THE PILL

Ten years, mate

By LUKE O’NEIL

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"I was a spectator long before I got involved with it," says promoter Michael Marotta of The Pill, the long-running indie dance night set to celebrate its 10th anniversary this week. "Around 2000, I used to take too many E's and dance to Pulp and Suede, and there was never anywhere else I wanted to be. It was in the old Upstairs Lounge in North Station, and everyone was underage, it seemed. It held about 120 people, which was great. Only the right people were there."

"This was before mass internet promotion, so it had a great word-of-mouth vibe. There were no ads in the paper, no websites, nothing. Just Ken [Powers] and Jen [Sullivan] DJing Brit-pop and '60s every Friday, and it took off from there, and a subculture was formed."

It was three years earlier that Powers got things rolling. There weren't many mod or Brit-pop nights to go to at the time, the DJ remembers. But an extremely dedicated following developed quickly. "The people who came took it seriously. Plenty of pretentious people, boys in tight-fitting suits and girls in fancy skirts with bobbed haircuts. It was wonderful to see," Powers says. "They danced their legs to the knees that [first] night, so I felt as if Jennifer and I were on to something and we had done our job." He probably didn't realize at the time it was a job he'd still have a decade later.

Over time, the night has bounced around between a few different locations, but it's now entrenched firmly at Great Scott in Allston. GS booker Carl Lavin says his only regret is that he missed out on the night's first two years. "Without a trace of hyperbole I can say that The Pill changed the direction of my life, and I'll always be beholden and grateful to the night and the people involved because of it."

But this was just a bunch of kids dancing to rock songs? What's the big deal? "The Upstairs Lounge was a destination," explains Lavin. "It was gritty and it felt like a secret clubhouse." Powers concurs: "The Upstairs Lounge was by far the one that brings the most nostalgia to me. Now and again, I'll meet someone who says they started going to The Pill when it was there. It was a dodgy location in North Station. Not dangerous, except for when meatheads from the Harp would pick fights with skinny mod kids. The vibe inside was very much a speakeasy. You had to be knowledgeable about the music. I could play B-sides of certain bands, and it would pack the floor. Long before the internet made it easy to get music for free, these kids were buying import CD singles at $10 a pop then. It was lovely."

He's right. And I know, because I was one of those kids standing in the "queue" in my "trainers" and tight "trousers," getting myself psyched up to dance to the Stone Roses again and again while smoking an artfully dangled "fag." There was indeed a certain insiders' mentality to the Pill, even though it was open to anyone who simply wanted to drink beer, dance and sweat with a hundred or so other Anglophiles (which, when I put it that way, sounds a little scary). Still, the appeal was -- and remains -- evident.

"Ultimately, there are always going to be people who like to dance to songs that have guitars," says Lavin. "I think the fact that it's never become campy or shifted its focus based on trends and stayed true to what it's always been has kept it endearingly enduring for a lot of people. It's certainly a niche, and it's not for everybody. But the people who like it love it, and that's what's most important, and I think everyone involved over the years has understood that."

"In the beginning, The Pill was where you went to hear UK indie and Brit-pop," explains Marotta. "Radio in 1997 to 2000 was terrible. People forget that Creed and Limp Bizkit dominated music before The Strokes came along and indie culture exploded into the mainstream. Now, while you can hear The Killers on WFNX, you still don't hear electro stuff like BM Linx, The Knife or Justice. Shit, you don't even hear UK shit like The Cribs, The Wombats or even Hard-Fi. So really, people come because of the music. The too-cool-for-school kids always said we were lame, and the uncool kids called us hipsters. The Pill always fell somewhere in between. It survived seven years in the trendiest decade of all time simply because the music is unlike anywhere else. There's no kitsch, no Guns N' Roses, no ironic bullshit. Just a straight-up UK-themed dance party. I think people appreciate that."

And hopefully, they always will. In fact, it's likely that I'll be writing another piece like this from the Dig's office on the moon another 10 years from now. Powers and Marotta aren't so sure they'll be around to celebrate, though. Marotta says he'll be "celebrating the 10th anniversary of [his] death." Where will Powers be? "In a pine box?" He adds, "If people keep coming, I'll keep doing The Pill. It's my pride and joy, so if it lasts for 10 more years, then cue up 'Live Forever' and have a drink with me."

THE PILL'S 10TH ANNIVERSARY

FRIDAY, 10.5.07

GREAT SCOTT

1222 COMM. AVE., ALLSTON

617.566.9014

8PM/21+/$10

GREATSCOTTBOSTON.COM

THEPILLBOSTON.COM