Riding the El train will never be the same. With 18 DJs spinning on six different El train cars (with three DJs rotating on each car), Motionness was the first event of its kind in the States.
The event was organized by the Conjugate Projekt, a non-profit group of Chicago-based artists and professionals who, through their events, encourage people to think differently about the way they consume art, music and media. The group rented a six-car train from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) for about $2,400 and then decorated the El cars, dimmed the lights, and projected videos and visuals onto screens for the party.
The event, which kicked off about 9 p.m. and ended shortly after 1 a.m., aimed to promote literacy and to highlight electronic music in a unique environment. DJs, organizers, and video and visual artists donated their time to Motionness, and train-goers were asked to bring books to donate to the Duncan YMCA Chernin Center for the Arts. Organizers of the event also tried to show the city and mainstream media that dance music enthusiasts can party responsibly. The party train rode the El tracks about a year after Chicago politicians passed an anti-rave ordinance.
Before boarding the party train, partygoers traded tokens for blue glow-stick bracelets at the Division station on the Blue Line. (The departure location was announced that day, and tokens were $30-$35 at a checkpoint.) Then a train horn toot-tooted in a fun, loud way, and screams instantly filled the air of the underground station with the same kind of excitement that one screams in anticipation of hearing one's favorite DJ. As the train rolled closer to us, we heard the bass thumping, and I felt many goose bumps.
With funky decorations, videos and visuals (provided by OVT Visualz, Mike Bancroft and others), it did not look like an ordinary El train. Inside one car, the ceiling was coated with shiny foil and the windows were covered with clear and black plastic.
The 300 people who made it on board made creative use of the space. Some used the seats as platforms to dance on or sit on while others danced in the aisles. When the train passed an El platform where regular passengers were waiting, partygoers screamed from inside the cars to get their attention—and it worked.
Hearing Gabriel Palomo's funky grooves, satisfyingly hard, driving techno beats and tribal rhythms all blended in a smooth, sweet way, getting the party jumping. Josh Werner also played some delightfully dirty, buzzing electro and crunchy techno on the same train car. DJs Tommie Sunshine and Flip also provided energizing electro and techno, and Jes, Lady D and Ares played soulful, banging house music.
Many folks had wondered if the record needles would skip on the train, but records sounded surprisingly smooth, and the train didn't travel more slowly than normal either. The needles skipped some but not a lot, and when they did skip, it felt like small, spontaneous breakdowns in the music.
The train traveled around the city, riding through the Loop, by the Merchandise Mart, past the United Center, up through Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville, and further north through Uptown, Little Vietnam, Edgewater and Rogers Park. The train also went through the South Side, where the tracks run parallel to the highway. At one point a driver in a Jeep Cherokee looked to the train on his left and, apparently floored at the sight of screaming, dancing people, crashed into the car ahead of him.
Other folks' reactions to us varied. During one of our two rest stops, a cheerfully intoxicated man on the Addison El platform on the Red Line asked me, "Is this the circus train?" No, it's the party train, I told him. Also, some frowny men in button-up shirts and khakis looked confused when they saw us pass a downtown El platform, but a well-muscled man in a blue Adidas cap turned around and grinned at us from the Belmont El platform on the Red Line, looking jealous that he wasn't riding with us.
Anyone can throw a party, but few push the creative limits of music, art, public transportation and party organization like the Conjugate Project did.