Music, Dancing, DJing, Lighting, World Class Sound Systems, Large Dance Floors
I'd like to meet:
Clubbers, Ravers, Party People, Dancers, Breakdancers, Show Girls, Models, Artists, Producers, Designers, Entertainment Industry Patrons, Performers
Music:
House, Breaks, Trance, Techno, Hardcore, Happy Hardcore, Scouse, Hip Hop, EDM
Movies:
THE STORY :
Space nightclub (aka Motion) opened it’s doors in late 1998 and took the city by storm as the leading underground electronic dance music club venue. In just the matter of a few months, space was making a name for itself as the premiere nightclub to see the world’s leading DJ’s on a regular weekly basis. As a dark and gloomy venue with co-ed bathrooms, juice bars and glowstick concession stands, space quickly became deemed the epitome of rave culture in philadelphia and rushed in a new surge of music styles never before to be heard in the city.
The club brought years of underground rave elements to the forefront of the culture and started it’s journey on popularizing the formats. With sound and lightshows bouncing their spectrums of frequencies off the old warehouse walls and 40 foot ceilings, the relentless barrage of DJ’s began pulling in massive amounts of patrons on a weekly basis to experience the new hype. Ravers and party kids from around the east coast crammed in by the thousands. The walls would literally begin to sweat in the un-airconditioned musical melting pot of patrons.
Glowsticks, baggy pants, baby tees, breakdancers, liquid poppers, fire breathers, stilt walkers, freaks, fetish lovers, light toys, binkies, dust masks, and tons of other paraphenalia would cram the space over and over making the club synonomous with the budding rave culture. The club began getting attention from all the major promoters and magazines which dealt with the EDM community and Space would soon become a breaking grounds for new talents and other international talents not yet known to Philadelphia. It spawned some of phillies finest DJ’s and MC’s who still to date are playing nationally as well as around the globe.
It was the ravers stomping ground and the DJ’s dream venue to break into the culture and try to make a difference in the music world. As the hype increased, so did the attention within the media. Before long, the high profile mixed with the governments national crack down on rave culture caused stirs of negativity to fall on the venue. A barrage of shut downs, federal raids and news interviews quickly put the club on the spot as the center of attention as being the place to get your substances and visual stimulations for the evening. The local law enforcement had their eye on the venue and Space slowly disentegrated while at the same time, becoming even more popular because of the overbearing amount of attention it was receiving.
To beat the negative energy that was being bombarded towards the venue, Space employeed new managers and staff members and increased the popularity of the talent that was being brought in. Bigger parties and better atmospheres began to develope. By mid second year, Space not only held it’s reputation as described, but it also became a second home for hundreds of locals. The staff and patrons all knew one another and developed relationships from friends to marriages. People considered it a club that had the best music, the finest talents, and the most laid back befriending atmosphere that a club could possibly have.
Everyone literally knew each other and openenly welcomed newcomers each night. hundreds of patrons each week found a new love for a culture that many never new exsisted while others brought that culture to life. Space was like a world within itself with almost a cult like following. Never had there been anything like it in Philadelphia club life. Along side the glamour and energy the club had brought, it had its drama as well. Deceipt, corruption, trickery and politics all played a roll in the overall fall of the name Space Co. The club, it’s owners and the patrons were so much as one, that internal issues were enough to stem out to the family of faithful followers and cause key members to leave the club and cause bans and boycotts among many of the patrons.
Eventually, things would neutralize and the balance would return, but the culture was on a downfall which was not quite realized at the time and would not be completely inflicted for another 2 years. The internal conflictions and corruptted workings led to the closing of Spaces’ doors in mid 2000. From then, a few months would pass until the venue was painted, revamped, cleaned out and rebuilt with a new world class dj booth and sound system. This newly done venue would come back strong under the new name of Motion. The image of the club was cleaned up as well as the internal problems and substance abuse issues. It was the spawn of a new musical enviroment with the attendance of the now deceased Space Co. and the addtion of a new breed of ravers. The talent brought to the club grew yet larger in notariety as the culture had become more commercialized.
In turn , dj’s fees went up and attendance inevitably went down as the appeal of the undergound disenegrated. With political watchdogs on the prowel and the rave culture fad starting to subsidize, the new venue could not stand its ground and live up to what was once considered the most outrageously exciting venue in the city. Most people continued to call the venue "Space" and ignored the new title of Motion. To most, Space was the place. Motion held many events that rivaled those of Space and the sound and lighting was not even in the same class (being 10 times better). Allthough it stayed with us until mid 2002, by the time the culture truly vanished as a viable market, the patrons were still remembering the days of Space. Many have said that those years were the best days of their lives and would relive it in a heartbeat if they got the chance. The good times, the bad times, days of inspiration and hope along with new friendships and career beginnings for many of those now working the industry. So much to look back upon and now a real chance to do it!
Space was the place and it’s coming back for one final night. Wether you were an original patron or you only heard of the legend, now is your chance to experiece the music again! Original tracks by the original DJ’s! UNITE ONCE MORE!
Heroes:
The Space (aka Motion) Nightclub Resident DJ's, MC's and patrons
