In this FACT Original Production we get exclusive access to Glastonbury Festival’s Block9, a clubbing utopia with its roots in rave and queer culture.
Glastonbury Festival isn’t just a performing arts event – it’s a temporary city. The headline performances broadcast across the world are just the tip of the iceberg: over 200,000 people pack into the 900-acre site to enjoy five days of music and art across over 100 stages and hidden areas, some of which only come to life when the Pyramid Stage goes quiet.
Tucked away in the south-east corner of the site is one of the most beloved parts of this hidden Glastonbury experience: Block9, a place where art, music, theatre and politics meet and temporary alternative realities are created.
Last year, FACT was given exclusive access to Block9 for the duration of the 2019 festival. Block9: Temporary Alternative Realities, a film by Pedro Küster, goes behind the scenes to tell its story through the eyes of its creators, artists and audience, offering even its most dedicated fans a fresh perspective on one of the UK’s most visionary dance music experiences.
The idea for Block9 came about back in 2007, when two friends Gideon Berger and Stephen Gallagher were given £2,000 to create a space at the festival called the NYC Downlow. Despite operating on a shoestring budget, a community of likeminded friends contributed their time and resources to create a queer clubbing utopia inspired by New York’s early house scene.
Since then, their area at the festival has expanded to include an immersive 3D surround sound arena called IICON, and Genosys, a stage with its roots in the free party scene of the 1980s that celebrates acid house’s analogue squelch and rave music’s enduring legacy.
Block9’s spaces offer more than just music – for some people they provide representation and a sense of belonging that isn’t so easy to find outside the festival gates. “[It’s] one of the most pivotal places for me becoming comfortable as a gay man and finding my people,” DJ and producer Midland says of NYC Downlow. “There’s this funny kind of power shift when you’re in there. For once straight people aren’t the majority and it’s kind of like our space.”
“Queer culture, gay culture is a massive part of the DNA structure of house music, so that’s what happens if you put on the right music,” Berger says of the space, which is a favourite of artists such as The Black Madonna and Jonny Woo. “You make that music available to the people that it belongs to then amazing stuff happens.”
Block9’s IICON stage is a different proposition from NYC Downlow’s warehouse-inspired space. Here, acts like Moor Mother and Hessle Audio play in front of a sculpture of a giant head, brought to life with projected visuals and lasers that take inspiration from questions around power, technology and humanity in the digital age.
“A large part of my work is building installations that I perform inside,” says Philadelphia’s Moor Mother, “so it’s very important for these themes to be matching each other, for these themes to move outside of something that’s corporate sponsored branding behind you to an element where you can take your performance to the next level.”
The 55-foot structure that towers over the Genosys stage blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, provoking discussion around the climate crisis. Short for ‘Generated Oxygen System’, it takes the form of a forgotten industrial ‘tree’ designed to restore oxygen to a poisoned planet, generated by plants inside the structure.
“Block9 and the NYC Downlow were founded by a group of likeminded people wanting to create something from nothing, and I think that ethos has continued throughout the years,” Berger says. “We have a lot of good people working with us and everything we do is a team effort.”
This week, Block9 is celebrating the Glastonbury weekend that would have been with an online series covering photography, film and music, including a live stream on Saturday, June 27 from 9pm BST, featuring sets from Norman Jay MBE, Heidi, DJ Paulette and Batu representing each of the four Block9 venues.
Block9 will be using the stream as an opportunity to raise money for The Downlow Radio, its charitable not-for-profit, which has donated over £80k to good causes in the past decade. Profits go to Runnymede Trust, the UK’s leading independent race equality thinktank and the MSF (Doctors Without Borders) COVID-19 crisis appeal supporting countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean and Europe. You can donate at GoFundMe and watch the stream at YouTube.
A film by Pedro S. Küster
Executive Producers:
Anoushka Seigler
Mark Wadhwa
Tim Robinson
Camera Operators:
Pedro S. Küster
Tom Kilburn
Extra Camera:
Pawel Ptak
Sound Recordist:
Cam Deaskey
Contributors:
Gideon Berger
Stephen Gallagher
Jonny Woo
Harry Agius/Midland
Marea Stamper/The Black Madonna
Camae Ayewa/Moor Mother
Hannah Holland
Felix Dickinson
Live performances in chronological order:
Gideon Berger
Suppositori Spelling – ‘anteater’
NYC Downlow does Janet Jackson
Phuture live at Block9 2015 (RIP DJ Spank Spank)
Hessle Audio
Moor Mother
IICON AV:3D world premiere
Larry Heard ft. Fatima & Paul Cut
Archive & extra footage:
Block9 Archive
Sofia Olins
Lost In Vagueness
Dartmouth Films
The New Age Traveller Movement
BBC Motion Gallery
Marcus Kanter
Tom Deacon
Lisa Mills
Photography:
Martin Perry
Peter Podworski
Kamil Kustosz
Matthew Walter
Nick Serpell Rand
Co Broerse
Francois Lochon/Gamma-Rapho
David Levene
Denholm Hewlett
Ben Bentley
Joshua Mellin
Sam Neil
Tim Prendergast
David Dettmann
Special thanks to:
All at Block9 & Glastonbury Festival who helped make this film possible
The Vinyl Factory
Anoushka Seigler
Mark Wadhwa
Tim Robinson
Gideon Berger
Stephen Gallagher
Michael & Emily Eavis
Chris Tofu
Caroline Abbas
Poppy Corbet Curcher
Mark Cranwell
Andrew Stevens
Margy Clark
Alexa Pearson
Paul Williams White
Garfield Hackett
Music:
Da Thing (Original mix)
Andre Salmon
Published by Sagmen
Courtesy of Andre Salmon
Freakin’ Time (+ Freak-a-pella)
Freakenstein
Published by Hearlucinate
Courtesy of Freakenstein
What Have You Done For Me Lately
Janet Jackson
Published by A&M Records
Courtesy of A&M Records
Alright This Morning (Original Mix)
The Black Madonna
Published by Home Taping is Killing Music
Courtesy of The Black Madonna
Phuture Jacks
Phuture
Published by Trax Records
Courtesy of DJ Pierre
Burning Flame (original mix)
Felix Dickinson & Kyle Chandler
Published by Futureboogie Recordings
Courtesy of Felix Dickinson
Helps Your Two Hips Move
Anz
Published by Invitation 2 Dance
Courtesy of Invitation to Dance
Muhammad Ali remix ft. Lioness
(Prod By Scratchclart)
Lady Lykez
Published by Hyperdub
Courtesy of Hyperdub
Matter of Time
Moor Mother x Mental Jewelry
Published by Don Giovanni Records
Courtesy of Moor Mother
Quartet for the End of Time
Olivier Messiaen
Artist (Joyce Munis remix)
Hannah Holland
Published by Batty Bass
Courtesy of Hannah Holland
Tru
Laurel Halo & Hodge
Published by Livity Sound
Courtesy of Livity Sound
Drumtrak
Midland
Published by Graded Records
Courtesy of Midland
Jerusalem is a Mountain
The Black Madonna & Wassim Qassis
Published by Block9
Courtesy of Block9
The Sun Can’t Compare
Larry Heard presents Mr White
Published by Alleviated Records
Courtesy of Alleviated Records
Watch next: Pedro Maia on creating ‘live cinema’ for music from analogue film
