Arron Jones

Demons Dance On An Unmade Bed Arron Jones

A life of stress and superstition is swapped for a life changing and possibly lifesaving trip to India, when things start to turn nasty in London for four friends. Based very closely on a true story. Set in London and India, the story mixes mostly fact and a small amount of fiction. Whilst making a living at our market stall in Portobello road in the early 90s, myself and my lifelong friend Raff also hosted monthly Acid House clubs in a small cinema called the Bijou Theatre in Wardour St. London W1. We would pay the manager £200 each time and he would allow us into the cinema after the last movie had been shown. We booked the best DJs of the time, Danny Rampling, Rocky and Diesel etc. We were also planning a trip to India. Profits from the market stall and club nights were small. A party on a much bigger scale would be needed to fund our year long trip to India. After months of searching, we found a venue big enough to hold 3,000 people. The venue 'The Magic Eye.' Film studio in Wandsworth. But there was a catch, after recent bad press the studio owner wouldn't let anything resembling an Acid House party take place there. (The Rave scene, with its darker side, was fast emerging at the time. It received a lot of bad press, making it difficult for us to find a venue that would host that sort of party). We hired the venue on the pretense that the event would be a fashion show. The after party was to be the real main event, it would have to be kept secret from the studio owners otherwise they would probably cancel the event if they suspected an illegal party similar to a rave was to take place the party was named "Family Tree."On the eve of the party with around 3,000 advance tickets sold. One of the employees at the studio came across an advertisement (with no mention of a fashion show) for the event. The owner was notified and cancelled the party. We searched high and low for a venue to move the party to. A gang in Brixton known as "Yardies," knew of a club we could use. They let us know in no uncertain terms, if it went ahead, they would expect a huge payment. We had no choice but to give into their demands. The India trip had already been planned to some extent, when the trouble in Brixton occurred, it added to the urgency to leave the country. It wasn't just the physical threat that caused concern. My whole lifestyle, the superstitions that were almost driving me to the point of insanity and stress of living in London, were also all contributing factors. We travelled to India and stayed for one year encountering some amazing and strange situations. First to Goa then we explored the "real India," visiting the sacred towns and cities of Pushkar, Varanasi, Sarnath, Mahabalipuram, Hampi, Gokarna and Varkala. The physical journey also became a spiritual one, by taking on eastern philosophy and beliefs I thought I may be able to change in a positive way and return home leaving the stress and superstitious belief's behind The London stories also include; tales of mine and Raff's adventures as teenagers. A market stall in Kensington Market (which I ran with Eddie Piller, Acid Jazz founder). Our Portobello road stall, Selling bootleg tapes of The Clash and meeting The Clash etc. There is a link to my Instagram page (arronjonesdemonsdance) at the end of the book, where photos of the India trip, London club nights, market stalls and some of mine and Rachel's wedding in Goa, that we returned for in 1999, can be viewed.