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- channel23 Time 2008-05-29 18:42
- Channel 23 feb 3rd 2007 Coward st MascotSydney's free party scene is experiencing a wonderful upward spiral of growth at the moment. As people's party radars search below the surface of what's going an irresistible blip appears on their screen as they here on the grapevine that another fantastic and magical event is unfolding in their city. The beauty of these events is that they are decentral, they show lateral community organization and do not reflect the tired hierarchy of modern social organization.The magic of channel 23 transformed an abandoned industrial lot into a colourful wonderland. Six sound systems filled the giant concrete rectangle the sounds clashing and rebounding off the surrounding buildings ,lasers cut through the rising dust ,huge video projections coloured in the walls of surrounding warehouses as hoards of Sydney party people flowed through the gates to join in the revelry and got down for some serious boogie action. You could see the wonder in peoples eyes, a very young crowd turned out to join in and experience the mad and diverse sounds from banging drum and bass to live experimental bands, Baille funk, Dancehall, minimal techno breaks and glitched out hardcore.The full moon shone down as the spontaneous festival bubbled up in Coward street Mascot. It was inevitable that the police would find the event, I think at about 2am. In the past at these events they have allowed the event to run its course for the safety of the people attending but tonight they were determined to shut it down and send the hundreds of people out into the street where their was no public transport for hours. A Mexican stand off occurred for three hours at the front gate where hundreds of people were prevented from coming in. Many folk jumped the fence or found alternative routes into the party through neighbouring properties. But finally at five in the morning the riot troops arrived, the gatecrashers from hell came in and violently stopped the gig shutting down generators and forming lines to heard people out, they attacked punters but arrested few and when most of the masses where outside in the street they allowed the sound systems to leave the area unchecked.My arms still bare deep scratches from the police when the lady who seemed to be in charge set two of her officers on me, for daring to question their operation. I slipped out of their grip and deployed some old rugby tactics to get away, others weren't so lucky and received beatings outside the party away from people's cameras. Earlier one policeman tried to grab my camera damaging it slightly. I know their job is not always easy but this kind of behaviour does nothing but reduce any respect people have for them. I know these parties have in the recent past had good dealings and negotiations with the police so I don't know why this time they came down so hard. The police turned up and misread the crowd seeing them as aggressive when they were full of free party kindness and goodwill. Ok they were defiant and fully questioned authority but it was the police that dumbly brought violence into the equation. Even with this unfortunate end to Channel 23 it still feels like it was a classic and awesome event and will go down as one of the best co creations Sydney town has seen.
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