To investigate this process in the context of rave and club events, and with the
intention of contributing a more descriptive analysis of the ‘rave as ritual’
hypothesis, I discuss an event at Turbo Niteclub on Friday, 20 October 2001, in
Toronto, Canada. By investigating the spatialization of music, DJ-dancer
interactions and DJing as a ritually structured narrative, I illustrate how liminality is
a constantly revisited theme and, indeed, the root paradigm of rave and club
cultures.
The spatialization of musicIn his cross-cultural review of rites of passage, van Gennep maintained that
transformation occurs during the successful movement between demarcated phases
of separation (pre-liminal), transition (liminal) and incorporation (post-liminal). By
suggesting that a ‘rite of spatial passage has become a rite of spiritual passage’ (1960:
22), van Gennep locates transformative stages in space. If raving or clubbing can be
likened to ritual there must be some indication to participants that a separation from
profane or secular space and time has occurred. Van Gennep characterized this
phase as ‘passing through the door’ (ibid.:20). Thus, the obvious starting point for
the study of the ritual process in underground dance music events would be outside
the venue itself where people are awaiting entry.
Turbo Niteclub is located in the centre of what is known as Toronto’s
entertainment district, a 2-kilometre stretch of clubs, restaurants, offices and
residential lofts in which traffic is directed one way west along Richmond Street and
one way east along Adelaide Street. The club portion of Turbo’s building is divided
into two floors; during the night in question, local promotion company Lifeforce
schedules drum ‘n’ bass in the basement, and house, tech-house and techno on the
main floor. The entrance door of the club faces south on Adelaide Street and is
accessible by one of two line-ups: those entering the door from its west side are
either ticket holders or waiting to pay cash at the admission door just inside the
entrance; those entering the door from its east side hope to do so because their
names are on the guest list. It’s 10.30 p.m. and, arriving earlier than usual to take
notes on DJ Tim Patrick’s set upstairs, I wait in the guest-list line and hear Patrick’s
first record through the doors. Generally, two security personnel stand by the door
conducting patrons to their respective line, while at the front of the guest-list line a
Lifeforce employee checks names on a clipboard and, if confirmed, gives tickets to
those listed by the promoters, club owners or featured DJs.
While Thornton has suggested we look at the line-ups and door policies of raves
and clubs in order to understand how qualifiers based on age, race, gender and
sexuality allow for a culling of potential participants from the crowd inside (a
process she connects to the inclusive/exclusive nature of such events), Turbo has no
such policy except with regard to age.^2 Even with an open-door policy, the highly
structured organization of participants as they prepare to enter the club generates a
great deal of anxiety: underage patrons worry they will be checked for identification
and, if they have fake ID, wonder if it will get them through the door; those hiding
170 MORGAN GERARD