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Who killed the rave?

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Re: Who killed the rave?

#801

Post by devrob »

Kiboneu wrote: post #744
devrob wrote: post #574

I think there's a lot of nuance here. I teach DJing (house/techno mostly) and there's never been more interest in electronic music & DJing. Folks who thought I was a bit out there in high school for liking electronic & dance music, have recently all now become more interested in DJing and raving. The DJ today is continuing to grow into the modern rock-star (albeit, in terms of real $ of music money, it's no where clo…

The party ends. Dancers look at each other and feel a connection, exhausted or refreshed. Why is there a connection between people on the dance floor? Detroit, Berlin were spaces in which electronic music accelerated, reflecting an intent to go further into the future or outwards into space, including cyberspace, to escape the banality of the immediate environment outside the dance floor. A language develops to colle…

Oof - beautiful writing.

That sounds like it was out of Last Night A DJ Saved My Life [1]!

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Night_a_DJ_Saved_My_Life_...

Re: Who killed the rave?

#802

Post by devrob »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #604
devrob wrote: post #574

I think there's a lot of nuance here. I teach DJing (house/techno mostly) and there's never been more interest in electronic music & DJing. Folks who thought I was a bit out there in high school for liking electronic & dance music, have recently all now become more interested in DJing and raving. The DJ today is continuing to grow into the modern rock-star (albeit, in terms of real $ of music money, it's no where clo…

I know what you mean, and I wish I kept at it. I DJ'd a couple raves back then but it was something that any of my friends were into so I naturally fell out of it even though I loved it so much. I later got back into it briefly and made a few house and trance tracks when computer DAWs became popular. There was a sense of freedom and optimism on the dance floor that I've never found anywhere else. I made songs like th…

The freedom and optimism is always rooted to the communal and ritual release in dance, the freedom to be as you are, or dance as you are. This gets harder and harder when there is fear of "documentation', if one can't "dance right" or "doesn't fit in".

Don't beat yourself up too hard though, you can always pickup a DJ controller and start again :)

And too: the scene has radically shifted, so being a promoter is a large part of the work. It's kind of like eSports in a way.

Re: Who killed the rave?

#803

Post by colinwilyb »

bcrl wrote: post #685
anigbrowl wrote: post #660

It's not really surprising, but the article seems to conflate raves with nightclubs, with numerous remarks about the cost of being out at a club all night and paying for things like expensive bottle service. Raves are not clubs, and historically have never done that well in club environments. People who are really into staying up all night dancing to techno music aren't buying expensive alcoholic drinks, they're buyi…

In Toronto the decline of the scene in the late '90s was accelerated significantly when the city clamped down on promotors by restricting them from renting venues on city owned property. This was after gradually requiring EMTs and increased security at events after Allen Ho died in 1999. There was a huge protest at city hall, but that had no impact on the course of things. Combined with the recession and then SARS in…

The protest/rally at Toronto City Hall in 2000 was a one-of-a-kind event which united ravers across the city. Organizers set up a mobile stage with sound and lights, had DJ lineup, speeches by public figures (including Olivia Chow), and 10k+ ravers.

Party People Documentary: Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUqlAUh4_3c

Party People Documentary: Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQZAwIHhOnc

Re: Who killed the rave?

#804

Post by colinwilyb »

ghaff wrote: post #782
stefs wrote: post #781

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"although people getting older with more obligations was certainly a contributing factor as well" there's always the next generation of young people. the question is: why aren't they as interested in raves than the generations before them?

The utterly lazy and unsatisfactory answer is that generations change. You mostly don't have bowling leagues or halls for groups like the Knights of Columbus any longer either. Now you can point to various societal changes that affect all those things but it's probably rarely one single answer.

In Toronto regulations were put in place required coordinating with Police, Fire, Ambulance, and submitting applications to use ANY private space for an intended "rave party".

The spontaneity of gathering your friends to dance on the beach, use a private warehouse after hours, or host a house party that went past 2AM, was now risking police showing up and handing out fines.

Regulation is the fastest way to kill anything unique and valuable.

[EDIT: Found a report for City Council recommendations related to this. It's a dull read, but historically facinating if you were around back then. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2000/agendas/council/cc/cc000... ]

Re: Who killed the rave?

#805

Post by sharadov »

I spent a lot of time in the early 00s psytrance scene.

Most parties were on ranches or in the middle of nowhere state land.

We lugged generators and DJ equipment and the parties were a few hundred people.

We camped out - it was a blast.

It was a community - you shared your food, drugs etc.

I never enjoyed the massive raves, thought they were too commercial.

Gen Z now is more into festivals. Back in the day multi-artist festivals were rare.

Re: Who killed the rave?

#806

Post by brailsafe »

anigbrowl wrote: post #660

It's not really surprising, but the article seems to conflate raves with nightclubs, with numerous remarks about the cost of being out at a club all night and paying for things like expensive bottle service. Raves are not clubs, and historically have never done that well in club environments. People who are really into staying up all night dancing to techno music aren't buying expensive alcoholic drinks, they're buyi…

As a relatively straight-edge person, I enjoyed my first and only actual rave, but I really felt like I had to convince myself I was enjoying it compared to the people that were obviously on MDMA or whatever, especially after a few hours of basically similar tempos. Ironically, they also all burned out at a certain point and it got even less engaging as they sat on the floor and I wandered around as though I didn't get the memo.

I've been to more recent Hardstyle shows since then at less sketchy venues and that's been fun, but something maybe about the repetitiveness of non-progressive trance or whatever at the time was quite boring. Some part of me wonders what that music feels like after taking something, but I spend enough time around people over 30 who regularly take mdma, coke, K, (I know they're quite different) that it continues seeming like something I'd prefer not to introduce into my life; it seems like they kind of need it. Incidentally, I'm definitely the exception in almost any group, having not engaged in anything but weed+alcohol recreationally, and occasionally drop those for periods of time. People are generally surprised that I haven't tried psychedelics yet.

Re: Who killed the rave?

#807

Post by throaway920 »

spamizbad wrote: post #559
steveBK123 wrote: post #118

Probably a bunch of factors... Tier 1 city RE prices have made live entertainment venues harder to run profitably. GenZ studies have found a lower participation in "risky behavior" which late night clubbing may or not be considered. Mobile internet & smartphones seem to be killing all forms of live in person interaction. And finally electronic music of various forms used to be a niche, and now it's mainstream. In the…

> GenZ studies have found a lower participation in "risky behavior" which late night clubbing may or not be considered. I think they just do different risk-taking behavior. Sports betting seems way more prevalent, and Gamblers Anonymous is reporting way more younger people attending meetings.

and risky porn is at an all time high

Re: Who killed the rave?

#808

Post by throaway920 »

harvodex wrote: post #601
MisterTea wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tier 1 city RE prices have made live entertainment venues harder to run profitably. Abandoned warehouses and other commercial building you could host a rave were once plenty in NYC. No more. Hell when I was a kid there were three abandoned factory buildings in my neighborhood we'd break into and become our "club house" in grade school. You just had to watch for squatters and neighbors calling the cops. Now you're l…

Exactly. All the places I went to 30 years ago for a rave are now nice areas. Someone would call the cops for the amount of noise now before the party even started. Then factor in fentanyl. Maybe most of all though, in the mid 90s electronic music was a new thing in the US. The first rave I went to , I really didn't even know what I was going to. The reason I stopped going was the novelty had completely worn off. Ama…

I remember when techno was the sound of the future. Now it sounds like something from the age of industrialization.

Re: Who killed the rave?

#809

Post by mixmastamyk »

gazunklenut wrote: post #733
mixmastamyk wrote: post #673

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The song, "Up all night to get lucky," would like a word with you.

Not a rave song, not singing about rave culture.

If “rave culture” won’t get busy, then they are doomed to die out. (Insert quote from Fight Club about Pandas.)

Re: Who killed the rave?

#810

Post by ghaff »

colinwilyb wrote: post #804
ghaff wrote: post #782

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The utterly lazy and unsatisfactory answer is that generations change. You mostly don't have bowling leagues or halls for groups like the Knights of Columbus any longer either. Now you can point to various societal changes that affect all those things but it's probably rarely one single answer.

In Toronto regulations were put in place required coordinating with Police, Fire, Ambulance, and submitting applications to use ANY private space for an intended "rave party". The spontaneity of gathering your friends to dance on the beach, use a private warehouse after hours, or host a house party that went past 2AM, was now risking police showing up and handing out fines. Regulation is the fastest way to kill anyth…

Whether or not I totally agree with your comment, I do tend to agree that there's been a general trend towards greater oversight over a lot of activities in a lot of contexts. I have some visibility into activities at a couple of universities and there is certainly not the degree of free rein as when I went to school.
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