Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Ten Early Edmonton parties (1991-1993)

From My Interview with Art Sproul (Part 1)

Interview date: May 16, 2017, 8:00 PM Eastern
Interview location: By telephone (Montreal-Edmonton)
Interview total time: ~2 hours (first 30 minutes represented here)
In this excerpt, Art Sproul -- part owner of the record store Breakaway Music and rave promoter from 1991 to '93 -- recounts the parties he promoted in Edmonton from 1991-1993, at Flashback[2], the Bronx, Dance Factory [0] and [1], as well as the venue that would (under duress) become Rebar.


FEATURING: A techno acid rave playlist. Ten underground tracks, chosen to accompany this article:

Info-line for parties by Art Sproul, circa 1993.



~ ~ Interview Part 1: Transcript ~ ~

JP: Joining me now is Art Sproul, party promoter from Edmonton from the beginning of the story I am telling. I'm very happy to be here interviewing you today. Thank you for joining me.

AS: My pleasure.

JP: Can you tell me about yourself?

Advertisement in Gateway newspaper for
opening night of Flashback[2], December 14, 1990.
The location 10345 - 105 Street was the club's 
third location ([0], [1] and [2]).
AS: I first got involved in the nightclub scene here in Edmonton in about 1989 at a nightclub in Edmonton called Flashback. Myself and my later business partner Justin Archbold had a small record shop in the city of Edmonton here that we marketed primarily to nightclub deejays. We called it Breakaway Music, and it was right across from the art school here in Edmonton, Victoria High School.

So we, as part of our business we did essentially record shopping for a lot of the clubs here and we would buy just very different vinyl LP singles and such from numerous sources around the world. We would go to the clubs and we'd bring a bag of records, and get past the gates and walk out with a healthy sum of money on most nights, from the records we were selling to the club.

Now, we had a business arrangement with Flashback and they were on essentially a monthly pay plan. They ran into some financial difficulties after an incident that occurred at their newer location, the '105th Street Bridge Club' which was on 105th Street and 103rd Avenue. And as result of that they had quite a substantial debt outstanding. So the owner of the club at the time, John Reid, suggested that he look at any number of things to try and pay down that debt. And at this point -- this is 1991 -- we had heard, being in the nightclub and record industry, we had heard a lot of the goings on in Europe with regard to raves and we suggested to him that he allow us to hold a party at the club. And he was all for that, he was like, This is great, this is a really good idea, and I would love to have that.

So my partner and I -- this is of course before the days of the public internet - we had to put together a flyer, and looking through a number of magazines and such we went old-school and did the whole cut and paste thing.  The first flyer that we did was for the party, it was called the "Acid Techno Rave." And that was on Friday the 13th of 1991. Can you hear me?

JP: Yeah I can absolutely. This is great.

Flyer for "Acid Techno Rave" (December 13, 1991)
Source: Art Sproul
AS: So we, we essentially -- we were kind of like, How we are going to promote this thing? and it was a cold winter in 1991. We found some images, and the cut and paste, and we went to the local copy shop and had them whip up a couple of thousand handbills, a little square, probably four-by-four picture of Albert Einstein, the one where his tongue is sticking out. And we we put up a big old happy face right in the middle of his tongue, of course alluding very much to the drug culture that was a part and parcel of the rave scene internationally. [00:05:00] Of course there hadn't been a rave in Edmonton to that point. So I think we were -- we were just playing on it really more than anything.

And so we really we hit everywhere, we pounded the pavement, and we went to the University of Alberta, and we were handing flyers out at the Student Union Building and all through their HUB [Housing Unit Building] which is like kind of a student shopping center, through West Edmonton Mall, and we had a number of contacts obviously having a record store.  Placed flyers at those kind of places.

But also old-school. Both of us had been around the scene for quite some time. You know the gig posters you would typically see, stuck to lightpoles and such -- we made larger fliers, and went up with our spritz bottles and glue and tacked them up pretty much the entire downtown area in Edmonton.

And it turned out really well. We had - geez - it was probably about 1,500 people through the door at the club. It was a very large nightclub. So it it worked out very well for us. But we had an arrangement that we were going to get the full take on the door because we also paid for the liquor for the bar, because they said they were having financial difficulties. So we didn't -- we didn't quite get what we were expecting from a dollar and cents point of view.

But regardless of that, the party went over very well and then everybody -- we had a number of DJs that later went on to promote other parties. Nicki Miago, or at that point Cory Payne, or Don Knox who was the house deejay at a bar in Edmonton called Scandals when it was open. Michael Brennan, who was the house DJ. A gentlemen by the name of Sherridon Routley who was later was one of our roommates. He helped us in promoting other events as well. Yes. It was like eight deejays, ten hours -- the party went all night and it was very much successful.

That being said, after the night was closed, everybody was really happy and was like, Well when are we doing this again?
Flashback: "A Private Clu
Source: Etown Flyer Archive (Facebook group)
So we set up another party for January. But we decided, as a result of knowing what the door should have been and comparing what we actually got, decided we would do the door ourselves and that party -- again another cut and paste flyer -- was the "Acid Rave 2." We wanted to keep with the theme.  An Ernie and Bert graphic where they were talking into paper cups with a string between them -- we did a cut 'n paste job on that and made it look as if they were drinking those solo cups of beer.  And this one, the tagline was "Experience the Ecstasy" -- kinda keeping with that. So that was a little humorous one that went really well.

And then we wound up taking home an appropriate amount from the door -- we managed it properly and that was good.

So I think, looking at relating the two together and seeing -- promoters having the ability to run things themselves, versus being in a premise where somebody else is managing the event -- you have a lot more control. And I think that is really important. And that's really where you saw the growth in the development of the rave scene in later years.

Now, that being said, our rave from my knowledge was actually the first one that happened in Edmonton by about two weeks. There was one in late December called "Pure Love" I believe, and that was Darren Leonardson and he was one of the deejays at the Bronx nightclub in Edmonton. [00:10:00] And it was a small and more of a deep house type event, as opposed to being more of the techno acid style of music, so little more downtempo but he was -- he was a little miffed that we kind of beat him to the punch, I think. But everybody remained cordial and we all remained friends obviously after that.

So going back to the second rave, we had the club, of course, because people had become re-familiarized with the venue and were very like, Why did we ever stop going to this club? and, I think we like it again. So they were in the process of kind of rebuilding the image of the space in some part due to the the parties. So when we went to throw the third one -- we wanted to do it on the 29th of February. And the unfortunate part about that is that the Flashback was a gay-and-friends club and throughout their history, on the last Friday of February they held their gala awards and they had already started promoting this. And we wanted the 29 because of the Leap Day, kind of a neat day for a party. We were -- we were turned down.

The Bronx, a legend in its own right. 10330 - 102 Street.
Shown here in 1926. Photo Source: Edmonton Municipal Archive
So they went forward with their show, event, and we were essentially approached by the owner of the Bronx nightclub, Oliver Friedman, and we accepted his offer to do the party for the full door. We put together a little party there called either Zero Gravity or Brave New World. I think it was actually was the "Brave New World."

Presented by the Bronx & Breakaway Music
Source: Art Sproul
Now, "Brave New World" was -- the flyer we did at this point, we had a little more budget for flyers so we enlisted a print shop so we could do full colour.  And these were like a little postcard style, maybe a four by three. Green concentric circles, kind of a Looney Tune sort of ring. And in the very center was a globe and then the little the Bronx logo, a little man graphic which is a take of Einstürzende Neubauten [German industrial noise band; their first LP was [♫] "Kollaps" (1981)].

And sold the tickets, and then it went really well. It was a great space. Two rooms, one of the rooms at the bar was tin-plated walls and the other one with a very large kind of an old theatre space, because the club was actually an old theatre. So -- a lot of fun. We had a number of the same deejays that were were there, throughout the groups. A lot of this was very much the bar owners, really -- they didn't mind us for the parties we held at the Flashback[2] night club, at the Bronx, he had, Oliver had no problem handing out the flyers. In fact he almost encouraged it because he wanted to really see that he was participating in the scene.  And with the parties at the Bronx, we were handing out flyers, again at Flashback[2] so -- you're promoting somebody else's nightclub in our club and it didn't really seem to be a big issue.

Flyers for "Zero Gravity" (April 11, 1992).
Source: Art Sproul
Moving on to the next party we did with them, "Zero Gravity" was the party. It certainly was a different flyer -- again another cut and paste type thing where we had a airbrushed kind of a galaxy theme and then the space shuttle with the little Bronx man floating out in space.

The party went really well. We had a really good time with it. But the important thing is that when we when we moved and started doing the ones at the Bronx, [00:15:00] the Flashback ownership vibe was going through a bit of a change and they had found somebody else to do the promotion basically at that point. So we kind of lost out on that as a venue because they had their own people now doing it.

 So then, the Bronx -- that kind of became our place. They held another party and they sort of found out how we were doing the promotion. I mean, they had been a club and they hadn't done much from a dance perspective -- that really wasn't their, you know, they didn't get out and promote it. It's a nightclub, people come, they're into the alternative kind of music and that's where where they go. For the gigs they did the posters on the posts and stuff like that, but they sort of figured out what we were doing and how we were doing it and where we were, and essentially brought it in-house.

And so we got a little kind of upset obviously about this, because we'd had a third party planned and there was a bit of a newspaper article that had occurred and we were talking about how, at the parties and in the city -- I'm not sure if you read the journal article "Rave On" -- in there, I made a comment about finding little balls of tinfoil on the ground and of course this was the telltale sign that people have been doing LSD at the parties.
  • From "Rave On" (Edmonton Journal, February 26, 1993): 
Drugs such as LSD and Ecstasy - an integral part of European and west coast raves - are popular [in Edmonton] too, according to some. Ecstasy is a chemical hallucinogen like LSD. A New York magazine described Ecstasy as amphetamines cut with Valium or LSD. 
While Ecstasy is hard to get in this city, [Art] Sproul has found telltale empty foil packages - used for hits of LSD - all over the floor after some of his parties. 
At his raves, drugs are banned, though he admits kids may take magic mushrooms beforehand or drop acid in the parking lot. 
[The article ran on page A1: it was the cover story that day. --Ed.]  

 AS: And so, as a result of that, the police and the fire department showed up at Bronx and called [Oliver Friedmann] on his washrooms and the fire capability there. So our third party that was supposed to be at the Bronx essentially got pushed back by quite a while, a few months.  

"Brilliant," July 25, 1992
Source: Oliver Friedmann
This was one of our methods of making money at the record shop. The parties had sort of taken on another life and had allowed us had to start making more money on a monthly basis. So it hurt a little that we had been kind of pulled out. So --

JP: Can I ask for clarification? What was the name of the third party that got pushed back, that you were just telling me about?

AS: "Brilliant."

[Editor's note: Dates do not match up properly here (i.e., "Brilliant," July 25 1992, came before the publication of "Rave On" in February 1993). 

 After following-up, Art and I have determined that some other event happened here to prompt the changes in promoter etiquette which are discussed further down.]






Source: Dragan Jargic

[One additional party, not mentioned in this portion of the interview.  "Carnival Rave: Under the Big Top," August 1, 1992.  The venue was 10334 - 108 Street. a.k.a the warehouse known as Nix.]

The venue Nix: 10334 - 108 Street. 


AS: So we continued on and we were trying to find some some other venues, and we fell upon this space -- it was called the Dance Factory.  It was right in now what the heart of Edmonton's Ice District. I mean all these clubs are really in what is now the Ice District.
Warehouse at 10363 - 104 St., which became Dance Factory[0] and before that was home to "Hell Parties."
Shown here in 1912. Photo: Edmonton's Architectural Heritage
AS: [Dance Factory] was a whole main floor of a warehouse that was run by a gentlemen by the name of Dave Jackson. And Dave Jackson was, at that point he was the marketing director of the Citadel theater in Edmonton and he had this space and we said, Well yeah, let's go for this.

Basement of the Mercer building, prior to renovation
and de-rave-ification. Photo Source: Startup Edmonton.
And so we started promoting a party and this one was really quite cool.  It was the "Vick's Vapo Rave." We created the flyer that was actually a user experience. You actually had to cut it up. It was a cut-out of a box of Vick's Vapo Rub. 
Un-assembled flyer for "Vick's VapoRave" (November 13, 1992).  A note on the flipside "gives apologies to Gravity Pope for our Orbit parties [...] the first party caused quite a few of their clothing racks to become dislodged from the walls due to bass harmonics."  Source: Art Sproul
2 Unlimited, who released
[♫] "Get Ready For This" in 1991
AS: At that point, because of our contacts in the record store, we were working with Quality Records and Quality had 2 Unlimited, one of their one of their acts for Canada and they were the license holder. [00:20:00]

So that was the that was the potential. It was kind of put out there to us that we could get 2 Unlimited. About two or three days before the event happened -- we didn't promote it because it wasn't locked in.  We just said we're going to be featuring a live techno performance. And so obviously we were quite disappointed when it happened that they were unable to get into the country because they couldn't get their work permit sorted out.

Quality apologized greatly to us at this point, and we had to scramble to find an act, and we did. We found a local synth goth band called Voice Industrie and made a request of them that they do their show, but they keep the ominous deep vocal a little bit subdued. And they did a lot of their  material a little kind of stripped down, which was pretty cool.

Edmonton's Voice Industrie in 1993. Source: The Gateway.
So we had -- honestly it was probably over 500 people into this space. We set up the scaffold rental, built the stage on the scaffold and had all the lighting kits and stuff was all at the other end.  So it was it was a pretty neat show and it went over fairly well.

But the odd thing when I was promoting it is that I -- I was cutting the [Vap-o Rave] boxes out of course, thinking that the owners of the other clubs that would still be on side with me handing out the flyers in their venues. And unfortunately that wasn't quite the case. Oliver caught me handing out some of my pre-assembled Vick's boxes and gave me a little hell and actually took away my VIP card for exactly one year, as a 'Naughty, I'm slapping your wrist and you can't come here for a year.'

JP: Huh.

AS: Yeah. It was kind of funny. It was actually interesting, because exactly a year later I got a VIP card back from him. So it was -- he was just kind of playing hardball.

So it kind of continued on from there, looking for other venues for doing the parties. The Dance Factory space had gone over well, but, just looking to keep it keep it fresh for people and at this point you had UDP, which is Universal Dance Productions, had started --  I'm trying to think of who the guys were that were involved in that. But they were they were primarily doing things for Bronx and they were kind of associates of Oliver's.

And so we did one, another place, it was in the new Dance Factory which was a much smaller space and we had an act from Edmonton called the KGB play, and that was called "Lovely Day." So we had a pretty neat flyer for that one it was kind of a psychedelic hand piece of artwork that was done. And as we continued doing the record store events and Quality ponied up in around that point and gave us a gratis show with BKS which was Sheppard and Kavanagh and Bekker I think is the other guy's name, so we all we did that at Barry T's.  I mean, it's a top 40 nightclub, but we were able to find a space that had a good draw and we got the door on that one. That was that was kind of a neat little event. [00:25:00]

By this time we were doing we were doing some radio stuff with the local channel here in Edmonton which was called Power 92, promoting a radio show from England called the "U.K. Chart Attack." And we would get kind of the top 10 and we'd have them, we'd chart them in our store. So we'd have our daily top five which show up at the bottom of the comics in the Edmonton Sun. That went on for about a year.


Parties continued happening throughout Edmonton and I really wanted to kind of get back into it.  My business partner at that point had gotten married and had started doing his own business and really couldn't participate in the rave parties anymore and he was doing collectibles and such.  And he still has a shop in West Edmonton Mall -- Collector's Edge, and that's my partner Justin.

"Flyer for Purex," December 19, 1992
Source: Dragan Jargic
Anyhow. So the next couple of parties I did were on Whyte ave, and it was in a club that had closed. So again, we had the full ability to manage the door, and the liquor, and so we were able to really get all of the -- we were funding all the costs but we were also having the complete profit potential, which was really ours. So we found this location and it eventually turned into a club that was run by John Reid again, from Flashback.  And we did something there called "Purex." "Purex" was the little blue flyer with the fluffy pillow guys. Obviously it's a take on the Purex pillow toilet paper, Scottie's that kind of stuff.

The place was pretty good, good turnout. Same kind of group of DJ's. The scene at this point, there was other competition so the flyers had to be brighter and more colorful. And we had to have tickets for sale at multiple different venues, indicated on the flyers.

And yeah, things turned out really well. We had a great event. And John from Flash showed up and it was like, What's going on here is really good -- I like what you're doing here.

"Fresh Vibes" (February 6, 1993).
Note the address 10545 Whyte Ave, which is Rebar.
But not Rebar! Source: Dragan Jargic
And so I invited him back to the next party we did there which was "Fresh Vibes" which was a Tide-inspired logo. And we invited him back and when he came, he brought someone. Unfortunately... this person was the money man behind the Rebar. And so the space that we had secured from the property owner essentially was pulled out from underneath us because John had all the equipment and he was just looking for someone to front the money to do the lease.

So they actually stole the bar out from underneath us which was kind of shut down that location for me, and put a real sour taste in my mouth because I had invited him to do this with me and it was unfortunate. I had to find another location that I used, and we did. We did probably two or three little "Orbit" parties. But the guys I had working security were more into the kind of the alternative rock so we did more or less just gig shows there.  And then we got some trouble for a liquor license issue and we just stopped doing them.

And where my place in the rave scene really kind of stopped. I had some really good good fun doing it. [00:30:00] And met a lot of really interesting people and really, I think, helped the scene grow in Edmonton. It was a lot of the folks that -- being there in the early, in the beginning, the first party in Edmonton that was classified as rave -- watching it grow with Nexus Tribe and with Nicky and Shelly doing that, and UDP [Universal Dance Productions], into massive events happening at like the convention centres with like thousands and thousands of people. So it was pretty fun. And the fact that I had the business, the record store going at the same time, really put me in a place to see how the culture was evolving. And and even though I wasn't necessarily continuing in them from a promotions perspective, I was still ordering the vinyl, selling the vinyl, and in a way still had a hand in a lot of the later parties.

JP: Can I ask you a question about the final venue that you just described to me? I think the Orbit parties?

AS: Yes.

JP: Where was that?

AS: The Orbit was the basement of Gravity Pope on Whyte Avenue, and that is now called the Junque Cellar.

~ ~ [End of Interview Part 1.] ~ ~


Parties listed in this interview:


Venues of these parties: 
  • Flashback[2] (10345 - 105 Street)
  • Bronx (10330 - 102 Street)
  • Nix (10334 - 108 Street)
  • Dance Factory[0] (10363 - 104 Street)
  • Dance Factory[1] (10147 - 104 Street)
  • 10545 - 82 Avenue (which became Rebar)
  • Orbit (10442 - 82 Avenue) (now the Junque Cellar)

Deejays of these parties.  Not a complete list (some flyers missing; some flyers do not list deejay names).  In order of appearance in this transcript:
  • Nicky aka DJ Nicky aka Nicky Miago ["Acid Techno Rave"]
  • Cory Payne [ditto]
  • Don Knox, deejay at Scandals [ditto]
  • Michael Brennan, aka Mikee, house deejay at Flashback[1] and [2]
  • Sherridon Routley, deejay at Flashback[1]
  • Darren Leonardson [of party "Pure Love," (December 1991), deejay at Bronx]
  • X ["Brilliant"]
  • Rice [ditto]
  • The Toxic Avenger [ditto]
  • Kozmic Kid ["Carnival Rave"]
  • Shy 106 [ditto]
  • Catastrophe ["Purex"]
  • Special "K" [ditto]
  • Locks Garant [from UDP party "Rise and Shine" (February 19, 1993)]
  • Brian Burgess [ditto]
  • Otaku [ditto]

Ticket outlets listed on flyers for these parties. Not a complete list (some flyers missing).  In order of appearance in the flyer record:
  • Breakaway Music
  • Marquee Records
  • Sound Connection
  • Divine Decadence
  • Sonix
  • Gravity Pope
  • Southside Sound
  • Mojo Extreme
  • Groove Asylum
  • London Street



~ ~ Index of the Interview [Parts 1 and 2] ~ ~

  • 10542 - Whyte Ave -- @26:19 next parties were on Whyte Ave, a club that had closed; @26:35 full control of all costs/incomes; @27:00 eventually turned into club run by John Reid of Flashback; parties at this space include "Purex" (@27:01) and "Fresh Vibes" (@28:10); @28:15 John Reid came to both these parties and at the second, "he brought someone" who scooped the venue
  • "Acid Rave 2" (Saturday, February 1, 1992) -- @07:47 genesis of Acid Rave 2; @07:59 decision to run door themselves due to financial short of Acid Techno Rave; 08:10 description of Ernie & Bert flyer for "Acid Rave 2"; @08:40 tagline was 'Experience the Ecstasy'; @08:49 party went really well including financially, @09:30 first "rave" in Edmonton (according to Art Sproul); @10:22 role of "Acid Rave 2" in re-popularizing venue Flashback[2]
  • Archbold, Justin -- @01:25 Breakaway music with partner Art Sproul; @05:40 "both of us [Art Sproul and Justin Archbold] had been around the scene for quite some time"; @25:50 left Record business to run his own business (Collector's Edge in WEM);
  • Barry T's -- @24:45 venue for party featuring BKS
  • "Brave New World" (February 29, 1992) -- @11:45 how this party came to be at the Bronx; @12:12 description of flyer (like Looney Tunes); @12:55 party went well, great space; @13:15 many of DJs were the same as for "Acid Rave" parties;
  • Breakaway Music -- @01:25 Business venture of Art Sproul and Justin Archbold; @17:20 operated in tandem with parties to bring in business; @17:58 search for new venues after loss of Flash[2], Bronx; @18:10 found Dance Factory[0]; @25:00 Co-promotion with Power92 of "UK Chart Attack"; @30:00 through to @31:12 after throwing parties, Art Sproul still felt connected to scene via record store, also @43:45; @44:10 closed in 1995-96.
  • Brennan, Michael -- @06:55 resident DJ at Flashback [1] and [2], DJ at Techno Acid Rave;
  • "Brilliant" (July 25, 1992) -- @17:10 and the article "Rave On" (Edmonton Journal)
  • Bronx -- @09:50 Darren Leonardson was DJ; @11:45 Bronx offered to Art Sproul to do third party ("Brave New World") at Bronx venue; @12:55 description of venue on night of "Brave New World", including theatre space; @13:35 in February 1992, Oliver Friedman encouraged cross-promotion of events; @14:10 next party in Bronx space was "Zero Gravity"; @15:20 'the Bronx became our place' after Flash[2] brought promotions in-house; @15:31 then Bronx did the same, bringing promotions in house; @16:55 police and fire department visited Bronx "kind of as a result" of publication of "Rave On" in Edmonton Journal; @21:55 revocation of Art Sproul's VIP membership for handing out flyers within Bronx; @22:38 return of VIP card exactly one year later;
  • Cabana Club -- @41:07 was in the Grand Hotel, punk nights and alternative nights, early goth, new romantic goth; @42:10 Don Knox (DJ at Scandals) also DJ'd at Cabana Club
  • "Carnival Rave" (August 1, 1992) -- @47:26 at venue Nix's
  • Dance Factory -- @18:10 new venue for Art Sproul parties was Dance Factory[0]; @18:25 whole main floor of a warehouse run by Dave Jackson; @21:35 for "Vick's Vapo-Rave" stage was built on scaffold, with lighting; @23:50 party ("Lovely Day") in the NEW Dance Factory ([1]); @32:39 Dance Factory[0] was originally North of the Roost; @33:08 through to @33:40 description of Dance Factory[0] in Mercer Warehouse main floor; @33:58 location of Dance Factory[1] 104 St and closer to Jasper Ave; @34:17 small space, 200 people capacity max, low ceiling basement; @34:33 DJ since forever was Whelan, deep house as opposed to techno/tech house; @35:00 moved from [0] to [1] because the smaller space was easier to fill; @35:15 comfortable at 50, tops out at 200;
  • Delgado, Nick (a.k.a Nicky, Nicky Miago)-- @06:55 was DJ at Techno Acid Rave; @43:50 Nicky and Shelly Solarz with Nexustribe
  • Drugs -- @04:45 flyer of "Techno Acid Rave" was allusion to drug culture for which rave culture was internationally known; @16:19 publication of "Rave On" in Edmonton Journal puts public attention on drug use at raves; @49:06 through to @50:05 promoter Art Sproul got heat for talking about drugs in article "Rave On"; @52:00 'early days,' drugs of choice; @52:35 later on, when Ecstasy really arrived... requirement for more police, more health; @53:00 Promoter Art Sproul did not notice large police/drugs crackdown at his events (1992-93);@16:19 publication of "Rave On" in Edmonton Journal puts public attention on drug use at raves;
  • Firsts -- @01:11 Art Sproul first got involved with nightclub scene 1989 via Flashback; @05:00 "there hadn't been a rave in Edmonton til [1991]";
  • Flashback -- @01:11Art Sproul and nightclub Flashback, 1989; @02:25 Flashback[2] was a customer of Breakaway music; @02:35 Flashback ran into financial difficulties after an incident at Flash[2] location; @02:56 "quite a substantial debt outstanding" (Flash[2], 1991); @03:00 Flashback[2] managed by John Reid; @03:04 motivation for "Acid Techno Rave" was repayment of Flash[2] debt; @06:10 1,500 people through the door for "Techno Acid Rave"; @10:22 role of "Acid Rave 2" in re-popularizing venue Flashback[2]; @10:53 venue turned down promoters for third party, February 29, 1992, because a gala had already been booked that night; @14:52 when Art Sproul moved to Bronx; Flashback[2] outsourced party promotion, so they 'lost out on that venue'; @37:00 Flashback, now Exclesior Lofts; @37:20 Main floor was Flashback[1]; second floor was studios, including Art Sproul, Con Boland, @38:20 also studio for welder / sculptor; @38:29 arts hub; @38:33 top floor was occupied by band Zen Asylum;
  • Flyers -- @03:45 genesis of flyer for "Acid Techno Rave", done with cut and paste, old-school; @05:55 gig posters typically stuck to light poles / larger flyers;  @04:35 a couple of thousand flyers for "Techno Acid Rave"; @04:45 description of flyer (Albert Einstein + happy face); @08:10 description of Ernie & Bert flyer for "Acid Rave 2"; @12:12 description of flyer for "Brave New World"; @14:12 description of flyer for Zero Gravity; @19:04 description of cut-out flyer, user experience; @24:10 flyer for "Lovely Day" was hand drawn psychedelic artwork; @27:10 flyer for "Purex"; @28:08 "Fresh Vibes" kind of a Tide-inspired flyer
  • Foxy Lady -- @42:17  skid bar right next to Flash[1]
  • "Fresh Vibes" (February 6, 1993) -- @28:10 second party at 10542 Whyte Ave; @28:18 John Reid was invited to this party as well
  • Grand Hotel -- @41:00 c.1900 building, home to Cabana Club;
  • Harm Reduction -- @50:27 through to @51:50 HiV/AIDs network of Edmonton, harm reduction (condoms); @51:55 drug harm reduction was still 'early days', no hard drugs like meth yet
  • Hell Parties -- @35:32 Hell parties at a number of venues including Mercer Warehouse; @35:41 society fashionista type events; @35:45 first few were in citadel amphitheatre; @36:00 also in the larger Dance Factory[0]; @36:11 'industry parties,' arts community, downtempo; @36:45 related to Dave Jackson's job
  • Jackson, Dave -- @18:33 Dave Jackson ran Dance Factory[0] (~1992); @18:38 Jackson was Marketing Director for the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton; @18:48 joined up with Art Sproul & Co to do party "Vick's Vapo-Rave";
  • KGB -- @24:02 Edmonton act, headlined party "Lovely Day"
  • Knox, Don -- @06:55 DJ's at Techno Acid Rave; also was DJ at Scandals; @41:12 also DJ at Cabana Club
  • Leonardson, Darren -- @09:40 promoted party "Pure Love" in late December 1991; @09:50 was DJ at Bronx; @10:08 "a little miffed that we [Sproul] beat him to the punch; @40:35 Darrin Leonardson was DJ at the Underground [Roost upper floor]
  • Lindberg, Dave James (aka Davey James) -- @44:55 DJ at Rebar
  • "Lovely Day" -- @23:50 party in the NEW Dance Factory ([1]); @24:02 headliner was act from Edmonton called KGB; @24:10 description of flyer;
  • Orbit Parties -- @29:10 search for new party venue because 10542 - Whyte Ave was scooped; @29:20 security guys were more into alternative rock, so it was mostly gig shows; @29:35 trouble over liquor license issue. @29:45 stopped; @31:20 Orbit parties: basement of Gravity Pope on Whyte Avenue, now the Junque Cellar;
  • Payne, Cory -- @06:55 was DJ at Techno Acid Rave
  • Promotion -- @04:18 promotion of "Acid Techno Rave" (1991); @05:17 places where "Techno Acid Rave" was promoted (SUB, HUB, WEM, among others); @05:48 gig posters on lightpoles, promotion of "Techno Acid Rave" downtown; @09:03 benefit to promoters in running events themselves, versus using venues controlled by someone else; @13:35 in February 1992, Oliver Friedman had no problem with Art Sproul promoting Flashback events in Bronx; @15:00 Flashback brings promoting in house after "Brave New World" (February 29, 1992); @15:30 Bronx figures out how to do promotions in-house as well; @16:10 Art Sproul's reaction to this; @45:28 amount of money involved in promotion of a large Nexus event compared to Art Sproul's events; @49:52 $20/ticket in 1995 * 2000 tickets = $$$;
  • "Pure Love" -- @09:40 party in late December 1991; @09:50 party by Darren Leonardson; 09:53 a small, deep house type event, little more downtempo
  • "Purex" (December 19, 1992) -- @27:01 party with little blue flyer; @27:22 "pretty good," good turn out, same group of DJ's; @27:50 John Reid from Flashback attended
  • Media, Mainstream -- @16:19 Publication in Edmonton Journal of article "Rave On"; @16:38 comment about little balls of tin foil, a tell-tale sign of LSD use; @25:28 Breakaway Music Daily Top 5 would appear at bottom of comics in Edmonton Sun; @48:40 'What was it like to see your words on the front page of the Journal?'
  • Mercer Warehouse -- @33:08 space directly North of the Roost was the Mercer Warehouse; @33:20 this was the Dance Factory on the main floor; @33:20 two buildings built together; @33:26 one of the bays had a giant stairwell dead centre, the DJ platform; @33:40 'raw', small bathrooms, bar wicket; @35:32 Hell parties were held there among other venues; also see https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/documents/PDF/Downtownwalkingtour.pdf
  • Nexustribe.  See also Universal Dance Productions -- @46:13 with Art Sproul, trying to recall a Nexustribe event, at Northlands
  • Nix's -- @47:26 Carnival Rave; @47:39 description of party by Nick Delgado "Rise & Shine" (featured in "Rave On" cover story);
  • Quality Records -- @19:54 Breakaway records working with Quality Records; @20:00 2Unlimited was offered but ultimately not delivered; @24:25 replacement show was BKS (Shepperd, Kavanagh, Becker)
  • "Rave On" (Newspaper article) -- @16:19 publication of "Rave On" in Edmonton Journal puts public attention on drug use at raves; @16:55 police and fire department visit Bronx "kind of as a result"; @47:39 description of party by Nick Delgado "Rise & Shine" (featured in "Rave On" cover story); @48:05 photo is Angie
  • Rebar -- See also 10542 Whyte Ave -- @44:55 Davey James (David James Lindberg) was DJ at Rebar. @44:58 Rebar continues tradition of themed party events at clubs
  • Record Stores -- @01:25 Breakaway music; @05:40 contacts from having a record store, places for flyers, opportunities for promotion
  • Reid, John -- @03:00 John Reid was owner of Flash[2] in 1991; @28:15 John Reid came to both parties at 10542 Whyte Ave and at the second, "he brought someone" and scooped the venue; @44:46 Art Sproul and John Reid have made amends by 1995-96;
  • Rock City -- @42:24 large headbanger bar across parking lot that Flash[1] used to use
  • Rock Slide -- @42:30 in a building that became Fifth Street Lofts, later called Tropicana
  • Roost, the -- @32:46 Edmonton's more hardcore gay bar, shared the street with Flashback (104 St); @40:08 Roost across street from Flash[1] on main floor; @40:19 then added the upper floor as 'the Underground'; @40:35 Darrin Leonardson was DJ at the Underground
  • Routley, Sherridon -- @06:55 was DJ at Techno Acid Rave
  • Scandals -- @07:05 Don Knox was house DJ; @41:50 Scandals was south of Jasper Ave, basement of Holiday Inn across from Boston Pizza;
  • Scene -- @05:40 "both of us [Art Sproul and Justin Archbold] had been around the scene for quite some time"; @09:03 scene really took off when promoters started finding/using their own venues (instead of clubs, bars etc); @10:15 'cordial' in December 1991; @27:31 by time of "Purex" (December 19, 1992) there was competition in scene, flyers had to be brighter, tickets had to be for sale in multiple venues; @30:00 Art Sproul helping scene grow, through to @31:12
  • Solarz, Shelly -- @43:50 role with Nexustribe
  • Sproul, Art -- @01:11 Art Sproul first got involved with nightclub scene 1989 via Flashback; @25:40 wanted to get back into promoting events; @29:45 Art Sproul's exit from rave scene according to his own words, his self-assessment; @44:10 Breakaway Music closed in 1995-96, Art exits scene; @44:46 Art Sproul and John Reid have made amends by 1995-96; @45:05 only went to one of the big raves -- a Nexus event
  • "Techno Acid Rave" (December  13, 1991) -- @03:20 Genesis of Techno Acid Rave; @03:40 Art Sproul with partner; @04:07 date of event; @04:18 promotion of "Acid Techno Rave" (1991); @05:20 places where "Techno Acid Rave" was promoted; @06:10 1,500 people through the door; @06:26 promoters did not get all the money they were expecting; @06:47 "party went over very well"; @06:55 some of the DJ's: Nicky Miago, Corey Payne, Don Knox, Michael Brennan, Sherridon Routley; @07:25 ten DJ's, 8 hours; @07:44 "when are we doing this again?"
  • "Vick's Vapo-Rave" -- @18:10 venue was Dance Factory[0]; @18:55 really quite cool; @19:06 description of flyer, user experience: cut-out box of vapo-rub; @19:55 involvement with Quality records, potential to get 2Unlimited as headliner; @20:30 did not promote this because it was not locked in; @20:40 in the end, artists were unable to get into country because of work permit issues; @21:00 replacement act was to be Voice Industrie; @21:30 >500 people; @22:55 unintentional scooping of Oliver's party name
  • "UK Chart Attack" (program on Power 92) -- @25:13 Top Ten, charted in Breakaway Music;
  • Universal Dance Productions (UDP) -- @23:31 appearance of UDP in scene; @23:40 associates of Bronx / Oliver;
  • Voice Industrie -- @20:40 played at "Vick's Vapo-Rave", reasons for booking Voice Industrie, cancellation of 2Unlimited; @21:03 Edmonton synth-goth band; @21:10 but please no scary vocals;
  • Zen Asylum -- @38:33 part of top floor of Flash[1] building was occupied by band Zen Asylum; @38:46 Ron Wolfe lead singer and bassist, now for Cockatoo; @39:00 Dave Bacon member of SNFU; @38:15 band parties in studi at top of Flash[1]; @39:20 twenty foot ceiling, tin walls, giant suspended swing; @39:40 description of space, cool parties
  • "Zero Gravity" (April 11, 1992) -- @14:03 was fourth party by Art Sproul; venue was Bronx; @14:12 description of flyer; @14:45 party went really well



 ~ ~ Post-script ~ ~

The article "Rave On" prompted a reader to write back:

  • Letter to the editor of the Edmonton Journal, March 12, 1993: "Article gratuitous advertising for depravity"

An article like "Rave on" (Journal, Feb. 26) has no place on the front page of the newspaper. It is not news but rather promotion of a dubious kind. Nor is it important enough to be given such prominence. 
By its content and tone, this article flouts much of what is good in our society; it is little more than a gratuitous advertising feature for depravity and wanton self-indulgence (in order of appearance); transvestism, illicit drug use, homosexuality, and more drugs. 
"Sensuality, but no lust," The Journal vouches on behalf of all 300 young people at the bash, as if to place everyone there above these feelings that the rest of us have to deal with. 
How in the world does The Journal know? And how can that be relevant in a feature like this that countenances sexual aberration and drug abuse? 
No matter, The Journal slavishly strings together a selection of today's trendiest words and phrases to try to make an impact. 
It's important to be up to speed, it seems, even on a rocket to nowhere. Tomorrow's cool will be something else. After all, do we want to fall behind Vancouver or England ... or Sodom? What questionable advocacy. Questionable journalism, too. [...]  
Was it just a slip-up, or has The Journal really come to this?
Thanks for nothing.
[Signed] 

Actors in the Theatre of Crime

In this installment of the E-town Rave History Project, we have taken a tour through some of the first of Edmonton's parties.  We have also met some of the "Actors in the Theatre of Crime" (see Blaming Children by Bernard Schissel (1997)).

In the Edmonton Journal's front page feature on an Edmonton Rave, and this subsequent letter, we have met:
  • Media Consumers (the letter writer);
  • Police (even though they "have never been called out to a noise- or drug-related rave complaint" by the journalist's admission);
  • Moralizers;
  • Experts (police, health officials); and last but not least, 
  • the Folk Devils -- young people, drag queens, drug takers, people who stay out all night -- people who listen to weird music.
We will meet all these actors again -- especially those devils -- over the course of the history of Rave in Edmonton.

Edmonton Journal cover photo, from article "Rave On" (Februry 26, 1993).
The party pictured is "Rise and Shine" (February 19, 1993)
at the venue Nix (10334 - 108 Street).
Source: Cory Payne




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