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“DANCE MUSIC HAS BECOME TEDIOUS AND DILUTED,” CLAIMS BLOC FOUNDER

Blames dance music’s demise on “spineless” hipsters...

One week on from his final rave, Bloc co-founder George Hull had some choice words for the “spineless” hipsters who he blames for the demise of dance music's rebellious streak because they are "too safe and boring".

Clearly running Bloc has taken its toll on the George Hull as the festival founder launched into a colourful tirade  in the Spectator of all places  taking aim at his own customers before he presumably sails off into the sunset with a stack of cash and one hell of an apocalyptic come down.

“Rave, like all youth movements, was meant to be about freedom, rebellion and pissing off your parents,” explained Hull. “Instead we have hipsters — a subculture so spineless that it had to borrow its name from its parents. They like dance music, but they lack the sense of abandon that made raving so much fun.”

Hull takes issue with “wimpy pseudo-hedonists” who are “too safe and boring,” before regaling about a time when raves were “supposed to feel like a distinctly unsafe space.” This from a man who ran a rave in a low-rent holiday camp with more health and safety rules than a council office. 

Interestingly, there is life after Bloc, some of the organisers are opening a “super club” alongside low-cost studio spaces in Hackney Wick — though after Hull's outspoken comments we suspect they will be facing an up-hill struggle getting dance music fans back on side. 

“We want to develop this community and the venue at the heart of it,” explained Bloc co-founder Alex Benson to RA. “It will, like the current venue, be called Bloc. And it will be surrounded by music studios which won’t cost the earth to rent and aren’t about to be sold, knocked down or redeveloped.”

It sounds as if jaded George won't be part of it given his final parting shot in his Spectator piece: “Under the hipsters’ watch, dance music has become tedious and diluted. A monstrous cabal of overpaid circuit DJs titillating a precious and unimaginative bunch of wimpy pseudo-hedonists at a carefully designed ‘safe space’. In broad daylight. If that’s your idea of raving, you can keep it. I’m out.”

Update: Bloc has taken to twitter to distance themselves from Hull's comments, Bloc said: “Bloc is a collective. One guy from it wrote an article, and that doesn’t represent Bloc.

“Bloc extends a welcoming vibe to every single person who comes together to share in the experience. The vibe at every single rave, big or small, for the past ten years is testament to that. The kind of people who choose to go is testament to that.

“We were blown away by the crowd at this year’s weekender and want to sincerely thank you all."