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Defining Rave Culture is a complicated and difficult task. So many of its aspects are subjective and compile a myriad of experiences that can range from the spiritually enlightened to the sobering, apathetic negativity that contrasts at the other end of the spectrum. The definition of “rave” can be as complex, and sometimes as highly structured as a rave event itself. Raves could exist for a few hours, a whole night, or an entire weekend. A rave could be an indoor party with 10 people or an outdoor extravaganza with thousands. Participants could be anyone, young or old. There may have been two DJ’s or a dozen, all spinning an endless supply of electronic genres and sub-genres of music, like techno, happy hardcore, trance, jungle, house, breaks or drum and bass. Many “ravers” took drugs like ecstasy, MDMA, acid, marijuana, and some may have taken nothing at all. Other than DJs, electronic music, willing participants and a venue, what can be called a rave defies limits. “Rave eventually came to signify a culture that [was] in constant flux”. This article seeks to ask and answer why and how the scene came to be and discuss the rave, that of its origins in the 1980’s and its hazy phasing out in the late 1990’s into the dance club based scene of today, the people who inhabited the culture, the facets that made the culture what it is, and the scene now.

Origins:

The roots of the rave scene can be traced back to the coming together of four related musical movements. The first is from the New York City dance scene of the 1970’s, which was a predominantly gay, black and Puerto Rican scene. This scene was based in disco, which was in its essence a black and gay countercultural tool, eventually taken up by white, heterosexuals. Disco’s musical influences include funk, Latin and soul music. The disco sound has soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady ”four-on-the-floor” beat. The second movement is from the Chicago “house” music scene, as it existed in the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s. House was strongly influenced by elements of soul and funk infused varieties of disco. House generally mimics disco’s percussion, especially the use of a prominent bass drum on every beat, but may feature synthesizer basslines, electronic drums, electronic effects, funk and pop samples, and reverb or delay enhanced vocals . The third is the Detroit “techno” music scene of the early 1980’s. A distinguishing trait of Detroit techno is the use of analog synthesizers and early drum machines, or, in later releases, the use of digital emulation to create the characteristic sounds of those machines . Finally, the fourth is from the British “acid house” scene of the mid to late 1980’s that grew out of mimicry of the dance clubs in the sunny location of Ibiza, Spain (now referred to as the party capital of the planet). Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Each one of these musical scenes eventually combined, through word of mouth and equal experience. The passage of knowledge and understanding amongst the ranks of the musically inclined helped to form a style and verve that was essentially brand new in the mid 1980’s.

Ecstasy, X, or methylenedioxymethylamphetamine is the underlying parallel that really helped to create the rave scene. Ecstasy arrived in the UK around 1985 and had been spread as a recreational drug of the hippies in North America and as an international Buddhist sex commune drug and, of course, the transatlantic “party monsters” of the music business in the early 1980’s. This new and amazing drug made for an ephemeral, yet euphoric state of mind. The drug was incredible and caused “the whole club [to] dance, from the bar to the dance floor, onto the stage. Complete, hundred percent club euphoria, where you felt like a dick if you weren’t dancing.”

How ever anyone chooses to define a rave, it is clear that much of what the scene revolves around is dance and music. Basically, America created the DJ and gave him his music, and Britain, in its fertile club culture, gave him a home, where he and his people created the rave. It was around 1988 that the DJ and his music found itself spreading across oceans, after a new kind of music met a new kind of drug and the trends of combining huge sound, with huge crowds of drug addled, happy people spread throughout the UK and eventually into North America as thousands of people, eventually millions, discovered a new way of enjoying themselves and that is essentially what became “the rave scene.”

What Really Makes a Rave, a Rave?

A rave was usually a night event, where people would go to dance, socialize, get high and generally have fun in an uninhibited way with other likeminded people. Of course, this sounds like almost any other kind of generic party, so what is it that made a rave, a rave? “Some say it’s about the creation of a community and re-connecting with something perceived as lost. Others just say it’s about necking loads of pills and getting wasted with your mates in a field.” A lot of people I talk to, say its all about the music.

Rave Music:

The music was LOUD, really loud, “can’t hear yourself think,” loud. Most rave venues had more than one room, each with its own sub-genre of electronic music, ranging from hard and fast paced, to slow and meditative. Most of these genres of music do not incorporate lyrical content, it is strictly sound and bass, although MCs, sample vocals and hip hop vocalists can, and do compliment a lot of the genres in question. House, trance, dub step, breaks, trip hop, hip hop, glitch hop, drum and bass, techno, ambient, jungle, literally dozens of sub-genres and scenes have spawned from the early days of the rave scene. Genealogies and music maps show a convoluted and interesting journey from the roots to the newest and most popular forms of electronic music. A lot of the evolution came from the incorporation of the myriad of drugs and mind-altering substances that ravers and DJs alike were experimenting with. Ecstasy and pure MDMA give a sense that the music “needs to be danced to, the beat courses through your veins and you can’t help it.” These types of music differed completely from the mainstream club and bar scene where you found top 40 and pop music that most ravers hated. This was also a core reason for rave parties, to snub and counter the “lack” of popular, mainstream music, style and culture of the times.

Rave people:

It could have been the people in attendance; they were, of course, both males and females ranging in the most part from fourteen to twenty-five years old, which is much younger than a typical nightclub. Unlike most dance clubs, many of those in attendance would be experimenting with drugs. Also, the people who would dance, like today, faced a DJ and made room for others to dance, contrasted to the closed social circles of a bar. The rave “style” also played a factor with its people, as in its peak, the rave scene sported people wearing fuzzy, baggy pants, brightly coloured t-shirts, dozens of necklaces and bracelets with colourful beads and slogans, “poofy” head gear and coloured spiked hair, as well as drug enhancing features like soothers to heighten the rush of the drugs pumping in the blood, chewing gum, glow sticks and even paint masks with “Vic’s Vapo Rub” smeared on the inside to enhance the sensation of breathing.

Rave Atmosphere:

The atmosphere can also be a factor; the flashing lights of clubs were complimented with additional spectacular props, like mini ferris wheels or large rows of television screens pumping out colourful visual computer generations. Like the British “acid house” scene, a lot of psychedelic feels and images would be used to decorate the venue, as well as powerful laser lights and fog machines to enhance the fantasy of the celebration . Venue and location set ups of raves would have also been a factor; Raves were remarkably well coordinated, not only with scheduling DJs and the often incredibly complex setup of lighting and sound, but many raves had a complex checkpoint system that you had to pass through before you were finally given the location of the rave. An individual would have to meet various people at various locations, and each one would determine whether or not you were someone who should be attending, then send you to the next point. This way they could widely advertise the start point, but could weed-out potential narcs or sketchy people. The venue itself might also be a key, as raves take place usually in abandoned warehouses, former nightclub locations, and secluded fields. Raves were kept secret by everyone, and the derelict styles of the places where they took place came from the fact that raves must be out of the way, and inconspicuous. The sheer volume of people, and sound and the amount of drug use and illegal antics of dancing until dawn can attract the authorities, and “there is nothing worse than a rave being broken up mid party by a pack of cops with a narc complex.”

Rave Ideals:

Another significant factor that separated raves from the mainstream was the philosophies and ideals of PLUR, or Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. This ethos was the crux of the rave movement, it is what formed the way ravers thought and stemmed from the core of the experiences everyone had. It sported slogans like “breaking down barriers,” it formed “unity” and sought to seek and experience pleasure as an end in itself. From my personal experience in the scene, this philosophy manifests itself in a number of ways; I have never felt threatened at a “rave-type” event, when you bump into someone, they often say sorry and smile and generally people will perform friendly acts like offering cigarettes, giving away candy and gum and hugs, and offering water. This was a far cry from the macho norms of the nightclub or the bar. In addition, the experiences one can have at a “rave type” event can trigger emotions, “vibes,” and feelings that you may not ever experience in a normal, day-to-day sense. Someone you are already close with can become even closer and a sort of bond is made between you and everyone experiencing the same things around you. PLUR also dealt with the counter of the “post communist/capitalist, us/them ‘dominator’ culture world, [and sought to] transform it into a ‘partnership culture world’ of global unity with respect for cultural diversity.” It is easy to come across media in the scene today that deals with trends and ideas like these. The angst and hatred of the corporations that control our information, the censorship of what we say and think and the doctrines that irk and bother the youth counter culture of the times. Something like this, via Ill Gates, an excellent DJ in the scene today:

The Scene Today:

There will always be raves, even if they are much more difficult to find. Raves are much less common now, and have reverted back to their initial ultra-underground nature. The colourful, flashy, fuzzy, countercultural “hippiness” of the rave scene is still here and there, but generally it has been replaced with something similar but distinctly different. Basically, raves started small and underground, became too popular, thus too commercial, then there was a split as the club based, cash-motivated scene sprouted-off in one direction, and the old scene went the other. According to some observers, by the end of the 1990s techno and rave had gone through the same cycle that every original music of an era goes through; a passionate start in the early years with lots of innovators and the idiom of the true underground, a mass movement where everybody had to be at a rave somehow, a decaying phase when “raver” became the most anticipated word to describe someone in the scene with. By the early 2000’s the term “raver” had fallen out of favour, and there were really only some traditional raves left in Central Europe. The pacifiers and soothers, the masks and neon colours were becoming a “brand” of the rave scene and people became increasingly judgmental as the scene grew too large, attracting much less PLUR-oriented people, and those things became cliche. Today the electronic music scene incorporates a lot of what came out of the rave scene, drugs, louder electronic music, better DJs and newer more interesting sub-genres of music. The core of the scene lies in music festivals like Burning Man, or Shambhala, or Coachella, to name a few. These events resemble the raves of the 1990’s because they incorporate a huge gathering of like-minded, PLUR like people.

Discussing the rave scene in such a small space is quite difficult. Like any sub-culture, the rave scene and its roots are extremely complex, but as varied and particularly interesting as any other. There is a great deal of published material that deals with the various facets of the scene, relating it to religion, dance, counterculture, drug culture, youth culture, evolved music scenes and the common anthropological and ethnological pursuit of understanding, documenting and recording a limb of the human societal tree. Much of it could not be discussed, but the general goals and questions of the article and the critical thoughts have been answered; the rave scene was a culmination of a generation of young people, with common ideals, fashions, drugs and forms of music to combine to form a distinct and rather important scene in the way people experience music today on a mass scale. The rave scene is one of the closest post modern sub-cultures to present day that can be discussed and that is why it was chosen, truly proving that anthropology is never static and like the rave scene itself, is always in a constant state of flux.