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Reasons for the Death of the Rave Scene (pg. 3)
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| halo20 |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
But a big reason, if not the reason for the explosion of the rave scene was this new wonder drug called "E" that everyone had to try. |
Really?
The birth of the rave scene (circa manchester late 80's) came about from the acid house revolution. (insert history of clubbing here, re: oakie et al)
At least from what I read, E had nothing to do with it. Or I guess it all boils down to the definition of "rave" again. |
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| halo20 |
| quote: | Originally posted by MattVagrant
bingo -- the average citizen's epistemological perspecive on 'rave culture' has been deftly and stigmatically constructed by the media (despite the fact that these constructs are founded on inaccurate and even false pretenses).
hand in hand with that too, is both the media's focus on ecstacy as a drug, and the cops' subsequent focus on busting it. why? well, because the media constructs the drug as an anathematic topic in the minds of 'the people', the cops know they will best look like they're doing their job if they're seen in the media as fighting what is already PERCEIVED by the people as an 'evil' and ever-so-harmful threat. it's an ongoing cycle that serves to function as one of Althusser's ideological apparatuses, if any of you are familiar with his thinking.
the short of it is: that which is articulated in some form of text, is what BECOMES true (not the other way around). and, people being as inexorably exposed to a wide variety of media channels as they are, the truth-shaping power of the media is not only evident, but profound. |
Brilliant post.
The media is garbage, 100%. But you can see the trouble in glorifying parties that encourage illegal drug abuse on a massive scale. Not to mention the fact that our police authorities were adding fuel to the fire by grossely exagerrating violence/ gun incidents in conjunction with hip-hop clubs.
I just have a hard time admitting that bad press coverage resulted in a movement dying off.
I just think it was a culmination of little things (including the media) accompanied with the large sociological trend of it no longer being cool. (that may be oversimplying it a bit) |
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| MattVagrant |
| quote: | Originally posted by halo20
Really?
The birth of the rave scene (circa manchester late 80's) came about from the acid house revolution. (insert history of clubbing here, re: oakie et al)
At least from what I read, E had nothing to do with it. Or I guess it all boils down to the definition of "rave" again. |
:D
You're right about all of that John (you have a book on the history of it all too, don't you?). The definition IS everything I think. As I understand it, ecstacy was definitely a significant part of the evolution of things, and definitely the most significant aspect of everything that the media latched onto and ran with, but it certainly wasn't present until much later on in this so-called evolution (ie. 'rave culture' was already existent and healthy before its involvement, let alone when its involvement became widespread). Acid was 'the drug' for some time, wasn't it? |
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| Jayx1 |
The EDM scene is evolving and reinventing itself. The underground movement is definately resurging and clubs that play EDM are on the rise again. Just take a look at Republik which will be doing an EDM night. New kids on the block also include Boa and now I read there will be a Fatboy Slim party in a sound studio.
I personally think that a lot of people are getting sick of hip hop and are looking for another avenue. Many of them are turning to EDM.
What killed the former scene?
- Media as mentioned above. The biased and inaccurate coverage intended to flare emotions. If this wasn't a good lesson on how you shouldn't believe everything you read/watch than SARS was. The media in North America needs to reform itself from the yellow journalism it has become.
- Politics which went hand in hand with the fear mongering media. The politicians made all these crazy rules so they would look like the good guys. After the media went crazy the politicians had to do something to look good. Politicians always knew what was going on but unless people (led by the media) are freaking out they arent going to do anything about it.
- Radio dried up beginning with Kiss 92. They single handedly destroyed top 40 radio in Toronto by bringing their american style format to Toronto. As a result, all the other stations tried to imitate thus abandoning any form of EDM on the radio. First casualty was Energy 108 which IMO was hugely responsible for spreading the EDM culture in Toronto. Even the euro cheese and commercial house was important on the radio because it became almost like a "gateway music" into the serious stuff. We need a dance music format radio station in Toronto if we ever want to bring it back to the way it was.
Today we have quite a few venues but it definately isnt the same. The attitude of people who go has changed and you need to look no further than this message board as proof. People never used to worry about petty things like whistles and too many people. These things were all apart of partying and usually symbolized a good party. Most of the time the worry was about how to find the party, where exactly is the location? who is playing? and i hope I dont get too dirty by the end of the night(warehouse parties usually left some sort of wierd oil or gunk on your shoes) and i hope there are lots of people.
I think the next few years will see the resurgence of EDM in Toronto as well as the resurgence of many genres that have been pushed into the background such as acid house/techno, breaks, and house. Prog and trance will still be around but both have seen their hayday around here for now.
Oh yeah and Liberals suck, Asian girls are hot, Smoking laws are communist, my personal philosophy on life is that you get what you pay for.
LOL |
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| MattVagrant |
| quote: | Originally posted by halo20
I just think it was a culmination of little things (including the media) accompanied with the large sociological trend of it no longer being cool. (that may be oversimplying it a bit) |
Thanks John :)
Constructively... Do you think that the media may have served as a catalyst to this end (see quote)?
I certainly agree that it was not JUST the media that caused this 'death' as you put it. But I want you to see the media as the filter through which our PRIMARY way of knowing the world is shaped. I want the media to be seen as the central hub of a continuous and cyclical and rhetorically constructive process consisting of 'text' that is input, and output, with its apparent newsworthiness regulating how loudly that output is voiced (note that there is much subjectivity involved here too, and no such thing as unequivocal truth). For example, there is a counter-movement to the anti-rave movement. In most cases, how well, and how impartially, does this perspective filter through?
So, bad connotations about 'rave culture' following from the media may have inspired more (even pre-emptive) parental opposition for example. Or, looking at the path taken in Toronto, legislation (supported by 'the people' as a result of bad connotations created by the media) essentially choked off what was once one of the healthiest and most vibrant 'rave scenes' in the world.
You know how it worked: raves were essentially (although not technically) quashed, thus nearly eliminating the possibility of pre-age-of-majority highschoolers being attracted to EDM in general, thus seeing most of them interpellated by other ideologies that were more accessible (i.e. pop culture, or whatever other more easily accessible faction you can think of). I think that part of the reason that things went so big had a lot to do with raves being absolutely incredible all-ages events. Take it away, and those all-agers are still partying, just in a different scene, all while getting essentially recruited into that different scene.
My point is that the media is central to it all. Not solely responsible, as you're pointing out John, but the point at which everything intersects. |
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| Jayx1 |
| Yes, raves were definately a party training ground |
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| MattVagrant |
John, Jay: you guys are both on the money.
Jay, I totally agree w/ your bit on radio: It was such a shame seeing Energy 108 go from the VERY pro-EDM outfit that they were, to something very far from that, and everyone EDM-inclined knew why (competition). I hate pop culture. |
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| halo20 |
| quote: | Originally posted by MattVagrant
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;) |
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| StereoPrincess |
but wouldn't the media saying that raves were bad make them more appealing to the young public? the rebel inside everyone always wants to do the things that everyone says are bad.
i think raves are gone because something better came up. why would anyone want to hang out in dingy warehouses when they can go to giant super clubs with amazing lights and other such appealing things.
rave culture as a feeling of togetherness throughout the world still esists. just because we don't have raves anymore doesn't mean that rave culture is dead.
hippie culture is not dead either. they just fight for different things now. anti-GMO, anti-WMF, anti-iraq war..... |
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| amb_ |
| "energy never dies, it just changes form..." |
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| Jayx1 |
| raves near the end were not held in dingy warehouses but were actually held at the exhibition, international centre etc. Even in the early 90s there were raves at the Science centre and the skydome for example. |
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| Tb. |
| quote: | Originally posted by MattVagrant
You know how it worked: raves were essentially (although not technically) quashed, thus nearly eliminating the possibility of pre-age-of-majority highschoolers being attracted to EDM in general, thus seeing most of them interpellated by other ideologies that were more accessible (i.e. pop culture, or whatever other more easily accessible faction you can think of). I think that part of the reason that things went so big had a lot to do with raves being absolutely incredible all-ages events. Take it away, and those all-agers are still partying, just in a different scene, all while getting essentially recruited into that different scene. |
Just to add onto what you were saying, and that i dont think has been brought up, is the money factor. All these people partying in abandoned warehouses, were probably taking away from the club scene by doing so. I might be going out on a limb by saying this, but maybe clubs also had a part in bringing down the rave scene. It is no secret to police that those massive crowds that go to Guv & KH do drugs, but they turn a blind eye to it anyway, because they know that people have to go out and do drugs somewhere, and i'm sure that someone at some point gets paid to keep their mouth shut. Why dont the police make a big deal out of the drug use in Guvernment, or the firecode violations? Probably because it is not in their advantage to do so. There must be some kind of relationship between police and clubs, because they both seem to be getting something out of it. |
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