Starting May 7th, London's morning raves are heading to New York! Called "Morning Gloryville ~ Rave Your Way Into The Day," the unique sober dance party will kick off at the crack of dawn at 6:30am and run until 10:30am in Brooklyn. In addition to the music, the event will also feature free massages, fresh smoothie and coffee bars, a motivational dance team, and a lot more! We had a chance to check in with Annie Fabricant, New York's Glory Agent, ahead of the launch event to chat about the success of the concept in London, her experience bringing morning raves to New York, Morning Gloryville's planned expansion to even more cities around the world, what goes into planning an event of this scale, and some of the feedback from artists and guests who have experienced the magic.
For those who don’t know, tell us a bit about who’s behind Morning Glory and how it came about? The magic Morning Glory seed was planted in springtime last year. Two friends, Samantha Moyo, an experienced event producer and a mind-bending visionary, and Nico Thoemmes, a pro yoga teacher and bodyworker, came up with the idea together. I thought the story went like this: the duo sparked the idea while sipping tea after a morning yoga class, but I only recently found out that they were sprawled out on the bank of the River Thames after a massive bender and thought Gosh! How much fun, but this isn’t sustainable…How can we revolutionize the fun…?
They decided that the world needed a revolution in conscious dancing. They acknowledged that the city was full of morning-haters, yet they figured that the morning was the perfect time for the stressed out people with demanding desk jobs, the ravers and ex-ravers, and everyone else to get into their bodies, relax their minds and discover a positive mindful and fun way to express themselves and energize for the day ahead. They felt people needed something that’s more fun, more creative and with more community-feel than the gym. Ultimately they wanted to create an experience for London city-dwellers that would shift their perceptions of mornings, and clubbing, and increase their wellbeing. The first Morning Glory (it’s now called Morning Gloryville) took place on Wednesday, May 29th in the Village Undergound, in Shoreditch. It caught press attention almost straight away and just grew steadily from that moment on.
What’s the feedback been like in London? How do the attendees describe their experience? The feedback has always been 100% positive, and there’s been lots of it! Founder Sam Moyo has been inundated with emails and calls from people eager to talk at length about their experience. Everyone is bowled over by the wave of positive energy that fills the space. They feel alive and buzzed by the natural high and by how FUN it is. “It’s literally turned my life around! I live for my Glorified mornings" and “Best start to the day ever! Can doctors prescribe this?!“ are the types of comments we get.
What led to the decision to launch Morning Glory’s global expansion in New York? Are you planning to take it to more cities in Europe as well or explore other cities in the US? Absolutely! Morning Gloryville will be launching in Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Sydney, Perth and Zagreb this summer, and in more cities across the globe by the end of the year, including San Francisco and Miami in the US.
Last December, I returned to London, my hometown, and a friend took me along to a Morning Gloryville. The energy and positivity that penetrated the space was tremendous. Amazing. I was so struck by the experience that despite my plan to move back to London, I knew instantly that I had to bring this incredibly inspiring movement to the people of New York. I paired up with Harry Inglis, another NYC-based Brit who had reached out to the founders in London expressing enthusiasm to be involved. As you know, things move espresso-fast in NYC, and New Yorkers just love new quirky ideas. Everyone I’ve been speaking to about it has been so enthusiastic and so supportive. The great energy and feedback we were getting prompted our decision to launch in May, a bit earlier than originally planned.
How did you go about choosing the DJs to play at the New York launch event? Is it a challenging process? We are so excited to have Natasha Blank and Zev playing for us at the launch. It happened very naturally, organically… With regards to Natasha: I had been intro’d by Ben Makosch (Cityfox) to a great guy called Ryan Fix (Pure House) who’s also in the wholesome social activist and holistic health world. He intro’d me to Natasha, who I had already heard wonderful things about. She DJs at The Get Down at Cielo, and is also a massive holistic health advocate and healer among many other wholesome things. We met and she dug the concept and being on that path clearly believes in the conscious clubbing movement.
Getting Zev on board was also a very natural and friendly process. I knew that he has been into holistic health and nutrition for a while. Seeing as he’s cancer survivor who took the brave and admirable decision to avoid chemo and instead put himself on an optimal diet, practice meditation and seek alternative healing therapies, I thought the MG concept would resonate with him. And it did – et voila!
What has playing for an alcohol and drug-free crowd been like for the artists? Pretty positive! Here are some quotes:
"That was my favourite DJ-ing experiences ever. It's such a great crowd of people who just want to dance. I had a real blast." [Will Rees from The Mystery Jets]
"Literally THE most frenetic, and engaged crowd I have ever played to. The level of participation was truly on a spiritual level of oneness - seriously - it was an enlightening experience. Each tune was wholeheartedly embraced by all 800 glory-hunters such that each groove had to earn its keep. This resulted in FULL appreciation of every tune and every mix - a DJ's dream both for learning and navigating the diamond path. FUCKING INSANE!!" Ben Zaven Crane - Mojo Filter
"I love playing at Morning Glory because the people and the general vibe are a lot more genuine than at a night club. More smiles, more sweat, more aliveness, more realness. The energy generated at MG really is infectious and you leave exhausted but happy - I feel blessed to be part of it." [Annie O ]
How did sorting out the logistics in New York compare to your counterparts doing so in London? What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve been facing? The biggest challenge by far in NYC has been finding the right venue. Unlike finding a venue for a night time/regular clubbing event, the venue for Morning Gloryville needs to be as far from a dark sticky club as possible. In other words: light, bright, uplifting, fresh with super high ceilings. Location-wise it needs to be as convenient as possible for people to get to work afterwards. Plus, noise-wise, we don’t want to be waking residents up with pumping music at 6.30am! In London, the location thing was actually a walk in the park: Shoreditch and even Bethnal Green (where MG moved to last December) is pretty convenient as it’s an area of London where not only all the ravers/ex-ravers, creatives, freelancers, and hipsters live and also work. It’s also hugging the City [the financial district], so it’s also easy for all the corporates, lawyers etc. With rent prices in BK soaring, people are scattered everywhere. Manhattan is convenient for most people, but the venues that fit the bill are extremely pricey. Our first couple of events will be in Williamsburg, and then we’ll move to the city. An outdoor event is also on the cards.
What can we expect from Morning Gloryville in the future? Any plans to branch out into other types of events? Expect Morning Gloryville to become a global movement with dozens— no, hundreds! — of cities around the world raving their way into the day! Most importantly, people from all backgrounds, ages, professions and religion will be mingling, connecting and discovering their true amazing selves. Morning Gloryville will restore people’s faith in humanity and encourage them to live conscious, joyful and inspired lives.
Besides that, yes the MG team has plenty of ideas for the future. Apart from getting involved with great festivals, such Burning Man, Electric Forest, Lightning In a Bottle, Bestival (Morning Gloryville will feature at this year’s Bestival), andThe Secret Garden Party; there are some exciting possibilities related to clothing lines, health retreats, and various healing modalities.
Purchase tickets to NYC's launch event here!
