What Raves R About
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» PoiSoNeD_CaNdY replied on Tue Nov 19, 2002 @ 7:36pm |
 Coolness: 91775 | i'm sure alot of u may have seen this article on another rave-related message board, but I'm posting it here anyway because its probably the best written material on raves I have read
Losing the Plot How Utopia became Business by Douglas Rushkoff My first exposure to rave culture, back in 1988, was perhaps the most significant dose of pure possibility I had experienced since my psychedelic initiation ten years earlier. Too young to have any direct contact with whatever the 1960's may have heralded, I was convinced we had stumbled upon something truly novel: a social scene capable of transforming the greater world around it. In a room or field with no agenda other than a 120 beat-per-minute pulse, a few thousand intimates could liberate ourselves from conventional closed-mindedness and aspiration-induced unconsciousness for long enough to touch something else. While we had many names for this "other" -- from the strange attractor to God herself -- it all boiled down to experiencing ourselves and one another in a new way: as a collective, in motion, and evolving. Blindly but boldly, we would go where no man or woman had gone before -- save, maybe, some indigenous tribe that didn't have the electronic gear to broadcast their findings, or the presses to provide a map point to others. Somewhere along the way, it seems, we lost the plot. Except for the few places around the world where rave is still brand new, the vast majority parties I've been to in the past several years have lacked the cohesive and unifying spirit that defined the "movement" when it began. Whither the heart? I resisted even mentioning my suspicions for several years. How dare I? I remember so well the ex-60's who stood on the periphery of my own first raves, complaining that we were a mere carbon copy of the *real* drive for group consciousness that they had launched decades earlier. If the raves of the late 90's didn't meet up with my expectations for what a rave *should* be, I thought it best to keep my mouth shut. Everyone gets the party he or she needs, and who am I to tell them they're not doing it right? I withdrew and started a novel instead. The Ecstasy Club was to be an indication of the road home. I wanted to create characters so earnest in their efforts to forge a new template for our culture that they wouldn't fail the same way we had. But the characters wrote another story. They showed me how such a scene can only implode when it doesn't have a clear sense of the values it hopes to impart. See, the beauty of the ecstatic experience, whether you're using Ecstasy MDMA) or not, is the very freedom it offers from value systems. On E, everything is delightfully up for grabs. What distinguished the 90's Ecstasy kids from the 60's acid generation was just this. The hippies picked up signs and fought the war, their parents, and the system. The "man" was seen as real, and someone who needed to be brought down. Fight the power. Make love not war. By the 1990's, and perhaps thanks in part to the efforts of the love generation, these enemies could no longer be held as real. In the United States, the president that most of us grew up with actually resigned his office in disgrace. In the UK, well, the monarchy had been deconstructed by Monty Python and then reassembled using bits of their own illicit phone conversations in the tabloid press. It seemed as if the establishment's faulty foundations would crumble under their own weight. Just turn up the bass a little to speed up the process. All we had to do is dance, and the rest would take care of itself. As we told ourselves with our music, everybody's free to feel good. We believed in the power of love, and cheered as watched everything from the Berlin Wall to apartheid topple in its wake. So much for letting us middle class white kids run the show. The problem with having no agenda is two-fold. First, you have no way to gauge your progress. Liberation of neither the soul nor the oppressed comes as surely as dawn does at the end of the party. We'd have these terrific times, and mean truly terrific times, but it wouldn't add up to much except an occasional knowing wink in the street from a kid who you saw at that great party last week. Second, and worse, you're open to the agendas of others. The scene can be co-opted. I understand why we strove for rave not to be about anything in particular. If it got too grounded in one or another brand of politics or religion, the scene would lose its healing levity. Besides, politics and social issues were all part of the fixed and needlessly heavy scene that had trapped our forefathers. None of the distinctions -- right left, rich poor, black white, gay straight -- were even real. The sooner we understood that, the better for all. Government cast itself as the enemy to our intentions, ill-defined though they were. The Criminal Justice Act in the UK and over-zealous police forces in the US made it clear to us that the people who make the laws were the most threatened by our dissolution of their arbitrary absolutes. Although we had a sense that it would diminish a certain something, we took our parties indoors to commercial venues. Who cares, I remember thinking, as long we have the music and the people? A few extra bucks to the police let us keep the right chemicals in the mix, and a few more to the club owners kept the power on through morning. But now we were becoming part of the system we had so successfully evaded for so long. When we were off the map, we could keep our bearings. Traveling three hours to a rave and having to spend the night in an open field forces an intentionality all its own. The trip requires a commitment, and the event itself is a tribute to pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Today, you can find something calling itself a rave almost every night of the week at a pub within walking distance. Some of these parties are taking place in the very same rooms where your parents went every Friday night after a long week of work to let off steam -- with booze and boogie instead of tryptamines and Tricky. By current estimates, a million hits of E are consumed every weekend in the UK. If that's really true, then why is club culture so devoid of everything that E appeared to herald? For one, because E just doesn't work if you take it every week. Sure, the chemical has effect. But when taken in weekly doses, the empathic qualities quickly give way to simple stimulation. There's simply not enough serotonin in the brain to support this much induced bliss. The drug tends to act more like speed, provoking the same sorts of hooliganism that everyone else succumbs to on their weekend binges. More significantly, rave deteriorated because we allowed the movement to become part of business as usual: a weekend release, no different from the pub crawls that characterize the experience of any other worker who, given a break to blow off some steam, can go back to work on Monday morning without complaining. No, it wasn't entirely our fault. Even in America we were getting busted for throwing parties anywhere but in a sanctioned club. Mainstream culture did not have the apparatus for dealing with a non-commercial social phenomenon as big as rave was getting. But we are all to blame for ailing to figure out exactly which parts of the rave experience were most important to bring indoors. Rave parties had been part of what could only be considered a gift economy. Collectives would form spontaneously, collecting enough money to rent a sound system and print up some flyers. If there were extra cash from a successful event, the money would go to pay for a few meals for the organizers and the rest towards the next party. While the cops and government officials hated the idea of kids doing drugs and making noise in abandoned spaces and remote fields, business hated it even more. The young people who should be buying alcohol, top-forty records, and paying for admittance to the disco were instead participating in an alternative economy -- dropping psychedelics, exchanging remix tapes, and driving to the country. When rave became a club event, it merged this gift economy with the business of nightclubbing -- and this is where it all went bad. We all know the story by now. Clubs make money selling drinks, but kids at a rave ingest E, not booze. The solution? Sell bottled water to the dehydrated trippers. To insure this lucrative business, club owners began confiscating any water that the kids brought themselves, and shutting off the water in the bathroom. Thus, the first vastly publicized deaths due to "ecstasy overdoses," which were really just cases of simple dehydration. The kids weren't killed by the drugs, but by the water sellers. The rise of the commercial rave also compromised the very real but unstated ethic of the gift economy that had ruled until then. Rave promoters, initially forced to raise their prices to pay for venues, learned that a few more dollars added to the price of ticket could yield tremendous profit. Promoters who were used to breaking even found themselves tens of thousands of pounds or dollars richer by morning. This drew new legions of would-be promoters into the ring, whose glossy flyers would compete with one another for attention at the record shop. What had been a spontaneous expression of community turned into good old-fashioned American free market competition. With five or more separate clubs competing for the same audiences on the same nights of the week, distrust and ill-will between rave posses ruled. DJ's who used to be anonymous became headliners, who performed on stage under spotlights. The number of gigawatts of bass became an advertising pitch. Promoters worked hard to prove through their graphics and slogans that they were the exclusive purveyors of the "original" integrity that defined the great raves of '88. But no matter how good the sound, the lights, the DJ, or the drugs, the commercial parties were missing the ingredient that used to hold it all together: community. By reducing its participants to mere consumers, rave lost its claim to the sacred. As economic and business forces became the driving force of the culture, the imperative to have profound experiences was replaced by a financial imperative to sell more tickets in less time to more people. We no longer took weeks to prepare both practically and mentally for the ritual. As with psychedelics, this lack of preparation reduced sacred experiences to mere entertainments -- appropriately listed alongside concerts and movies in the weekend newspaper. In retrospect, what made rave so revolutionary was its economics. The reason we felt so removed from the workaday reality is that we had disconnected ourselves from the cycle of consumption and production that degrades and dehumanizes so much of the rest of our daily experience. Just as Wired magazine reduced the community-inspiring Internet to a shopping mall called the World Wide Web, commercial interests reduced the rave movement to an "Electronica" category in the record shop. It was not our existence outside the law that made rave so special, but our separation from corporate culture and the market economy. Like a Sabbath, the rave was a holy day during which no one bought or sold anything -- and if they did, it was in a manner absolutely at odds with the gross national product. The absence of an agenda was not our agenda at all. We were positively striving towards a celebration of the sacred. Instinctually, we realized that this sacredness would be compromised by business and politics as they were currently being practiced. Government made our chosen rituals illegal and business made us pay for sacred space. Business used the power of government's enforcers to drag our parties indoors, and while we managed to hold onto our stashes, we didn't hold onto much else. We simply didn't know enough about what we were doing to fight for the part that mattered. Make no mistake: there are still parties and posses doing it right, and who care more about the process than the profit. But it's up to us to find them, support them or, if we can't find them, become them. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Optimist_pRhyme replied on Tue Nov 19, 2002 @ 8:05pm |
 Coolness: 52535 | every time that ive read this, it has brought up so many emotions, memories, hopes, dreams and aspirations for the future.
such an eloquent piece of writing. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» OMGSTFUDIEPLZKTX replied on Tue Nov 19, 2002 @ 8:06pm |
| Coolness: 66600 | raves are dead kids
2000 was one the best year and now it's all gone to hell... was nice while it lasted though! |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» PoiSoNeD_CaNdY replied on Tue Nov 19, 2002 @ 9:04pm |
| Coolness: 91775 | Some of my personal thoughts on this article:
Even though I am new to the rave scene I think I have tasted the different forms that a rave can manifest itself. I have experienced moments (free of the influence of drugs I might add) where I felt a deep sense of connection to everyone else at a rave, indeed, the sense of community discussed in the article. At the same time, I've also experienced moments when I felt like just another consumer of a commercial, manufactured environment, where people basically go spend money, get high, and leave without any feeling more profound than a vague sense of having had a (drug induced) good time. However, I believe that as long as people remember the feeling of an ideal rave, there will always be people who strive to achieve this ideal, and not settle for the idea of a rave as a weekend diversion. It is when we accept the idea of a rave as a form of entertainment, that indeed the movement is dead. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» daFTWin replied on Tue Nov 19, 2002 @ 9:49pm |
 Coolness: 276520 | Dead dead dead.. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» djAmalgam replied on Tue Nov 19, 2002 @ 10:25pm |
| Coolness: 105875 | Monolith Productions will attempt to bring back that old school vibe. Just wait! |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» PookStah replied on Tue Nov 19, 2002 @ 10:27pm |
| Coolness: 106000 | they should bring back that old school vibe!! and soon!
hihihi *hugs and kisses** |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Tue Nov 19, 2002 @ 10:35pm |
 Coolness: 339750 | my thoughts:
this person is grandpa ranting on about the good ol' days. if you have a fun at a rave cool, if you don't.. don't go to raves any more. it's pretty simple. like anything that is considered 'cool' and 'underground' it will always end up being comercialized.. there's no avoiding it, and whinnign when it happens is pointless, just move on to something else. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» mdc replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 12:26am |
| Coolness: 148900 | my thoughts exactly...
wow ian's a pretty smart guy once you overcome the whole 'im a jackass' thing... (mwahahahaha.. free ian bashing!) |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 12:32am |
| Coolness: 339750 | i have no problems with the current state of raves, cept for the fact that getting a venus is near impossible nowa days. that to me is the major downside to everyone knowing about raves.
having an elities group who think that they are way cooler then the main poppulation cause they're REAL ravers and not the comercial ravers is foolish. everyone should be allowed to enjoy things without others bashing em for not being in with the underground scene.. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» PoiSoNeD_CaNdY replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 1:13am |
| Coolness: 91775 | I would like to take the oppurtunity to respond to DJ Neoform's comments...
Yes, I agree with you the raves were at one point "cool" and "underground". If the appeal of early raves was based primariy on their underground nature, then of course it is inevitable that word spreads, more people start showing up, then commercial promoters start arriving up to 'duplicate' the rave experience and in effect commercialising it. However, the article and me beleive that early raves weren't just "underground parties", but in effect idealogical bubbles in which utopian ideals of economics and community could flourish...(more on this after) You raise the issue that if raves are fun, that is enough. Well I thow that statement back to you: exactly what is a rave, and why is it fun? Is a rave just a club with extended hours, more drugs, and people wearing ridiculous clothes? Indeed, many people might consider that fun, but I think there are also many, many people who hope for a rave to be something more, even if they're not sure what. If that were not the case, then we'd all just be heading to Dome (hell we'd be saving money on tickets and could buy even more drugs). The article and others point to the rave (in its ideal form) as a manifestation of an alternate reality, based on a utopian set of principles, including: freedom from the economics of society and its culture of consumerism, promotion of empathy for one another (whether or not e-induced), abolishment of competition (as opposed to clubs with their emphasis on sexual competition), and perhaps most importantly, the cultivation of communal bonds between all participants. However, in the process of the commercialization of raves, many of these principles have been eroded, and all too often, the principles and realities of everyday life (competition, isolationalism, etc) enter the realm of the rave. So it is really up to us to decide what is really important: are we just looking for 'fun', whatever that may mean, or is there something deeper invovled? |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» daFTWin replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 1:54am |
| Coolness: 276520 | What im tired of is that whole "im trying not to enjoy myself attitude".. and we all get it once in a while because yes, a party may suck but dont go ruining the fun everyone else is having just cause you have nothing better to do then show off the fact that you didnt pay to be not enjoying yourself. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» somekid replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 9:48am |
 Coolness: 85090 | I think there are still some good parties, people like Renegade Legion's, Kirk 6, Alien Krew and Kracked Nuckles Crew to name a few I think that the sean just neads more promotion at the Cegep level @ cloud 6 the croud was mostly 19-21 and at Terra 2 the croud was mostly 15-17 I have so many friends that never realy go into the seen because they didn't have friends in it. I didn't go to a party till Orbit in January 2001 and I loved it but because I didn't realy know people who whent to parties I didn't go back for a long time. What the seen is missing is a new generation of unjaded ravers and my best guess is that the people that were at Terra 2 will be a Big part of this generation. Now if only we could get some younger people in to D'n'B and off POP. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» djAmalgam replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 10:19am |
| Coolness: 105875 | I remember the articles i had found online that got me into the scene. I will try my best to find them again. I think we should all get together somewhere, where there's a DVD player, and watch a documentary i have called Better Living Through Circuitry. I think it's the best representation of the scene in the US in the mid 90's. That is the attitude and vibe is wish to recreate as a promoter in the future. Anyway, this movie is for sale at Archambeault on berri/st-catherine. Go buy it. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» neoform replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 11:20am |
| Coolness: 339750 | to me raves are not about the drugs, not about changing the world or any of that crap. It's about going out with friends, listening to great music (which most of the time is not played in clubs, yet) and dancing all night. Personally i would have no problem with having raves in after hours clubs or the like, as long as the cost does not go way up, the way 514 like to do, charging $60+ for a ticket.. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Screwhead replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 11:34am |
 Coolness: 685675 | Paul, my brother has that DVD. I liked it, but if anything the one thing in there that REALLY pissed me off was that retarded bitch that said something about how "real" music with real performers is boring and a waste of time.
Something about how the vibe at a rave is unique and live concerts can't reproduce it. Dumb whore was obviously NOT at the Ozzfest in TO when 17 THOUSAND people were singing along to EVERY Black Sabbath song that was played. And when's the last time a mother brought her 2 6 year olds to a rave (She was with 17 male friends, body-builder-style builds) The elitist attitude for ANY style of music or "culture" fucking pisses me off. |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» PitaGore replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 11:48am |
 Coolness: 471890 | IDJ's all about that old-school vibe... |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» El_Presidente replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 11:49am |
 Coolness: 299410 | you guys should check out the movie modulations its pretty cool |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» PitaGore replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 11:50am |
| Coolness: 471890 | Agree |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» moondancer replied on Wed Nov 20, 2002 @ 11:59am |
 Coolness: 92350 | i wasn't around in the "good ol days" so i dunno exactly what it was like, but i don't think raves are dead i think there is an evil force called commercialism trying to kill them but most parties i go to aren't the commercial ones and i find a great sense of community. i mean just look where u r, what kind of community do u think this is??? |
What Raves R About
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