We'd figured a spontaneous CLP organised with a mere four hours notice would gather no more than a handful of folks who had nothing else planned for their Friday night.

We were wrong.

This shot was taken from the far end of the platform. The whole platform was solid after being nearly empty shortly before. All the gear had arrived and we were ready to go. Oddly, no Circle Line trains had appeared for over fifteen minutes since 20:40. At around 21:00 a District Line train was in the station motionless for a while, as though a fault had appeared. All Circle Line trains posted on the incoming boards were apparently terminating at Mansion House just a few stops up. No-one was sure why, although there was at least an apology...

Finally a Circle Line train appeared and it was boarded. Fully boarded. (Unfortunately a minority seemed to have a common sense failure and started making a noise before the train had even started to move. Come on folks, you know the score.) More unfortunately the train remained in the station and the tannoy announced the station had to be cleared. In hindsight and as you'll see below this was most likely caused by one of the emergency fire point buttons being triggered.

Crowd evacuating station

Over the tannoy the coded "Inspector Sands" message was on loop. This coded message is Tube "secret" message indicating a fire point has been activated and generally results in a station evacuation; more info. We've obtained the audio of this for your listening pleasure. "Inspector Sands, please go to the Operations Room immediately." (WMA format, 50K). If you would like to run some noise processing software on this and encode to mp3/ogg let us know and we'll supply the original.

On ground level outside Victoria exactly what generated the ensuing police deployment isn't clear, quite possibly a standard measure when the alarm is fired (so to speak). Certainly there wasn't any "passenger action" we're aware of. A plan to head to Sloane Sq was formed and a majority of the crowd headed that way. The live band was in full effect and this may've triggered the subsequent round-up by police vans. Meeting some of the folks involved later we heard they were there for quite a while, a few hours. If you know anything about this, or have any media (pics, vid, audio) please let us know.

We're awaiting fuller reports ...

Time: 20:45 (be there before this time!)
Date: Friday, 15th Oct 2004
Venue: Circle Line Eastbound, Victoria station
Dress: Flamenco! If you like... dressing-up encouraged whatever you choose.

Circle Line Party Advice Sheet

When you click "Subscribe" you'll get an email for confirmation. Follow the instructions in it to complete the subscription (basically this involves simply sending a reply with the subject line intact).

If you'd like to pass on this page to your friends, you can use the permanent link http://circlelineparty.org.uk/announce

In last year's Mayday report The Guardian UK featured Circle Line Party II in a decade-long retrospective of anti-capitalist protests. CLP II appeared alongside the G8 summit and WTO "battle in Seattle" protests, not to mention Critical Mass and Reclaim The Streets.

Funnily enough, unlike all the other events mentioned in the article, there's no explanation offered as to in what way CLP is anti-capitalist. Make of that what you will...

As ever, we continue to be excited about folks sending us news about their pics, vids, audio, and donations of quality chocolate :-)

After a false start back in April when the Madrid Bombings occurred CLP3 was postponed 'til the summer. And so... Friday 6^th August 2004. The Circle Line Party, or rather the Circle Line Parties happened!

An incredible night: multiple Circle Line Party trains, an impromptu street carnival in Sloane Square, dozens singing Hokey Cokey in Spitalfields, an outdoor live serenade in Whitechapel, and a whole pile of happy people!

CLP crew

Apparently not though as a Circle Line train rolls up at Farringdon. We all board and start setting up equipment. Most of us had been pretty wired on excitement and adrenaline and this was it - CLP was on!

As we approached Liverpool St we'd had SMS reports of "quite a lot" of people. The doors opened and the train was instantly flooded with Circle Line Partyers. The second-from-back carriage where I was setting up the sound system was rammed with smiling and cheering faces. Almost immediately a tequila bar materialised and the shots were passed out. You guys are heroes!

Cameras everywhere...

Made-to-measure replacement "ads", marshmallows, bubble machines, chocolates, streamers, light gels, tinsel, whisky, ... all freely shared in the hugely inclusive and frenetic atmosphere.

New friends made, commuters joined in, and the occasional beer spilt...

The lights go out...

It's Friday!

Packed train

More revellers

It was pretty clear the train was ridiculously overloaded and we'd have to stop. Sure enough at Sloane Sq (thirteen stops of party action) the train came to an extended halt. Over a period of about ten minutes de-trained and then people of their own accord left the station (not much else to do except cheer at the confused District Liners who passed right through the station).

"What are all those people doing?"

Party passengers crowding Sloane Sq platform

British Transport Police were out in force, many of them amused by what was happening. I spoke to one officer and apparently the entire BTP was deployed to Sloane Sq. Wow.

BTP in Sloane Square

What happened next was truly a victory for London and the free public party scene: hundreds of passengers gathered in the Sloane Square (Ken would surely approve) and, led by the unstoppable Samba Band, partied for hours later. (The police apparently left after about forty minutes satisfied nothing untoward would happen. The half dozen or so BTP I spoke to were very pleasant indeed. I think secretly some of them wished they were off duty...)

Sloane Square parties

A secret mission to back to Liverpool St and then Spitz Bar in Spitalfields Market was on, via the Circle Line of course. A breakaway crew was gathering at Victoria, west-bound. After a couple of stops we gathered our fledging CLP3 v2 into the back carriage. Big thanks to Manic whose Unofficial Circle Line Party Songsheet provided an entertaining experience (more so than the system I was carrying...).

Preparing CLP v2

Party train!

CLP3 v2 in progress

No interruptions and in seemingly no time we were at Liverpool St. On to Spitz bar the party restarted once again. More singing, sharing stories, photos, a fantastic pink wig doing the rounds, climbing around the market and some epic sing-a-longs including dozens doing the Hokey Cokey.

CLP v3 folks arrive at Spitz

Afterparty at Spitalfields

After an hour or so more revellers showed up. Another CLP had just finished! Toward closing time we headed down Brick Lane to the park and camped up there. Some live singing and plenty of DJing into the night. It was still going at 01:00 when most of the core CLP crew left.

Pole Dance Platform in the park

Huge thanks to everyone who came, enjoyed themselves, invited commuters into the party, brought entertainment, shared goodies, had fun, created the love, showed respect, and had an amazing time!

We're all recovering from what was the best CLP ever. Watch this space for reports...

If you're an XHTML/Movable Type/graphics hotshot and fancy having your name in lights we definitely would be delighted to hear from you...

We'd love to link to or even host your photos & movies! Please contact us if you've got any you'd like to share.

Press

We're in the Guardian. Check out the G2 section of 18 March 2003, or read a scan of the article here (173K). W e also have the text of the article on the main Space Hijackers site. This is full of great sound bites, and even positive comments from police and London Transport! May 21 2003, we're in the Guardian "Dance music should go underground" reporting how we won the "going underground" prize in June's Mixmag.

Urban 75 write-up, photos, and insanely positive coments.

What happened...

After receiving over 3,000 hits to the website on the day of the party alone we had no idea what would happen, except that it would be fun. At 19:45 Friday 14 March 2003 a gigantic troupe of folks made their way to Liverpool St and boarded the first available Circle Line train (via Tower Hill). The moment we knew we'd "arrived" was when an announcement was made,

Will the passengers on Platform 1 please make full use of the available area and move up the platform.

We're not entirely sure, but suspect this might've been something to do with 600 people down waiting for the rear carriages...

It wasn't long before the band had warmed up, coloured gels were applied to the lights, the bar was open (entirely passenger provided, of course) and the Circular tunes spinning... The party was in full swing for nearly two full circuits, finally stopping at Moorgate, one stop before our starting point.

Thanks to the Space Hijackers, Robin & Helen, Ricky the DJ, Russ Vandeburg (Pete), Paul, Alex, Saul & Lottie, Stephen, Arthur, Rhythms of Resistance, The Knitters, and all the wonderful people who provided "refreshment", balloons, snacks, encouragement, and especially to those who kindly helped us keep the litter under control.

What an incredible night! There is a Space Hi jackers write-up with photos that's essential viewing.

Photos! Movies!

Thanks to Oskar for his pictures & movies. In particular this shot at Spitz bar gives some idea of the hundreds of people who showed up. Wow..

Marianna has kindly posted these fantastic photos at webshots.com (link dead, but try these, photos 41-58/88). (The camera flashes hide the fact the carriages were bathed in red, orange, pink and purple light from the filters we applied - darker & more atmospheric!).

Even more photos from and narrated by Immo Klink, here. These are fantastic - Thanks!

From Trevor/"3 Second Memory", some fab commented photos including police on the Tube.

Thanks to David Eserin for this excellent video (12MB, AVI format).

Keep 'em coming!

What people said

These comments were collected at random on the night and are flowing in every day over email; if you have any stories (good, bad, or ugly), please drop us a line! In particular, if you have any photos, video, or other media we're happy to either link to it or host it.

just about the best thing i have ever experienced in my entire life. my cheeks were as red as my fez by the end of it.
-- Rufus O'Rourke

Apart from being the best value Travelcard I've ever purchased, I felt the whole atmosphere of the tube was changed for the better. In our carriage we had a limbo competition and *almost* managed a complete mexican wave to bemused people waiting on the opposite platform (if there's video footage of any of this I'd love to see it). My only regret is that I got off after the first lap! A huge thank-you to all involved - let's make the next one even better.
-- Mike Cupcake

The Circle Line Party was without doubt the most enjoyable and uplifting public event I have ever - ever - attended (this includes the million-strong march in London and the Olympic bid announcement in Sydney). SpaceHijackers are masters of the urban art field, and have created something truly remarkable - not only in concept, but in execution.
My hat goes off to you.
-- Manic

Just wanted to say last night was f--king awesome. Will never look at a tube carriage the same way again. The ride home on the district line last night, after all that high, incessant energy, was, in a word, vacuous. Who needs drugs?

Well the f*ck done. It so completely and utterly WORKED!
-- Sean

Awesome! Best tube journey ever! Thanks Robin & co!
-- Guy T.

That was really fantastic! Cheers!
-- Giovanni

Robin, Helen, and SH Crew,
You are our heroes! That was the dogs'!
Love

The best way I ever earned a hangover, Thanks to every one. The driver of the train afterwards thanked us for collecting the rubbish :-)
-- TheReverendRat

The atmosphere was fantastic, the idea revolutionary. I will never forget the journey, the experience and the faces of the wonderful people I met that night. It was truly an amazing ride...
-- David

On Friday night, I boarded a London Underground train. I saw a grown man's genitals and a pair of the biggest tits I've seen in my life. What a fantastic night!
Thankyou so much.
-- Pierced Brosnan

Public Transport isn't the problem - It's the public's responsibility to create the good time. Good times people! Good times...
-- anon

There needed to be more naked men (Er, one was probably enough -- Ed.)
-- Denise

The Circle Line Party was an urban myth come true.
-- Sebastian

It was great, no-one, police, LT, ever f*cked with us.
-- anon

thank you for an amazing night!
-- Oskar

Each train had a different atmosphere.
-- anon

At the end of the party, one party-goer mentioned,

We spoke to police officers at Moorgate, and they were amazed. The organisers had laid on a full clean-up crew.
-- Alex

Amazing. Commuters just joined in, and loved it.
-- anon

Wicked!
-- anon

Should happen every week!
-- Jeanette

STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE ADVICE

• DO NOT SMOKE, it sets off the alarms and stops the party.
• London Underground do not allow flash photography, and there will be a video made, we do not need 300 cameras documenting everything, if in doubt, leave yours at home. Come to party, not to make your journalistic career.
• Clean up after yourself, if you bring something, take it home. We are trying to show how wonderful the world can be, not how messy and careless we are.
• We fill the train from the back carriages, THE FRONT CARRIAGE IS LEFT EMPTY so that the driver doesn.t hear the noise and passengers have a peaceful place if they wish. If the train is packed out DON.T GET ON THE FRONT CARRIAGE, there will be another party on the next train, wait on the platform quietly and fill the next one from the back.
• The party happens in the tunnels, IF WE ARE IN A STATION, OR ON A PLATFORM WE ARE SILENT AND LOOKING INNOCENT, if we are in a tunnel we are discotastic.
• Use your head, we are not going to be held responsible for you, and we are not going to be your parents, nor are we going to be the police. If you see someone doing something stupid or dangerous tell them to stop, they are ruining your party. If you are doing something stupid or dangerous, then stop. Don't block the fire exits, use your brains. Look out for each other, help each other out and have the nicest night of your life.

Check out even more Circle Line Party Info on the main Space Hijackers site, and this superb Circle Line Party Guide by Muti.