- What are raves?
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The most basic explanation for a rave is an "all-night dance party". Of course, that's just barely scratching the surface.
The first thing you need to have a rave is ravers, or the people who attend raves. Ravers come in many shapes and sizes, ages, race, and religions. But they all have at least one thing in common, the love for the music.
After ravers, to have a rave you need a venue, or location. Generally raves will be held in big open warehouses, Morton Buildings™, or even club houses. Outside raves are popular too but, for obvious reasons, are not held all year round. Outdoor raves can be held virtually anywhere, from ski resorts and deserts to prarie lands and beaches.
The last ingredient you need is music! Music is what raves are all about. DJ's will come in and play live sets of all different kinds of electronic music. To a newer person, music at raves is normally classified under one category... LOUD!
The volume of the music is always a concern to some people. Earplugs are a common necessity for the people with more sensitive hearing. Larger raves can have systems around 40,000 to 65,000 watts of sound. Smaller raves will be more towards the lower end of the scale, around 20,000 watts. To put things in to proportion, the average factory car stereo system releases about 100 watts of sound at it's highest level.
Cost is another factor with raves, although it is one ravers tend to forget the most. Most raves will have an admission. This varies from rave to rave depending upon the size, DJ's, and rent of the venue and other expenses. Bottles of water are usually sold for a dollar, and concessions are sometimes available too.
- The meaning of PLUR
- Ravers carry with them an attitute at raves and sometimes even in everyday life. That attitude is 'PLUR': Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. It's more or less the 'Golden Rule' of raves... treat everybody the way you want to be treated.
Each individual is responsible for finding and maintaining and giving peace, love, unity, and respect. It isn't just handed to you. It doesn't just magically appear because you've arrived at a rave or taken some acid or ecstasy. You have to find it and generate it for yourself, and then GIVE IT AWAY to anyone and everyone to sort of "jump start" them into generating it. The "giving away" of it is what makes up, in my mind, the "vibe."
- What parents should know
- Ravers aren't evil. We all don't do drugs, we all don't go out and corrupt the little children. Raving is about being yourself, and having someplace to escape the pressures and stresses that life dishes us. Talk to your kids about drugs, and let them be who they are, and not what you want them to be.
- You know you're a raver when...
- You have sleeping patterns that would kill normal human beings.
- Almost every letter of the alphabet has an alternate meaning to you.
- You get an evil grin every time you see commercials for "E: The Entertainment Network".
- You can keep a straight face when you tell people "Really, not that many people are on anything....I'm serious!"
- You are happy when there's a recession because it means more empty warehouses.
- You can live for an entire weekend out of your bookbag.
- You are no longer just a raver... but a promoter, vendor, DJ, etc...
- You know about the Information Police.
- You're white and have dreads.
- You have trouble naming 5 friends who are not pierced SOMEWHERE.
- You go shopping for new clothes not by style and size, but by color and texture.
- You'll pay $20 for a ticket to an event that may very well not happen... and you might pay $30 for a pill that may very well be aspirin...but you WILL NOT pay $1.00 for that big glass of water!
- You can't pass an empty warehouse, church, school, big open field, barn, airplane hanger, phone booth, nuclear power plant, etc...without getting that far-off look in your eye and saying... 'Wow, what a great site for a...'
- You not only notice that household appliances like washing machines can generate a funky beat, you also argue about whether it's tribal or trance.
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