Come Together

For 10 years (or so), The Gathering has united more than hip-hop's four elements — it's united a scene.


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Published: Sep 19, 2007

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School night or not, there's inevitably a throng of largely under-21 bodies packed, sweat-drenched, into the Rotunda on the last Thursday of each month, surrounding the weightlessly gyrating b-boys and b-girls in the center of the room. DJs propel the momentum from the stage while novice MCs steel their nerves for the open mic, and notebook-clutching writers transfer their newest designs to the graffiti wall.

Officially, the Gathering runs from 10 p.m. till 2 a.m. But when I show up half an hour early for August's event, music is already pumping and a small crowd has gathered around a few breakers already trying out their moves. By the actual start time, DJs PhSh and Luke Raws spin for a room thronged with a surprisingly diverse crowd.

According to Gina Renzi, executive director of the Rotunda, the crowds actually start showing up as early as 8 p.m. each month, and as the equipment is set up (some of the early arrivals get roped into assisting), the show just seems to happen. "It starts organically," she says. "Eventually it gets more formal, but it always stays pretty casual."

That also sums up the history of the Gathering as a whole. Now having run for roughly a decade (dates get fuzzy when it comes to the early years), the Gathering is the longest-running hip-hop event in Philly, and one of few that unites all of the community's elements. DJs spin all night while the b-boys and b-girls dance on the floor, there's an open mic for MCs and a tag wall for graffiti writers.

The Gathering's beginnings have faded into the mists of time, but general consensus has it that sometime between 1995 and 1997, a few Penn students began an informal series of small-g gatherings in a house or dorm on or near the campus.

I-Be4evr, the current organizer and host of the event, says that by the time he became involved in 2001 or '02, the Gathering's origins had already passed into the realm of conflicting legends. He recalls promoting the event at a concert when someone suddenly staked claim to starting it all. "I was no stranger to that phrase," I-Be laughs. "I'd heard a lot of people say that, and nobody was really documenting anything, because nobody expected it to continue. But to the best of my knowledge, it was something that started in the Philly underground scene with a few guys getting together who then brought it to campus. That's what's so powerful about it, is that it's something that actually came from our community."

Whatever its genesis, the Gathering soon moved from its homemade origins to a variety of venues on Penn's campus. Sara Green, now art director at Philadelphia Weekly, first encountered the Gathering at the Veranda on Locust Walk as a college freshman. She soon began volunteering and a year later, when the organizer's senior-year workload became too heavy, Green was one of a group of volunteers who took over. At the time, the Gathering was an MC-centric affair, more or less a glorified open mic, but b-girl Green's connections to the dance community began to move the breakers from hangers-on at the back of the room to center stage.

"At that point, a big problem with keeping the event going was a place to have it," Green recalls. They moved from venue to venue on Penn's campus, spending six months in a large auditorium that, she says, "always felt empty, no matter what we did." But it did have a piano, where Green recalls John Legend — then unknown and going by John Stephens — performing for at least one Gathering.

A number of Gathering regulars, in fact, have moved on to bigger and better things. DJ Skeme Richards of the Rock Steady Crew and members of the Illvibe Collective have served as residents DJs. Tu Phace of Subliminal Orphans (who were on last year's Warped Tour) still co-hosts on occasion.

Chris Anderson volunteered at the Gathering throughout 2006 while launching Freshout Media. He considers this training-ground aspect of the event its defining characteristic. "People can have that first chance to perform in front of a large crowd. It's a very welcoming, nonjudgmental atmosphere," says Anderson.

A large part of that open vibe came with the Gathering's move to the Rotunda in the summer of 1999, according to Andrew Zitcer, then head of Penn's Foundation Arts, which had recently taken over the space. The Rotunda's free, donations-only and all-ages policy soon became a key element.

"I feel like it's really important for any young people, anywhere, to have something creative to do, and there's not a lot of opportunity for that," Green says. "I remember being under 21 and not being able to do anything or go anywhere. This is something that's all-ages, so kids can go, but it's cool enough that older people go, too."

Though he no longer has any official ties to the Gathering, Anderson is quick to credit the event for providing the inspiration for Flava Fest, now in its second year providing something of an informal celebration of the Gathering's 10th (give or take) anniversary. "When I first started working on the Gathering I thought, 'Oh my God, this place is packed; it's uncomfortable, it's so crowded,'" recalls Anderson. "What if we took this same vibe and same format and applied it to a free outdoor festival?"

From last year's free park jam, Flava Fest has grown into a three-day festival that expands on the Gathering's template of showcasing the diverse elements of the hip-hop community, including breaking, popping and locking battles, graffiti art exhibitions, an MC face-off, performances and DJs spinning, and a final show at the Troc headlined by Pharoahe Monch.

"Flava Fest was the first opportunity to raise our head out of the Rotunda," says I-Be, who foresees expanding the Gathering into the educational realm, having recently converted it into a nonprofit organization.

"We've definitely gone through a lot of changes, and despite those changes we've been able to hold our spot in the city," he says. "It's something I see going on for the next 20 years. The Gathering has united not just the four elements, but all the different communities of hip-hop in Philly. It's not just an event but a movement, and we're still going through the full transformation of that."

(s_brady@citypaper.net)

The Gathering, last Thursday of every month, free, the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., www.myspace.com/thephillygathering. Flava Fest, Thu.-Sat., Sept. 20-22, various locations, 215-965-9478, www.myspace.com/flavafest.