RAVES/RAVING

Raves originated in England during the late 1980s as acid house parties (that is, parties that featured the form of dance music known as "acid house" and related forms) held in clandestine venues, such as warehouses, aircraft hangars, and barns. The parties fused live, deejay-mixed techno music with all-night dancing, and they were often associated with drug use, particularly the use of Ecstasy, a drug referred to more formally as 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDMA). By the early 1990s, the phenomenon arrived in the United States fueled by the desire of many American deejays to bring the sounds and experience of rave to an American audience. Initially arriving in California, the rave scene expanded quickly to the East Coast, where Frankie Bones, credited as one of the founders of the rave movement in the United States, began throwing a series of large underground parties called "storm raves" at which many renowned rave deejays made their debuts. Rave events have since been organized in every state across the country.

The Rave Culture

While a broad examination of rave culture reveals anything but a homogeneous crowd, U.S. ravers at the beginning of the twenty-first century were generally Caucasian youth of middle-class backgrounds between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. Content to live a middle-class existence during the week, ravers viewed their participation in raves as "mini vacations," during which they challenged their parents' norms of behavior. As part of their resistance to adult norms, ravers forsook discipline, the staple of productivity, in favor of abandonment.

Ravers typically wore androgynous clothing, including baggy pants, baseball hats, and T-shirts emblazoned with cartoon characters. Children's toys, plastic chains, lollipops, and pacifiers were typical accessories, too. All told, infantilism is symbolic of ravers regaining their innocence and escaping from their adolescent problems. The androgynous clothing also implies ravers prided themselves on their lack of pretension. Rave clothing became increasingly provocative, however, largely because of the introduction of new members into the rave community, particularly the regular denizens of dance clubs, and the fashion trends they bring with them. In the early 2000s, a club crowd frequently joined in attendance at raves, although their presence was generally unappreciated by serious ravers. As with any subculture, the community orientation associated with rave is confined only to those who "belong" to the group, not to outsiders. Nevertheless, increasing outsider attendance demonstrated its expanding appeal.

Rave Environments

The venues at which raves took place were usually announced the day prior to their occurrence, presumably to evade police surveillance. Amazingly, the communication networks of rave culture could organize thousands of people in only a matter of days. First-time participants accessed a rave if an active participant in the scene took them to it. The only way to continue participation was to attend the parties; inactivity resulted in exclusion. By 2004 it became more common for raves to be held at a variety of public venues or other "legal spaces," venues that have safety features such as emergency exits, event security, and drinking water. The increasing number of raves that took place in legal spaces was indicative of the expanding popularity of these events.

With respect to music, techno was the original music of choice of the rave scene during its earliest stages of development, but other related genres soon developed. The choice of music acted as a filter to determine who was attracted to the events. Irrespective of the genre, the music had a high level of bass and tended to be fast-paced, playing anywhere between 115 and 300 beats per minute. Computers, samplers, synthesizers, and sequencers produced the music, with few or no vocals. The chief purpose of the music was to inspire dance. Given the importance of the music, disc jockeys played a salient role by "spinning," the art of mixing songs together by using different pitches and tempos to create a seamless flow of music. Surprisingly, rave music lacks an established star system, presumably because the focus is on the rave, not the artist. Most musical releases are left unlabeled, a practice referred to as "white labeling."

Alcohol was often unavailable at raves because of its tendency to incite aggression and violence, which are counter to the ideals that underpin rave culture. Drugs, by contrast, played a significant role. Much of the bonding that occurred at raves happened while ravers were under the influence of Ecstasy, whose users reported feelings of empathy and well-being. Known as the "hug drug," Ecstasy allowed users to overcome social barriers. Because Ecstasy was known for inhibiting the sexual drive of its users, social interaction found at raves was largely affectionate, not sexual. Female participants have commented appreciatively about the lack of sexual tension at the events they have attended. Ravers' heightened sense of empathy prompted participants to embrace and touch each other affectionately. The crowd's behavior reflected a sense of community, even tribalism, among participants.

The four pillars of the rave scene—peace, love, unity, and respect (PLUR)—embodied the inclusive nature of raves. Ostensibly, the "vibe" encountered at raves was not replicated at other parties or clubs. Ravers frequently reported the absence of "attitude," fear of violence, and crowd aggressiveness, unlike at other similar events. The participants encountered at raves were generally welcoming, and claimed not to judge others on their clothing, physical appearance, sexual orientation, race, gender, or dancing ability. Of course, the presence of such accepting attitudes changed as new participants entered the scene; like any community, only those who fail to subscribe to the values that underpin the activity are marginalized.

Ecstasy

The recreational drug use associated with the activity was disconcerting to many people, however. Moral objections aside, the use of Ecstasy and other rave-related drugs could pose potentially harmful consequences to those who partook. Ecstasy increases water retention in its users, disturbing the balance of water and sodium levels. Urinating less and keeping more water in the body causes sodium levels to drop, which can result in seizures and cerebral edema, though such outcomes are exceedingly rare. Ecstasy can also produce severe toxicity, if overdosed, and hyperthermia, both of which can result in death. High environmental and core-body temperatures and muscular exertion from long-drawn-out dancing are believed to lower the risk of serious Ecstasy-related adverse effects, however. Moreover, active cooling measures (such as drinking water) and the use of the muscle relaxants, anticonvulsants, and sedative medications are believed to decrease mortality from the toxic ingestion of Ecstasy. Adequate facilities, such as drinking fountains, however, were often unavailable at the "underground" venues at which many raves were held. Consequently, venues ill equipped to respond to emergencies could jeopardize the safety of participants.

Complications following Ecstasy ingestion are unpredictable and surprisingly do not appear to be dose-dependent. In response to the unpredictable nature of the consumption of Ecstasy, the rave community launched awareness programs to educate ravers about pills. Nonetheless, the dangers associated with Ecstasy use were extended to rave culture, most notably by the press and municipal policy makers. Consequently, active discussions regarding the prohibition of raves were taking place across the United States by 2004.

See also: Drinking, Recreational Drug Use, Teenage Leisure Trends

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Critcher, C. "'Still Raving': Social Reaction to Ecstasy." Leisure Studies 19 (2000): 145–162.

Glover, T. D. "Regulating the Rave Scene: Policy Alternatives of Government." Leisure Sciences 25 (2003).

Linder, M. J. "The Agony of the Ecstasy: Raving Youth." Red Feather Journal of Graduate Sociology 4 (2001).

Martin, D. "Power Play and Party Politics: The Significance of Raving." Journal of Popular Culture 32 (1999): 77–99.

Reynolds, S. "Rave Culture: Living Dream or Living Death?" In The Clubcultures Reader: Readings in Popular Cultural Studies. Edited by S. Redhead. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 1997.

Tomlinson, L. "'This Ain't No Disco'. . . Or Is It? Youth Culture and the Rave Phenomenon." In Youth Culture: Identity in a Post-Modern World. Edited by E. S. Epstein. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 1998.

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Weir, E. "Raves: A Review of the Culture, the Drugs and the Prevention of Harm." Canadian Medical Association Journal 162 (2000): 1843–1848.

Troy D. Glover