RAVERS SING THE BLUES AT CITY HALL

It was unofficial Youth Day at City Hall yesterday as a crew of tattooed
teens and twentysomethings descended on the glass pyramids en masse.

They were there to defend their right to rave by fighting to keep the
status quo of all-night dance clubs in the downtown.

And you know what? The kids are all right. Their arguments made more sense
than most of the ones I've heard on any topic from our gaggle of
grey-haired councillors.

The issue in a nutshell: Downtown residents have been blaming a couple of
all-night dance clubs for excessive noise, fighting, graffiti and other
problems. Bureaucrats and politicians, including the mayor, have said it
might make sense to amend the city's rave bylaw so clubs would operate from
midnight until 3 a.m. instead of from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. as is the case now.

Recently Mayor Bill Smith supported earlier closures, quipping: "People say
nothing good happens ... after 12 o'clock."

Pro-rave proponent Marcus Gurske told council's executive committee
yesterday that closing clubs at 3 a.m. is an affront to people's "freedom
of choice."

Gurske contended it is unfair to blame dance clubs for being "the root of
all evil" when the downtown area has problems with vandalism and homeless
people.

Besides, forcing a 3 a.m. closing is "social engineering," he charged.

Robert Clarke, who owns a company supplying sound equipment, music and more
for dance clubs, told councillors that "closing of the after-hours clubs is
something that will seriously impact my business."

He said over-regulation has already forced two of his competitors out of
business.

Club DJ Dave Johnston said concern over late-night dance clubs is nothing new.

Johnston said there was plenty of hand-wringing over a certain underground
type of music in the 1920s, too. "It was condemned by the establishment as
a corrupting influence on the young," said Johnston.

"Today we know that sound as jazz - one of the most beloved genres which we
celebrate annually with Jazz City," he said.

"We cannot and should not take away an adult's freedom to choose what they
do with their time.

"We cannot legislate culture because then we have to ask, 'Where does it stop?'

"Dance music isn't for everybody - but then neither is jazz."

Dance club administrator Oliver Friedman said 3 a.m. closings would
bankrupt his business.

"The state has no place in the bed time of the nation, "said Friedman,
offering a twist on the words of Pierre Trudeau.

Friedman claimed it is a "sweeping generalization that petty crime downtown
is due to the presence of the clubs."

He argued it's a flawed "view of policing that believes shutting down a
couple of clubs is going to make the methamphetamine problem in Edmonton go
away.

"These are enforcement issues. If people vandalize businesses you catch
them and charge them. Put more cops in uniform and on the street and spend
less money on helicopters."

The list of good arguments opposing a crackdown on dance clubs seemed to
even have Smith singing a different tune.

Smith admitted that he no longer thinks a 3 a.m. closing time will solve
problems, since many of the complaints stem from activity "generated ...
from outside of the clubs."

The dance debate continues when it goes in front of councillors again March 17.