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19 February, 2000
Raves

I've noticed, here in St. Albert, an interest in, yet lack of, things for young people to do. Everyone knows that this lack has been related to several unpleasant incidences in the recent past, and that this interest has been related to the creation of some excellent facilities.

Lately one particular entertainment enjoyed by young and old alike has become very popular. This thing is called a "rave". Despite their rapidly climbing popularity, raves have been getting flack from almost all areas of our culture. Parents complain about them, non-ravers make fun of them, and lately even veteran ravers have been somewhat disgruntled about today's parties. While I am not exactly a full-on raver, I very much enjoy raves and rave music. Thus I have taken it upon myself to discuss the rave experience in the hopes of bringing information and insight to people foreign to the scene (and because many young St. Albertans are “raving it up”).

Perhaps the best word-and-a-half to describe raves is "neo-hippie". While lacking the political dimension (it is rare to see ravers organize a sit-in) or extremity of non-conformist lifestyle (few ravers live in communes), ravers are generally attracted to raves for their friendly, happy atmosphere. The rave ideal is to be a sanctuary of positivity, where everyone has convened to have fun and be nice without needing to prove anything or worry about anything. Although nothing is ever absolutely perfect, most raves are inclined toward this ideal.

The happiness of a rave is largely achieved through liberation of bodily energy and through stimulation of the senses. Thus raves are all about music, dance, and spectacle. The point of rave music (called "techno" because it almost entirely electronically generated) is to make people dance and to dazzle the ear. It is an entirely different concept than song-writing. Many people misunderstand this, and thus wind up embarrassing themselves making fun of techno because “it’s all just boom-chk-boom-chk” (note: it’s actually closer to “uh-tsch-uh-tsch”).

Ravers dress funny because it’s part of the spectacle. Huge, colourful, elaborate clothing is fun and interesting to the eye. The same goes for laser-lights, crazy jewelry, film loops, and anything that glows. Toys abound at raves, because they’re fun, interesting, and harmless. There’s also a lot of candy at raves because, you guessed it, it’s a stimulation of the sense of taste. And, since dancing is hard work, many people bring Tiger Balm for those sore muscles.

All of this is in the name of fun, freedom, and cheer. It is very, very easy to talk to almost anyone at a good rave, and it is not uncommon to leave having made several new friends. Sure, there’s a lot of freaky stuff to be seen at raves, but that’s the reason they’re so popular: because no one is excluded. It may look like people are trying to prove something with their toy collections and their wonky hair, and hey, maybe they are. I still think it’s better that they prove themselves in a fun, friendly, social manner than by getting physically and verbally violent.

Lately, though, the purity of the rave atmosphere has become tainted by people who show up for the wrong reasons. They aren’t bright-eyed and smiling. Instead they’re prowling self-consciously. Fights have been occurring, mostly at huge, much-advertised raves which draw around 5000 people. This is why some party locations are revealed only at a phone number printed only on the rave tickets. Not because they’re cultish and evil.

No, raves and techno music are happy things, and people who insist on making fun of them must not be very happy people.

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