Friday, October 17, 1997
Rave Reviews
RAVES: Music, dancing, drugs and bizarre
electronic visual effects draw DJs and
partygoers to underground rave scene
By Vanessa VanderZanden
Daily Bruin Staff
Brightly colored rave-flyers advertising "Smurfy" or "Feel-X"
decorate the counters of subculture meeting grounds from Melrose
thrift stores to Venice record shops. Though thousands pass by
these advertisements on a weekly basis, few pay attention to the
information contained therein. Even fewer go the next step.
"If you start going to enough raves, you’ll meet somebody there
and they’ll like be your best friend for that night," says raver
Tana Ryan. "You’re instantly friends like you’ve been friends
forever. Sometimes you’ll exchange phone numbers, but really,
you’re probably not going to call them because they’re different
when you guys have come down and you’re like ‘Oh, wait a minute, I
didn’t know you before tonight,did I?’ But the thing is, you’ll see
them at other raves and then you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s an old friend
now. Give me some love!’"
To many, the events of raves and underground parties seem
somewhat of an enigma. However, they exist as a very real element
of night life across the country. Mostly extending from the
populace of larger cities, the all night techno-dance marathons
often take place in inner-city warehouses. Others occur mid-desert,
far from the watchful eyes of the police.
"Ideally, it’s a hand-selected crowd," explains Terence Michell
of the Moontribe, or desert rave, experience. "They’re all cool,
everyone’s peaceful, there’s never a fight, there’s never an
altercation. It’s all just happy, fun vibes and everyone’s
peaceful. It’s right on the edge of being hippy-fest, but it’s
still rave-y enough and drugged-out enough to be really
bad-assed."
This event, which still includes a series of DJs spinning their
beats on turn-tables set up at the front of the dancing crowd
between huge speakers, is held once a month on the full moon.
Usually occurring in various patches of San Bernadino’s arid
fields, the open-air location allows dancers the freedom to enjoy
drugs and music without disturbing the peace. It also creates a
somewhat surreal environment.
"People will be running around in the morning and you’ll see
their kids are there, and people will always bring their pets,"
explains Michell. "One time this guy showed up with this huge alien
puppet, it was like 20 feet tall. He held the head piece and he had
two people controlling the arms, and he busted it out right before
dawn. People were losing it because it was so realistic and cute
and it was this 20-foot alien dancing with us."
Yet, each major geographic area across the nation provides an
atmosphere unique to that region. Varying the style and size of
parties, rave scenes change from coast to coast. New York, for
instance, is rumored to involve huge crowds, all dancing to jungle
beats (extremely fast paced, jumbled rhythms), and evoke a more
competitive nature amongst ravers. San Francisco’s scene, though
just a few hundred miles north, affords an equally dissimilar
experience.
"They’ve been really trying to keep them small. So, I mean,
they’ll throw parties that are something the size of this kitchen,"
Liz Zeigler explains, indicating the not quite 10- foot-by-10-foot
space. "But the vibe was so friendly, so positive. They’re really
small and really cheap. The people that promote them are actually
there and they’re actually dancing with you and sometimes they’re
selling the drugs to you also…People don’t spend like 500 dollars
on their outfits like it seems they do down here."
Wearing everything from huge, multi-colored plastic bead wallet
chains to shiny, glow in the dark T-shirts, most in attendance
appear to dress for the event. Often times these clothing styles
are worn by high school kids, though most ravers taking ecstasy, a
drug which accentuates the senses, can appreciate the soft
materials so commonly used. Attempts at keeping raves secret
involve multiple steps because they are known to centers for heavy
drug use.
"A rave flyer usually has three or four numbers on it, depending
on how big it is, with different numbers for different area codes,"
explains Ryan.
These phone numbers have taped recordings of information about
the rave, including the whereabouts of ticket purchase (usually
small record stores) and what DJs will be spinning. However, a few
hours before the event, usually around 8 p.m., the recording is
changed to provide rushed directions to a map point, from where a
second set of directions can be picked up, indicating the location
of the actual event.
These underground tactics help to delay the police from locating
the event and busting up the festivities. With many party-goers
engaged in consuming such drugs as speed, mushrooms, acid, ecstasy,
nitrus and Special K, to name a few, it makes sense that the police
would seek to put a damper on the youthful excitement. However,
many feel that drugs have become as much a part of raves as beer
has become to fraternity parties.
"They always have visuals at raves," Ryan explains of the
atmosphere. "Techno’s the kind of music that’s conducive to drug
use, the beats being rapid and stuff. I think, definitely, I mean,
I won’t say the scene is about drugs, but drug use is encouraged or
promoted a little bit by it. But I don’t say that in a negative
way. There’s no peer pressure to take drugs. It’s like a choice
thing much more. People want to take drugs to enhance the
experience."
However, these drugs can become pricey, ranging from $3 for a
tab of acid to 20 bucks for a hit of ecstasy. And, after paying
between fifteen and twenty bucks for Ticketmaster sponsored events,
the growing trend being for events to go commercial as acts like
"The Chemical Brothers" and "Prodigy" hit mainstream audiences,
raves can leave a sufficient dent in one’s pocket. Yet, the
smaller, more intimate affairs still manage to keep admission
between $5 and $10 and keep the atmosphere low key.
"There’s a connection between people who have damaged pasts and
stuff from childhood, who maybe don’t have as strong a family unit
as others, and raves," Ryan says. "They tend to fall into the rave
scene because it feels very loving and friendly and accepting. So
you find a lot of the people who are like really, really into raves
usually have some kind of problems. Not always, though. Some people
just like it because it’s a lot of fun for everybody."
The sights at raves are known to make up the strangest and most
exhilarating part of the experience for many. Stories of people
wearing all black, dancing on the distant hilltop with bendable
glowropes outlining their bodies seem the norm when it comes to
desert parties, while tales of parents buying ecstasy with their
youths in order to enjoy a bonding experience closely tie the
phenomenon to a sort of ’60s-esque mind-expansion festival. Either
way, raves leave an imprint on all who come in contact with
them.
"It’s opening people up to new things instead of just trapping
them in their own little worlds," claims first time raver Leah
Green. "I’d like to try it again, I think. It was a positive
experience. Thumbs up. All right, I want to do more drugs,
woo-hoo!"