America is at the brink: with the totally unashamed and widespread rise of fascism, wanton and dangerous consolidation of power by a hateful administration, a largely uncontained, deadly pandemic that has claimed over 228,000 Americans’ lives, concurrent record economic distress with little to no support to keep event spaces afloat, unrelenting conflagrations and hurricanes stoked by environmental recklessness, and massive, vital upheaval in response to pervasive, violent anti-Blackness in this country, this election represents a political tipping point.
The current administration’s persistent and relentless cruelty and its violently divisive rhetoric are entirely repugnant to our personal values, and wholly antithetical to what we view as the true ideals of the rave underground: community and togetherness through inclusive communal celebration, queerness, radical freedom, mutually empowering actions, visions, and experiences, total bodily autonomy, transformative love, attentiveness and care.
The rave has always been political, transformative, and liberating - it has always been so much more than “just about the music.” House music is born from queer POC celebrations, and techno stems from Black musical innovation and Afrofuturism. While the music has sprawled and evolved, the rave has always stood for freedom, inclusion, and transformative celebration.
We believe that dancefloors can engender care and compassion - especially the tender underground dancefloors we build together and eke out against the odds. We believe you are caring and community-oriented people. We want you to put some of that energy towards a simple and necessary civic action: VOTE!
Read more in the link in the bio.
SEQUENCE was born in the mid-August swelter 4 years ago. 3 times, we’ve celebrated the anniversary of something transformative and special. 3 times we’ve had the opportunity to take stock of another year of amazing community, incredible talent and music, bleary sunrise memories, and new frontiers.
Most SEQUENCE anniversaries have fallen during intense moments in American history: The very first SEQUENCE, Year 0, was emotional and fraught, as we were hosting a rave at a gay leather club - just several short, agonizing weeks after the horrifying Pulse shooting. The thoughts of the lives lost at a safe place of celebration and expressive freedom hung heavily over us. Year 2 had us hosting the steamiest-ever warehouse rave on the weekend of a hateful white nationalist march on DC leaving event staff and security on the edge. We mark Year 4 during a pandemic of a new, weird, deadly virus during an already unhinged, exciting, and confusing year - a particularly strange year for Washington, DC’s tear-gassed city streets.
These moments weigh on every event, and bite hard as we contemplate how to celebrate our own treasured experiences and spaces. This year was a challenge for not just SEQUENCE, but for the nightlife ecosystem the world-over.
There’s a lot to process these days. We watched the party come to a sudden stop, leaving us with an uncertain future. As the world sits on pause, a trickle down effect starves our venues and everything within. The news of The DC Eagle closing has us reminiscing of the good old days, our humble beginnings. A community that we miss dearly was born out of that basement dungeon. Much thanks to the Eagle for making our vision come true and much love to @strikestone and @_stickyfingerscollective for connecting us.
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2018, without a doubt a year filled with many surprises, ambitions, and challenges. In ten parties, SEQUENCE crested nearly all facets of underground techno from some of the biggest and brightest stars in the business. Despite the twist and turns, we still stand and we thank you all for the support we've had. We would like to take this time to reflect and we ask you, what were some of your memorable moments at SEQUENCE?
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking part of this journey and being open to the experience. We’re still incredibly moved from what transpired last Saturday. To everyone that worked and volunteered their time to make this event special, we are forever grateful for your contribution. SEQUENCE will always be a party by people of the dancefloor.
Art Credit: Stephen Michael McDowell (@btrcp )
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