Why do most of the veteran ravers, and true ravers (the ones that go to raves for music) hate calling raves, raves? They always refer to them as "parties"

I find that the only people who really say "Hey, I went to a RAVE last night" are the people who go to raves to be "cool" or to get fucked up. I have never heard a long time raver call a rave what it is. It's always "I went to this party last night" or "Wanna hit up this party?"

In my personal opinon, I think that the reason why true, and veteran ravers have a hard time calling a rave by it's name is because the word "rave" does not go without deeply rooted stereotypes. Show me one person who has not gone to a rave, whom when you tell them you went to a rave, they either, wince, ask you if you dropped E, or start worryinig about you. Whenever an adult or uneducated person hears the word "rave", they think of a place that young people go to do drugs, heroin addicts, cocaine, unprotected sex, and cracked out sketch pads all over the place.

I believe that the reason why most veteran ravers don't call raves what they are is because they want to seperate themselves from the stereotype the uneducated world has about raves. To veteran ravers, a "rave" is what the media labels as a crackhouse with background music. A party is a place to go, listen to music, and have fun. The people who really understand raves, don't want to say they went to a rave because they believe they will be falling into the media stereotypes.

I personally call raves parties. I don't need to be a rebel or a cool guy by wearing pink phat pants and candy bracelets just to show everyone im a hardcore raver. I go to raves for the music, and to meet new people. I'm not saying that i haven't tried any substances, but I am saying that I do not go to raves for the sole purpose of getting ripped, which is what alot of people do.

I never really realized how many people go to raves either for to gain the title of "raver" or just to get ripped until this new years eve. A bunch of people didnt even know any of the songs, called everything that was being played "techno" and started bobbing their heads when the DJ played "Lose Yourself" by Eminem.

Veteran Ravers you do not usually see all candied out. You will rarely here them use the word "rave". They want to seperate themselves from the above stereotypes.

Now it is hard to call anything a rave. The club scene and the rave scene have melded together into one huge mess. The club heads are pissed off at all the candy kids and their "ugly baggy clothes" coming into their clubs, and all the ravers are pissed off that the club heads that only are there to pick up girls, tight dress pants with untucked dress shirts are listening to their DJs. How can we call a rave what it is today when most music that is played at raves is being played at clubs?

The word "rave" is a strange one. No one really knows exactly what a rave is. Everyone has their own opinions of what a rave is. The definition of a rave is erratic and always changing.







I'm sorry if this article isn't well structured but it's almost 1am and i did my best.

I dont consider myself a vetran by any means but I do agree. I dont care for the word rave anymore, I guess partially for the stereotypes. I remember realizing that most of the people around me were just there to get fucked and didnt care about the music or dj. It is all about being cool nowadays, because raves are the most mainstream part of the underground now. And we all know how special people feel by being part of underground society. I used to really hate the candy kids and the etards, but now I just feel bad for the people who go and think that's what it's all about.

I went on a rant without really knowing what I was talking about.

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when i tell my non-rave friends that i went to a 'rave' last nite .. then yes .. the stereotypes kick in, but by now even most non-ravers so to speak have a general idea of what goes on at these events and don't always presume the usual stereotypes..

i think a big reason why ppl don't use the word anymore is simply because they might think it as outdated. much like the term 'discotheque' ..

essentially the terms discotheque and club might mean the same thing.. one could argue that only disco was played at the former, but i'm sure disco has been played at clubs before ..

so yea , again just a choice of words.. but i'm sure stereotypes have something to do with it as u've indicated..

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What stereotypes are you talking about?

Right now when I hear the word rave the only thing that I associate it with is "drugs". And it's not a freaking stereotype. Got to any modern day rave(hullabaloo, destiny, purple heaven etc) and you'll see that 90% of people there are fucked up. Guvernment doesn't even come close in terms of drug usage!
I don't know how raves were 10 years ago, but I'm sure that drugs were an essential part of it as well.

And if you ask me, I do think that all ages raves should be banned. It's soo easy to get addicted or just to do stupid shit when you are 15-16...

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My Blog: durafei.blogspot.com - Last Update March 23, 2006

I'm a veteran "raver" and i call them "raves"

I don't give a fuck about any misconceptions people have of these so called 'rave' parties.

And with all due respect Durafei - Shut the fuck up about naming companies like that. Hullabaloo is a drug fest, Destiny can be, but Purple Heaven is much different. PH generally attracts an older crowd, if not more mature one, than that of it's counterparts. And at PH, people are generally drunk. If they're not Drunk... they're probably on K, and that's about it. Where as the other parties, it's all about eating pills like Pacman.





Drugs have been an essential part of the scene, in terms of attracting people seeking out new experiences and shit, but there's also a large percentage that go for the music. Saying that Drugs are the main reason and denying the existance of drugs at clubs is silly. If anything, there's MORE drugs at clubs than at raves. The drugs are just behind closed doors more often. I've been to clubs and raves, and at clubs i've been asked if i wanted Coke, Speed, Heroin, Weed, K, Crystal, PCP, 2CB, E, Adam*, Eve*, Liquid X(GHB), and so on, so forth. At raves, it's been pretty much Crystal, E and K.

In fact, there's so much more drugs at clubs that some have been shut down because of all the "evidence"
The most famous of all clubs in North America - The Limelight (NYC) was shut down by the DEA because of rampant drug use.
Little known fact - The owner of Limelight is a Canadian guy - out of CORNWALL.


* - adam and eve are similar drugs to E (MDMA) but vary in composition slightly - i consider MDA and MDEA very different from MDMA for the obvious reason that... well... they aren't MDMA.

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quote:

And with all due respect Durafei - Shut the fuck up about naming companies like that. Hullabaloo is a drug fest, Destiny can be, but Purple Heaven is much different. PH generally attracts an older crowd, if not more mature one, than that of it's counterparts. And at PH, people are generally drunk. If they're not Drunk... they're probably on K, and that's about it. Where as the other parties, it's all about eating pills like Pacman.

I'm just speaking from experience here. I've been to Purple Heaven parties and I have observed otherwise.

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My Blog: durafei.blogspot.com - Last Update March 23, 2006

shit.. everytime i bring up this topic in a forum people get mad at my opinion

for me, the two words mean the same thing, rave and party. one might be prettier than the other, but the same thing goes one at each. there's people there who just want to get fucked out of their mind, there's people who just want to pick up, and there's people there because they love the music. you can't really get away from any of these, so just try and focus on what you want to. in with the good, out with the bad kinda thing.

it doesn't really make much sense, but i can't explain it that well. i only started "raving" or "partying" or whatever you want to call it in jan 2001, so i guess i'm a newbie or whatever, but since then i've learned only focus on the things that you go there for initially. look at the quote at the bottom of my sig, and that pretty much sums up my reasons for every event that i've went out to.

peace out, plur, big ups, props, mah bro, whatever,
Ken

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Why be afraid to call it a rave?

To me that's like turning the music down when your friends are around...

I realize I'm not a veteran, in fact I suppose I'm a s00per n00bie when it comes to parties, but I've been listening to electronica for 3 years, more if you count the Impulse Tracker days, and frankly I just don't give a rat's ass what anyone else thinks.

If it's a trance/D&B party put on by a trance/D&B organization at a venue that has always hosted trance/D&B DJs, well then it's a frickin' rave, with or without the drugs and candy kids (and 40+ tweaked out AZNs ). I went to Destiny and so far I've told anyone who's asked that it was a rave; I didn't roll at the party nor have I ever, and if those friends want to fantasize about pills falling from the ceiling into the mouths of people dancing on the already unconscious drugged-up bodies of barely-alive ravers while 300 other people have a massive orgy in the corner, then those friends can feel free to lick my ass and wallow in their own pitiful ignorance.

Personally I'd feel much more awkward about saying I went to a "club" (I'd prefer to say a bar or a pub or something), because that conjures up a verifiable image of sleazy drunken morons grinding to Alice Deejay with 25 other sleazy drunken morons before finally taking one home for 4 minutes of drunken pointless unfulfilling sex.

I go for the music and the crowd... period. Much better than the North American club culture of dorks going to "pick up."

On Dec. 31/Jan 1, I did not meet one person who I didn't like. That's definitely not something I can say about most "parties" I've gone to. Peace, if I met any of you without knowing it then you guys are awesome.



P.S. As a disclaimer, all stereotypes are based on some element of truth, like it or not.

I've always associated "rave" with something more underground. Going to see Paul Oakenfold at the guvernment or the hersey center I would never call a rave. Going to some abandoned building or parking garage seeing lesser known djs i'd call a rave.

that's my take on it anyway

you can call it whatever you'd like, but here in detroit there is a pretty fine line between a rave and a 'party'. basically, the rave scene here has been dead for a few years now. back then i was too young to go to any of it, but i guess it was huge here. i have asked a lot of ppl about it, and they, and myself, would basically classify a rave as a more underground party, with minimal lighting etc. no flyers on the streets or postings on the internet, it was all word of mouth massive warehouse parties, full of detroit techno, and nothing else. it died because of the commercialization and cops could find out this way, and now every party gets busted here. the scene here now exists of huge commercial clubs and ******s listening to darude and dj alligator. its more of a club scene, and i wouldnt necessarily call it a party at all, and definately would never call it a rave. i think i would punch someone in the face if they said they went to a rave and went to some shitty club that played top 40 dance. let people generalize and stereotype however they want, because if they think the scene is full of drugs, well they are right. not a lot of ppl here where i live appreciate this kind of music, and i think they are missing out. if i could move to a place like toronto, or the uk, holland, etc, i would in a second, just because i love to party, rave, whatever the fuck you want to call it, and i would love for someone where i live to have as much of a deep interest in it as i do, and if she was a girl, i would marry her.

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Originally posted by The Highroller shit.. everytime i bring up this topic in a forum people get mad at my opinion

people aren't mad at ur opinions .. it's just that when u raise sensitive issues like this or pose questions online, u gotta expect a flame war to come outta it. it's been proven already that on TOTA there can hardly be a debate without people arguing or getting mad at another's comments, hence a debate..

but yea .. i guess just expect it ..

i think the most argued/flammed neverending thread topics are usually:

1. Political
2. Music Genres
3. Raves/Clubs/Drugs

try to find atleast 5 threads with these topics that don't contain flame posts, it's almost impossible ! but i shouldn't really say that since i've never looked, so yea.. i'm generalizing here ..

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Palm Trees > Pine Trees , Sand > Snow