w0rd. Solipsism.

The rave scene.

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.