social psychology and involves almost only qualitative

research methods. In this case, despite being a research into human behaviour, thus falling

into social sciences, the research has been undertaken following both a quantitative

approach as well as a qualitative approach, depending on the research question to answer.


Page 20

Because the matter of the study involves human behaviour rather than non-human issues

the research lies within the social science and the author has opted for an explanatory

research, although derived from descriptive research instead of stemming from hypotheses;

the matter under study is known to be an existing fact, not something to discover the

existence of, and the purpose of the research is to understand the reasons behind this

happenings.

When dealing with a phenomenon of such a changing nature as cultural and sociological

trends and where there is a frequent separation between research and action it is suitable to

start with a descriptive approach; descriptive research is also suitable because of the

newness of the field leisure and cultural studies; in particular, the night time event industry

has had very little academic backing so far.

Therefore, the research has mainly a descriptive approach, although is also seek to define

the phenomenon through correlation; as the research is by no means experimental, no

rationale exists for finding causality, nor the goal of prediction (Buckingham and Saunders,

2004: 13; Veal, 2006:3-5, 36).

The research follows the inductive flow starting from observation and/or description to

explanation / hypothesis / theory, passing through analysis, and sets out to explore a

relatively new and unexplored field (David and Sutton, 2004:36; Veal, 2006:34); furthermore,

it is non-experimental, as it studies the phenomenon and the people involved as they exist

experimenting under certain conditions would not be particularly meaningful in this type of

social science study (Veal, 2006:38).

Complementary theoretical and empirical components are both present, although due to the

scarcity of existing literature, the presence of empirical component results to be stronger;

theoretical research has to be present anyway, as any purely empirical research would likely

be of limited value (Veal, 2006:33).

The dichotomy between positivistic and interpretive framework becomes blurred in this

research; despite the matter being of a sociological nature, hence dealing with human


Page 21

behaviour and less scientifically predictable actions, most of the research fits within a

positivistic approach (Buckingham and Saunders, 2004:12; Veal, 2006:37). According to

Sapsford and Jupp (2006), the use of questionnaires is typical of a positivistic approach as

they provide quantitative information or qualitative information, but which are usually dealt

with as if quantitative; on the other hand, the use of semi-structured interview denotes a

more interactionist and naturalistic approach.

In order to answer the three research questions sources of data and methods have been

intertwined - both primary and secondary sources have been undertaken as well as both

qualitative and quantitative research methods; in particular, according to Veal (2006:40)

qualitative and quantitative research approaches complement one another and it often

happens that quantitative research is based on initial qualitative work, which also applies to

this case (see chapter 4.5).

Given the different nature of each research question, the author has defined the following

plan for the data collection process18: to answer the first question, which is about ravers

characteristics and attitudes towards warehouses - respectively clubs a highly structured

approach was required thus the use of survey questionnaires to collect statistical data in

order to explain behaviour (Veal, 2006:37); nevertheless, the first one of two questionnaires

submitted contained some open-ended questions for reasons that will be explained in

chapter 4.5.

The second research question, that relates the event organisers viewpoint, has been

answered through exploratory semi-structured interviews to collect in-depth information and

attitudes towards the phenomenon (Sapsford and Jupp, 2006:113-116); according to

Oppenheim (1992:66,67), the purpose of this method is essentially heuristic, i.e. to develop

ideas and research hypotheses rather than to gather facts and statistics; qualitative

research is especially used when a full and round understanding of the behaviour and

18 Particulars of the primary and secondary data collection process will be detailed in sections 4.4 and

4.5.


Page 22

situation of a few individuals, however unrepresentative they may be, is required, rather

than a limited understanding of a large, representative group (Veal, 2006:40). This is

especially true given the very small sample size taken into consideration at this step, which

would have been unsuitable to gather statistical data. Finally, the answer to the last research

question results from a combined analysis of the answers to the previous two questions and

the existing literature; no specific primary data collection was involved, but reference to the

literature review in chapter 2 (research background).

3.1. Research timescale & resources

The research has been carried out over a period of2 month in relation to primary data

collection; in particular, two surveys have been submitted in July 2011, while the set of

interviews has taken place across the last two weeks of July 2011.

Secondary data collection however begun with the literature review for the research proposal

completed in January 2011; nevertheless, more secondary research has been carried out

during the months of May and June 2011, as well as in July but in relation to some minor

issues such as legal issues within the underground events industry in Shoreditch.

The resources involved in the research included people, which will be overlooked in chapter

4.3 about sample and setting, a voice recorder, and the statistics analysis software SPSS for

data analysis (see chapter 4.2).

3.2. Data analysis methodology

The data gathered have been analysed through different methods based on the typology of

data and the available resources; in addition, the character of the research questions fairly

general rather than very specific - also has influenced the analysis by a greater deal.


Page 23

The perspective of grounded theory developed by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss

(1967) come into play as the theory is generated from research (as opposed to research that

tests existing theory) (Veal, 2006:197).

Despite some data being qualitative, the analysis follows a more sequential approach - i.e.

the steps tend to be distinct and follow in a pre-planned sequence - rather than a recursive

one, which is usually more suitable for this type of research (Veal, 2006:196); furthermore,

some of those data relative to attitudes have been compiled and analysed as quantitative

data, although without using statistical methods and tests; instead, an analysis and

comparison of the percentages has been deemed more appropriate, base on the fact that it

is the most common method used in the British tradition of leisure and tourism research, is

more informal and closer to a qualitative method approach (Veal, 2006:40).

The percentages have been obtained using SPSS, whereby also table and graphs have

been produced (chapter 9).

All survey data were inserted into SPSS automatically from a file directly generated by the

website used to create the questionnaires; this way human error in transcription has been

avoided. Once the data were ready, descriptive statistics were produced beginning with the

age and location; because the question about location was left open-ended, many answers

were different in writing, but the same or very similar in content. To facilitate analysis all

answers were grouped - according to the postcode in eight London postcode areas plus

one for outside London. Then frequency table have been generated in relation to the number

of times the respondent had been out, to a club or a warehouse in the past two months19 and

whether they preferred one or the other (or were not sure). Frequency tables were also

produced to identify the reasons for going out, the most important features of a good party,

and understand the attitudes towards warehouse parties.

19 The choice of in the past two month stems from the fact that the survey was taken during the

summer period, and the author is aware that many ravers go to festivals or on holidays during this time; thus this choice to have a more realistic perspective on the normal frequency patterns (that is, not in exceptional period such as holidays).


Page 24

Finally the author verified whether or not there was any correlation among some of these

variables (e.g. age and preferences, and age and attitude towards warehouses) through the

use of Chi-squared test.

Qualitative data were analysed manually, given the small number of qualitative data sources;

the body of qualitative data for the research is constituted by a small set of four semi-

structured in-depth interviews.

The author adopted the four step qualitative data analysis framework defined by Baptiste

(2001): the first step relates to defining the analysis, which includes the research rationale,

aims, research questions and data collection process (all explained in other chapters); the

second step is about classifying the data. This was done after having familiarized with the

data by reading a few times through the transcripts; then through hermeneutic endeavour

(Thompson et al., 1999, in Goulding and Shankar, 2004) and intertextuality (Thompson,

1997, in Goulding and Shankar, 2004), patterns and differences were sought across

transcripts and highlighted with different colours based on the frequency and the context in

which they emerged (such as freedom, sense of community and importance of sound

systems). Because of the paucity of literature on the reasons for which promoters might

prefer or avoid warehouses, all themes emerged unprompted in an inductive way (Veal,

2006:211). The third step was to make connections between and among categories of data,

based on logical intuition and knowledge acquired through the literature (e.g. the connection

between underground and music culture and concept, as opposed to club environment and

cheesy music or bad attitude). Finally the fourth step is about conveying the message,

which is the actual analysis and discussion of the data presented in chapter 4.2. (Smith and

Waldman, 2009:116-118; Veal, 2006:211).


Page 25

3.3. Sample and setting

The choice of Shoreditch and close surroundings as the research settings stems from two

main reasons: first of all, the author has been involved with the underground music scene in

this area and its here that she has witnessed the phenomenon; and secondly because the

majority of the underground electronic music events mainly happen in this area, apart from

very few cases in areas that are outside of the chosen setting (e.g. London Bridge, Stoke

Newington or Farringdon).

For the purpose of this research, the definition of Shoreditch and close surroundings is the

area that includes Shoreditch - part of the Borough of Hackney (Hackney Council, 2011) but

also extends to Dalston Station (North), Aldgate (South), Hackney / London Fields (East)

and Old street (West). Whenever only Shoreditch is mentioned throughout the paper, the

above defined research area is to be intended. By no means, however the research aims at

understanding why the phenomenon under study is specifically happening is this area.

As the data collection process varied depending on the research question to answer, so did

the sample - excluding for the third research questions, which did not involve primary data

collection.

However, the population in scope was the same one, i.e. males and females from 18 years

old upwards, who currently live in London and that have been at least once from the

beginning of year 2011 to a night time event held at a warehouse or similar unconventional

place (warehouse party) (Sapsford and Jupp, 2006:27-28)

In order to carry out the first questionnaire20, a not-random stratified sample of 32 people

16 boys and 16 girls has been selected among the authors friends and acquaintances

based on the time theyve been living in London for (at least 3 years) and on their frequency

20Please note: throughout the research the terms first questionnaire, preliminary questionnaire and

questionnaire 1 will be used interchangeably.


Page 26

of going out at nights, in particular to warehouse events; the choice of the 32 participants

was largely dependent on the knowledge the author has of these people and their habits.

Within the 32 participant chosen, a self-selected sample resulted from the number of survey

filled in.

Similarly, the sample for the second questionnaire21 also finally resulted in a self-selected

sample despite initially being chosen as a random sample within a sub-frame - as this is

what happens when self-completed questionnaires, where the researcher has not control or

power over who does or does not filled in the questionnaire (Veal, 2006:287).

A sub-sampling frame of the overall population in scope was identified based on four major

warehouse events held in Shoreditch between July and August 2011; the choice of those

four major events depended primarily on the level of attendance on social network Facebook

and on events promotion website Resident Advisor: the four selected events had the highest

number of attendees if compared to all other similar events (i.e. held in unconventional

places in the chosen area) on the same internet sites. The author assumed that by choosing

events with a greater attendance the probability to reach a bigger percentage of the

population in scope would have been higher; also, because all three events only advertise

online (no flyering, no posters) the probability that someone that attended one of the events

was not reachable was very low. All individuals within the sampling frame received the

survey, which totals to 1240 (total of the three events was around 1800, but people attending

more than one of the three events have been only counted once). Furthermore, despite the

lack of any existing statistical data about the population (people going out to warehouse

parties in Shoreditch older than 18) a quota sample of 200 complete responses was set; the

reason for such a small number which represent about 8% of the population in scope is

attributable mainly to the limited time and access to certain resources in order to submit the

questionnaire. The number of total responses turned out to be actually higher than 200,

21 Please note: throughout the research the terms second questionnaire, final questionnaire and

questionnaire 2 will be used interchangeably.


Page 27

however many responses were partial, either due to the respondent dropping out halfway

through the survey or due to the non-suitability of the respondent to answer the survey

based on their living location and whether or not they had been to a warehouse event from

the beginning of year 2011 (question 1 and 2 of the final survey - section 8.3).

The calculation of the 8% figure has been gathered from the following calculation:

Details of all existing warehouses have been collected through online listing website

Resident Advisor and the authors own knowledge in the field; a list can be found in

appendix section 8.1

The average number of warehouse events held on the same day on a day of the weekend

(Friday or Saturday) has been calculated over a period of two months May and June 2011

The above formula executed with numbers is:

(7950 / 13) * 4 = 2448; of which 200 represents the 8.1%

It is worth noticing that by the time this research will be concluded, some of the venues listed

will not exist anymore (those marked with a star key in appendix section 8.1) due to issues

with the council and / or decision by the owner to use the space differently.

Unlike the final survey, the set of interviews had the aim to gather as much knowledge as

possible about the event organisers viewpoint, rather than simply collecting statistical data;

the sample is therefore much smaller, not-random, and is constituted by four promoters that

have been organising events in unconventional places for at least 2 years in London. The

choice of the sample stems from the level of events attendance, again based on figures

from Facebook and Resident Advisor; the author has decided to interview those promoters

that are behind the most popular events in the research area.

Sum of the capacity of all existing warehouses in the research area

Average number of warehouse events

held on the same day on a day of the

weekend (Friday or Saturday)

Number of warehouses existing in the research area * =

Rave population i.e. the average number of

people attending warehouse events at the same time in the

research area


Page 28

3.4. Secondary data collection process22

To begin with the secondary data collection process, a broad subject research was carried

out in order to identify any potential existing academic source containing both qualitative

knowledge and statistics about the subject of night time event and underground electronic

music. Among the scanned sources there are the University library service page as well as

database sites including EBSCO, Emerald Insights, Ingenta Connect, Mintel and Nexis.

Despite not finding any closely relevant and up to date statistical data or academic article,

the author identified a number of articles that either related rave culture in the 80s and 90s or

that presented similar research topics, e.g. about festivals in the UK (Gelder and Robinson,

2009; Jaimangal-Jones et al., 2009; Partridge, 2006), subcultural movement in Berlin (Bader

and Scharenberg, 2010) and Belgrade (Todorovic and Bakir, 2005) and the relationship

between age and dance or rave experience (Goulding and Shankar, 2004); those articles

provided the academic background for the literature review and the conceptual framework.

In addition to these, an essay review (Hesmondhalgh, 1998) that comments on three books

about club culture provided a valuable lead to more books about the same or similar issues

(Fritz, 1999; Garratt, 1998; Reynolds, 1998a and 1998b; Thornton, 1996); all those books

however, have been published before the beginning of the millennium - apart from one first

published in 1997 but reprinted as an updated version in 2009 (Collin, 2009).

Nonetheless, those books did provide the author with a very clear and deep insight about the

historical background of the issue and in particular with many definitions needed to answer

the first research question.

Meanwhile, an online research through search engine Google was carried out, in order this

time to identify relevant information from a wider spectrum of source typology (i.e. not

necessarily academic). The research proceeded by combining in different ways keywords

22 All sources found through the secondary data collection process are mentioned and discussed in

the literature review.


Page 29

such as warehouse, underground, music, culture, subculture, events, rave, Shoreditch and

London. The research did not show any academic result, nevertheless a number of non-

academic resources appeared among which in particular video-documentaries, magazine

articles and interviews; unfortunately, as with previously mentioned sources, most if not all

these sources also were published before year 2000.

Whether the information gathered came from academic or not-academic sources, the

consistency of data among them in particular between books and videos and interviews

is anyhow seen as a positive factor towards reliability.

Additional non-academic sources included local council news and updates regarding

licensing law updates and issues (legal framework) and were all found through keyword

search (Shoreditch, licensing, event notice) and accessed online.

3.5. Primary data collection process

Once the different samples had been chosen, the primary data collection process could

begin following a 3-step structure; the first step involved gathering information through a

preliminary questionnaire, in order to test some of the questions, and also gather attitudes

and comments about the phenomenon to then be able to design the final questionnaire (step

2); notwithstanding, the primary reason for carrying out the first survey lies in the fact that the

author found herself in great difficulty when she tried to pull together a small group of people

to set up a focus group which undoubtedly would have been more suitable to achieve the

above mentioned purposes (Fink, 2009:57; Veal, 2006:99, 201); the only viable alternative in

terms of time and cost appeared to be a preliminary survey with open-ended questions and


Page 30

a space left blank for comments and observation about the topic and the questionnaire

itself23.

The first and second survey questionnaire were basically very similar; they were both divided

into frequency questions (How many times...);multiple choice questions with show cards

about motivational factors that come into play when going out and preference aspects of

events; opinions and attitudes towards the phenomenon; and eventually demographic

questions about age, gender and address (location).

The first difference was the presence of two questions to determine eligibility at the

beginning of questionnaire 2 to guarantee that the respondent was currently living in London

and had been at least once to a warehouse event from the beginning of year (2011); this

was due for the simple reason that the author has noticed and experienced the fact that

some people decide to show theyre attending an event despite not actually living in London

or not planning at all to go to the event; this happens for various reasons among which e.g.

supporting a friend or a family member that organises the event24.

The main difference, however, lies in the typology of questions adopted: the final

questionnaire only contained close-ended questions; this was decided to ease coding and

increase response rate (Fink 2006:20-23; Buckingham and Saunders, 2004:77-78).

Whilst the preliminary questionnaire had a set of four open-ended questions investigating the

positive and negative aspects of clubs and warehouses and a box at the very end for

comments to gather opinions and attitudes about the phenomenon and the questionnaire,

the final questionnaire only had a psychometric scale or Likert scale - to measure the

intensity of feelings and attitude towards issues raised in the answers to the open-ended

questions of the first questionnaire; the scale had a five points range from strongly agree to

23 Refer to appendix section 8.2 and 8.3 for a sample of each questionnaire.

24 Increased attendance is seen as one sign of a big not-to-be-missed event (authors own working

experience in the fields).


Page 31

strongly disagree plus not available (NA). In addition the comment box was removed from

the final questionnaire (Fink, 2009:24-26).

The use of purely qualitative answers from the preliminary questionnaire provided the basis

to build questions in the final questionnaire which proves the previously mentioned concept

that often quantitative research is based on qualitative research.

Both questionnaires were anonymous, self-reported, one-off and have been piloted with 6

people each time to test both the design and wording (Veal, 2006:39); both have been sent

through Facebook and the second-one had been sent out a second time as a follow-up to

both thank those who did complete the survey, and as a reminder to those who had not done

yet.

The third step of the primary data collection process involved gathering purely qualitative

data through a set of four interviews with four local events organisers; the interviews were

informal, exploratory and semi-structured: the author begun all four by asking the same

question tell me a little about yourself and your experience with music; depending on the

depth of the answer, the author then proceeded by giving small leads to guide the

respondents towards the authors hidden agenda (Oppenheim, 1992:67-68); the SOLER

model developed by Egan (1994) was taken into consideration when planning the

presentation of self before each interview (OLeary, 2004:167).

All interviews were recorded for later transcription and analysis, and to allow a better flow

during the conversation with the respondents (Oppenheim, 66-67). None of the four

interviewed demanded anonymity when prompted, so all names reported are real.

Despite the use of multiple research methods, triangulation is not present in its real definition

as an attempt to map out, or explain more fully, the richness and complexity of human

behaviour by studying it from more than one standpoint" (Cohen & Manion, 2008:254)

because the different methods adopted were used to gather different types of data the

analysis of which lead to answer different research questions.


Page 32

However, if the broader phenomenon is considered i.e. the warehouse phenomenon as a

whole the use of multiple sources has undoubtedly provided a much deeper and

multifaceted understanding of it.

3.6. Reliability, validity and generalisability

According to Veal (2006:41, 116), reliability is hard to prove in social sciences, because they

deal with human beings in differing and ever-changing social situations; the social

researcher needs to be very careful when making general, theoretical statements based on

empirical research - while measures can be taken to ensure a degree of generalisability,

strictly speaking, any research findings relate only to the subject involved, at the time and

place the research was carried out (Sapsford and Jupp, 2006:118).

Nonetheless, the author has reason to believe that a similar research carried out in another

place at another time and with different people could give very similar results. This

awareness comes from the fact that the phenomenon analysed has an important historical

background as explained in the literature review, the phenomenon finds its roots in the

mid-80s; moreover, the same or very similar phenomenon can be found both historically and

at present times in other cities such as Manchester (Reynolds, 1998b), Berlin

(Scharengberg, 2010) and Detroit (Real Scenes: Detroit, 2011).

It is to notice however, that the use of a self-selected sample could have lead to a reduction

in reliability (Veal, 2006:287) but the choice of a relatively high quota sample could have

compensated this flaw. The use of computer programmes to compile data is often suggested

as a means to avoid human error when compiling data (Veal, 2006).

Similarly, as with reliability, also validity is harder to prove in the leisure field than in scientific

research, because research is concerned with peoples behaviour and attitudes and for

information on these the researcher is, in the main, reliant of peoples own reports in the


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form of responses to questionnaire and interviews; these instruments can be subject to a

number of imperfections (Veal, 2006:41), for example imperfect memory; the questions

however often asked general averages, rather than precise data, and did not ask about

event that were more than two months old.

Major obstacles to the research were the limited time, which only allowed for a small amount

of data to be collected and analysed, and some flaws of the website used to prepare and

submit the surveys, which apparently some receivers could not display properly and fill in.

On the other hand, a certain degree of confidence during the interviews is seen as a positive

aspect; all four promoters might have perceived the author as one of them rather than an

external enquirer, and all seemed happy to answer openly.

4. Empirical findings and analysis

Data analysis findings are divided to follow the same order as the research questions

identified in chapter 1.1.

4.1. The ravers viewpoint

All respondents were living in London and had been to a warehouse party from the

beginning of 2011 (these were conditions to be met in order to be eligible).

Among the 200 respondents, 62% were between 26 and 33 years old, while another 18.5%

were between 34 and 41. This is interesting as it means that more than 80% were in the

young adult / adult age, thus confirming what Goudling and Shankar (2004) found about the

relevant importance of age within the modern raving context; clearly, the scene is not only

populated by teenagers, which in fact only represents less than 20%.

Because the sample was self-selected it could be argued that such result is highly biased,

based on the assumption that older people might not be too keen on filling in an online


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survey while younger people might be more prone to taking part. However, as previously

mentioned, most people attending to the three events needed access to Facebook in order

to be exposed to the event promotion; therefore the author assumes that the bias is minor

and that the result can still be representative of the Shoreditch rave population.

61% of the respondents are male, and 39% are female; the majority of the sample lives in

East (55%) or North (20%) London, and prefer to go to warehouse parties rather than to

clubs (65.5%). This however does not mean that the remaining percentage prefers going to

clubs, as this only accounts for 14% while 20.5% were not sure about the answer, possibly

suggesting that they do not have a preference for one over the other. The chi-squared state

between these two variables has evidenced a high probability that they are dependent (4%

probability that independence has occurred by chance). It make sense to think that people

prefer to go out within their neighbourhood, otherwise it could be argued that people move to

a certain area because is more lively and there is more night-time entertainment;

Furthermore, the same test performed between the gender and the preference has shown a

strong correlation (2% asymp. Sig (2-sided)). In fact the percentages are diametrically

opposed: 63.4% of male respondents prefer going to warehouses, while 60.7% of female

respondents prefer going to clubs.

While 58.5% of the sample go out until later than 1am on average between two and five

times a month, it is interesting to notice that one third of the sample goes out at least six

times a month, with 15.5% answering 8 or more. The frequency of attendance to

warehouse events is also interesting: 44.5% had been between four and eight+ times to a

warehouse party within the previous two months, and 39% had visited a club the same

number of times. This means that most respondents are more regular rather than occasional

ravers or clubbers; this could be interpreted that at least in the area under study there is a

remarkable raving culture; if there were similar studies in other areas of London it would be

interesting to compare the results and verify to what extent this is peculiar to one or more

areas.


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A chi-squared test has also been performed between each one of these two variables and

the preference variable and the result has shown another strong correlation (0% and 1%

asymp. Sig (2-sided)), meaning that the attendance frequency to clubs or warehouses is

largely connected to the individuals preference towards one or the other; it is obvious, and it

proves a certain degree of validity.

The five most important reasons cited for going out are friends, dancing, discovering new

music, following one or more artists and meeting new people, while drinking and habit

only appeared at the 13th and 14th rank; This suggest that there is a sort of more genuine

interest in going out, spending time with friends and dancing; discovering new music and

following one or more artists is also very interesting; despite no previous study has been

found to make a comparison, the author believes that such a high rank of these two

variables is peculiar to the underground dance culture. As by definition mainstream means

something that is well-known by the masses, thus already out-there; it is therefore viable to

think that by going to a big club, a mainstream club25, one would not expect to discover any

new music, instead precisely some big hits or chart music.

In another question respondents ranked the most important features of a good party and it

emerged that music quality is the first one, followed by the quality of the crowd, the sound

system, the venue and the location. Also in this case some answers music and sound

system - could be considered peculiar to the underground culture.

The answers to eight Likert-scale type of questions are presented in table 13; the font size

has been changed to show bigger and smaller percentages, while the four highlighted cells

are those that contain statement in favour of warehouse parties; the remaining four cells

contain statements in favour of clubs (this has been done to avoid putting eight separate

graphs which would have help neither in clarity, nor in space).

25 This reflection excludes e.g. Fabric, which despite being a club is categorized as underground

because of the music genre played and the line-ups of djs (authors own experience).


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It clearly emerges a positive attitude towards clubs; in particular, 60% of respondents agreed

on the fact that warehouses offer a better music and a better vibe, 70.5 feel more to do what

they want because the security is more laid-back and there is less control, and 62.5% agree

with the fact that people at warehouse parties are there for the music, while people in clubs

are there more for the name of the club.

Only one statement among those in

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