Andrea Langlois et al - Islands of Resistance - Pirate Radio in Canada

14 • islands of resistance
detail in their chapters. Kathy Kennedy (Chapter 16), for example, uses
low-power radio to create concerts within public spaces or treasure
hunts which are not about tuning in from home, but instead about
how pirate radio can operate inclusively to allow audience participation
and so transform the concept of performance accordingly.
Another possibility for artistic uses of pirate radio involves what
some call “radio parties” or “festivals” in which the broadcast is conducted
within a convivial atmosphere. Such parties can be political
gatherings of large numbers of people aimed at occupying public space
to create temporary autonomous zones similar to those events manifested
by Reclaim the Streets, or they can involve more intimate and
less overtly politicized settings. An example of the latter is illustrated
by Anna Friz’s Radio Free Parkdale (Chapter 13) events in Toronto.
In these situations, she and her housemates held radio parties during
which people could listen from home, or come to the party in person
to participate in radio plays. In essence, then, one has the choice of listening
or getting behind the microphone. Relying primarily on word
of mouth within the neighbourhood to announce these upcoming
gatherings, these radio parties — like the larger Temporary Autonomous
Radio (TAR) music festivals described by Marian van der Zon
(Chapter 9) or the smaller events hosted by Stephen Kelly and Eleanor
King of Radio Ballroom Halifax (Chapter 15) — are more about the
event itself and participation than about directly challenging access
to public space or being concerned with the range of transmission and
how many people might be listening at any given time.
When such parties take place in public spaces, transmitters and portable
radios replace sound systems. Using such a do-it-yourself (DIY)
approach, in August 2008, a Montreal group called the Pirates of the
Lachine Canal threw a party where a 1-watt FM transmitter with a
range of 100 feet was used to create a low-cost community event that
could be easily moved if the police showed up. It did not require a large
sound generator because the deejays plugged portable music devices
into the transmitter’s console and party-goers brought their own
boom boxes. When Parks officials tried to shut down this self-organized
block party because the Pirates did not have the permit required
to hold a barbecue along the Lachine Canal, a local independent brewery
loaned them their lawn and the party continued. 17 The officials
made no mention of the illegality of the broadcast.