Rave
Rave
In 1988 the industrial "Acid House" music that pervaded underground clubs and warehouses in Chicago spread to England and gave birth to spontaneous all-night dance parties or "raves." Raves later migrated back to the United States, where thriving subcultures formed around the music-dance phenomenon in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. More than just a "good time," rave culture has been characterized by a pervasive mysticism that fuses the technological and the spiritual.
For many ravers, the computer-driven, heavy, hypnotic technobeat of the music induces dance trance and mystical journeying. DJs, or "technoshamans," mix together an eclectic sampling of music and sounds, combining jungle noises, tribal rhythms, and chanting monks, with a fast industrial beat ranging from 140 to 160 beats per minute. Physically and spiritually merging with the music, many ravers cultivate a state of consciousness in which they "let go," allowing the music to lead them in a postmodern, neotribal, cathartic experience.
Other rave elements that help to cultivate the shamanic journey include the use of virtual reality technology, lasers, and psychedelic computer-generated images projected onto large screens. For some, the rave itself is a sufficiently mind-altering experience. Others use psychotropic drugs such as "Ecstasy" (touted as an important vehicle for enlightenment and spiritual evolution) or "smart drinks" (fruit juice and nutraceutrical elixirs) to evoke and intensify the mystical experience.
Part of the allure of raves lies in the quest element involved in actually deciphering the rave's location. Information is passed on through word of mouth or a secretive system of mobile phones, toll-free numbers, and fax machines. Like a wild treasure hunt, the ravers search for clues to find their way to abandoned warehouses, open fields, beaches, and—in one case—a vacant airport runway. The mystery and intrigue of the quest tap into the archaic and mythic themes embraced by the closely related and overlapping subculture of cybernetic fantasy gaming. The nomadic quality of raves also speaks to the anarchic ethos among ravers, who tend to champion antistructure and spout "chaos theory."
Seeking to combine the spiritual power of the rave with efforts to revitalize Christian worship and make it more appealing to the twentysomething generation, former Catholic priest Matthew Fox and others organized a historic "Planetary Rave Mass" at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 1994. The multimedia rave featured large videoscreens flashing time-lapse nature footage evoking the cycles of life, death, and rebirth, all against a continuous background of hypnotic, ambient technomusic. A portion called "confessing our sins to God" that surrounded ravers with multiple screens showing graphic scenes of the Earth being polluted and desecrated in various ways was followed by group chants of "Lord, have mercy." Fox spoke with ravers of a medicine man who once said that "when a culture loses its spirituality, only the young can bring it back." Whether or not this is so, the neoshamanic, meditative, and mystical qualities of the rave constitute a particularly creative and vital youth-driven movement in contemporary spirituality.
See alsoCyber Religion; Drugs; Music; Mysticism; New Age Spirituality; Quest; Shamanism.
Bibliography
Lehmann-Haupt, R. "Sacred Raves." Yoga Journal (May-June 1995): 78–81.
Marshall, Jules. "Here Come the Zippies!" Wired (May 1994): 79–134.
Roof, Wade Clark, and Sarah McFarland Taylor, "The Force of Emotion: James's Reorientation of Religion and the Contemporary Rediscovery of the Body, Spirituality, and the Feeling Self." In TheStruggle For Life: A Companion to William James's TheVarieties of Religious Experience, edited by Donald Capps and Janet Jacobs. 1995.
Rushkoff, Douglas. Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace. 1994.
Sirius, R. U. How to Mutate and Take Over the World. 1996.
Sarah McFarland Taylor
rave
rave1 / rāv/ • v. [intr.] 1. talk wildly or incoherently, as if one were delirious or insane: Nancy's having hysterics and raving about a black ghost. ∎ address someone in an angry, uncontrolled way: [with direct speech] “Never mind how he feels!” Melissa raved. 2. speak or write about someone or something with great enthusiasm or admiration: New York's theater critics raved about the acting.3. inf. attend or take part in a rave (party).• n. 1. inf. an extremely enthusiastic recommendation or appraisal of someone or something: the film has won raves from American reviewers | [as adj.] their recent tour received rave reviews. 2. inf. a lively party or gathering involving dancing and drinking: their annual fancy-dress rave. ∎ a party or event attended by large numbers of young people, involving drug use and dancing to fast, electronic music. ∎ electronic dance music of the kind played at such events.rave2 • n. a rail of a cart. ∎ (raves) a permanent or removable framework added to the sides of a cart to increase its capacity.
Rave
Rave
A rave is a large, typically overnight dance party, with techno usually the preferred form of music. New musical forms and fashion trends often crop up at raves, as do a variety of drugs of abuse known as club drugs. Raves have been a part of youth culture since the late 1980s, when all-night parties and Detroit techno music became a phenomenon in the United Kingdom. Raves are held in a variety of places, from more traditional nightclubs to warehouses to open pastures (sometimes without the knowledge of the owners). Ravers, usually in
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their late teens and early 20s, are looking to escape traditional rules and expectations of society and instead to immerse themselves in a much looser underground atmosphere free of adult control.
A central part of rave culture is hedonism, or pleasure seeking. This pleasure seeking often leads to drug use, particularly methamphetamine (often called meth, crank, crystal, speed, or whizz) and MDMA (ecstasy). Other club drugs popular on the rave scene are Rohypnol, GHB, LSD, and ketamine. The abuse of a combination of drugs is so common on the rave scene that it is difficult to come up with a complete list of drugs. Ravers tend to regard the drugs they use as newer and safer than older drugs like heroin and PCP, also referred to as angel dust. But this is rarely true. In fact, deaths have occurred as a result of drug use at raves. Drug problems are common among ravers, making raves a source of public concern.
see also Club Drugs; Designer Drugs; Ecstasy; Ketamine; Phencyclidine (PCP); Rohypnol.
Rave
RAVE
A rave is a large, typically overnight dance party with a focus on techno and related forms of music. The rave provides a venue for innovative musical forms and fashions as well as for the use and abuse of a variety of drugs known collectively as Club Drugs. Raves and the "ravers" who attend them have been a part of youth culture since the late 1980s when all-night parties and Detroit techno music sprang up in the United Kingdom to form the phenomenon that is still a social concern today. Raves are held in a variety of locales, from traditional nightclubs to warehouses to open pastures (sometimes without the knowledge of the owners). A major part of the attraction of raves is the permissive, underground atmosphere. Ravers, who are more often than not in their late teens and early twenties, enjoy the freedom from supervision that is common at raves.
Hedonism or "pleasure seeking" is also of central value in rave culture, and this correlates with a high incidence of drug use. Many ravers freely admit to the presence of various club drugs on the rave scene, particularly Methamphetamine (meth, crank, crystal, speed or whizz) and Mdma (E, X, ecstasy, or rolls) although others such as Rohypnol, Ghb, Lsd, and Ketamine have recently gained more attention in the media as club drugs. In truth, polydrug abuse is common enough on the rave scene that no list of drugs can be regarded as comprehensive. Ravers tend to regard the drugs they use as newer and safer than "older" drugs like Heroin and Pcp. This is rarely true insofar as safety is concerned. Raves have certainly seen their share of drug casualties, and are cause for concern because of the high incidence of drug problems among ravers.
Richard G. Hunter