The former Kodak plant that hosted Saturday's Extermination Music Night

Semi-secret, semi-regular all-night art and music party Exterm1nation Mus1c N1ght — which has been enlivening a contingent of adventure-seekers in Toronto’s indie rock ant-farm since 2005 — got busted, again, last Saturday night. This version was held at an abandoned Kodak factory at Eglinton West and Black Creek Drive. Around 2am, @carlzoilus — a.k.a. music critic Carl Wilson — was one of the Twitterers who reported the bust, tweeting “had a good time last night at the illegal art party and fleeing police via ‘getaway bus,'" before ruefully adding, "Sadly probly end of an era.”

Exterm1nation Mus1c N1ght’s programming (art and music is mostly supplied by experimental locals), locations (hard to reach, usually unmarked) and promotional techniques (insider emails, careful message-board information dissemination; a never-updated blog) are all designed to keep cops, and heat-scoring interlopers, out. While there’s no specific mandate to keep it among friends (it is, after all, posted on d-bag central Stillepost), the organizers have always emphasized relative safety and a community-mindedness that is tough to maintain when said illegal art parties are such tremendous successes.

The shut-down on Saturday — which, some attendees reported, involved bad behaviour on the part of both police and EMN-goers — is probably due to cops witnessing people approaching the factory throughout the night, rather than getting a hot tip in advance. But, the continuing popularity and patent cool factor of the event has, as it will, drawn the wrong kind of attention. Blogto.com listed the event on their website, thwarting the restrained efforts of the organizers. Facebook and Twitter commentary will continue to draw party-seekers. This kind of outside focus seems to have already impacted EMN: on Saturday, a generator and some music gear were stolen, probably when the police arrived. If the event survives, it will most likely have to be reconsidered. The fact that EMN's organizers declined comment for this story is actually a welcome indication that this process is already underway.

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