MORE FUN/RAVE CULTURE/WORLD'S END [part 3] (fwd)

[Bryan Fullerton]

Interesting...

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From: Fraser Clark <fraser@megatripolis.org>
Newsgroups: alt.rave,alt.culture.zippies
Subject: MORE FUN/RAVE CULTURE/WORLD'S END [part 3]
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 19:29:16 -0700
Lines: 209

MORE FUN/RAVE CULTURE/WORLD'S END [part 3] 

[from the written up notes of a speech RAVE CULTURE AND THE END OF THE
WORLD delivered by Fraser Clark to 300 students at Stanford University on
May 2nd, at the invitation of Richard Powers, Dance History Dept.]

SO, Rave is *not* just a party.  Of course it depends what we mean by a
party.  The concept is long due to be redefined.  The usual party is
actually a leftover from the industrial age, in my view, where the weekend
"party"  was a release for the worker ants after 5 days hard work in the
factories. 
 Since most of us don't actually live that way any more, we need to
 re-define it.  And the new paradigm will be along the lines of WORK-PLAY &
 PLAY-WORK. 
 
 By "party" most people think of picking up a member of the opposite (or
 same) sex, maybe getting off your face, dancing a little bit, chatting a
 little bit, drinking a little or a lot. None of these items would really
 happen at a real rave. 
 
 FIRST:  Alcohol is not the main lubricant.  A whole generation is now
 appearing where alcohol is NOT fashionable.  That alone would make Rave
 Culture a historically positive development.  If you'd told me ten years
 ago that alcohol would become unfashionable in my lifetime I'd have
 accused you of doing too much acid.  And I'm an optimist.  But it has. 
 
 SECOND:  Raving is not just a new dance step.  In fact there are no steps. 
 And you rarely dance with a partner.  You just get out on the floor and do
 what you feel or just follow whatever takes you over.  This is important. 
 The fact that there are no steps to hide behind makes everyone very naked. 
 I love watching people raving almost as much as I enjoy raving itself. 
 Everyone is unique.  Every dancing person tells their story whether they
 wish to or not.  Here's a fat girl, there's a skinny black dude etc. 
 Since you can only do what you are you are clearly exposed on the
 dancefloor.  And the fact that everyone is in the same position adds this
 feeling of everyone being naked together. 
 
 THIRD The beat is faster and each record mixes into the next (concept of
 mixing is very much attended to) each record should blend seamlessly into
 the next to produce a nonstop wall of sound.  Or an ocean of waves
 carrying us all forward towards a not-so-distant shore. 
  
 FOURTH The DJ is present, able to pick up on the mood on the floor, lift
 it when it's ready and bring it down again, only to lift it to a new peak. 
 When I first noticed this power the DJ potentially had to lead the crowd
 mood I called the DJ the TECNO SHAMAN - the phrase has stuck and you'll
 see it a lot. 
 
 Also you don't just have a little drinky and then have a little dance with
 some girl you've just met.  Nothing like that.  People dance to rave music
 for HOURS. It is shamanic, tribal african style dancing for hour after
 hour until your mind is stilled, your conditioning removed.  They call it
 a trance state but I prefer to see it as having your trance state
 *removed* so that your eyes are opened and you can see the world as it
 really is. 
 
 
 
 Now most raves stop there, even today, stop at what I call the First Stage
 of Rave.  And, as far as that goes, that's okay.  But it's very important
 to take the next steps.  If you've helped open someone's mind to new
 imput, then you should have good positive new imput available.  And this
 is where the Ambient Chill Out Room or rooms comes in.  Here you might
 have various knds of literature available, massage, talks (even like this
 one) and so on. I'll return to this when I speak of The Mythical Rave. 
 
 
 THE HISTORY OF RAVE CULTURE.
 
 You can get most of this from mags etc so I won't spend a lot of time.
 
 The music itself began in Chicago - called "Acid House" Music - connected
 to interering with a track, even pouring acid on it, "burning" it etc to
 produce another effect etc.  IU'e spoken on stage with Derrick Carter and
 I've heard him (and others at other times) state categorically that it
 had nothing to do with "acid".  But then, let's face it, if the papers
 were all accusing you of such a thing, what would *you* say?! 
 
 Then it was picked up in London and in Ibiza - which is interesting,
 because Ibiza was also a famous hippy hangout in the '60s and '70s - I
 spent several years myself there.  It's full of intimate little clubs,
 with micro dancefloors, and, of course, lovely mediterranean outdoors
 weather, beach and full moon parties.  Later massive clubs like Amnesia
 and Pacha were built.  So London's "trendies" used to hang out there,
 pcked up on the new music from Chicago, started mixing it in, along with
 the new drug from America, ecstasy (which had been almost entirely used
 there for couple therapy) and then brought it back to London. 
 
 An so appeared the first "acid house" parties.  And E Warehouse parties. 
 SHOOM, as I mentioned, is the most famous of the early ones.  Afficionados
 might be interested to know that Jenny, Danny Rampling's wife, grew up in
 Malta which is famous for its mafia and its clubs, so Jenny certainly knew
 a thing or two about making a club "fashionable". 
 
 From the first time I saw and heard "aceeed" House parties, I knew that
 this was the spiritual revival I had been predicting.  Most of the
 trendies - who seemed to see only a happy new dance style and lots of hugs
 - were of the loud opinion that it would all be over by Autumn, and have
 been saying the same thing ever since, but I knew right from the first
 moment that it would spread and spread and that's what it's done.  An
 interesting side-effect is that each place that takes it up thinks they're
 the best that's ever been, and I think this is very very important and
 healthy.  Not centralised. 
 
 A key element in the development of Rave Culture (as opposed to just
 ravers going to raves) was when the Ravers crossed over with New Age
 travellers and festivals.  This connected Rave back to its Hippy roots,
 thus giving it the social impetus, rebellion and some spirituality. 
 Obviously a whole book could be written on this subject. 
 
 The UK government has passed many laws against Rave Culture.  Why?  It can
 only be because they see the power of it. 
 
 And now, lastly, I'd like to read aloud a piece I wrote last night called
 The Mythical Rave.  It's a bit poetic, and a bit prosaic and
 informational. 
 
 
 
 The Mythical Rave should be out in the open air and should begin around
 sunset.  This rarely happens but it's the ideal I'm now describing. 
 People should start drifting in as the sun goes down - checking out the
 venue, finding their spot (where they can leave their things) maybe a
 tent, hanging their flag so others of their posse can find them, some food
 and so on. 
 
 By now the music has started, but it's slow and drifty and only
 occasionally rhythmic at this stage.  People wander around, greeting and
 meeting each other, settling in, checking out what other distractions are
 available.  These could include massage, body/face painting, stalls on
 social, political, ecological and personal/spiritual activities, brain
 machines, food and smart drinks, video-modem interlinks with other clubs,
 and so on and on.  Anything really that's inspiring, consciousness-raising
 or positive - no negative stuff or imges should be shown during the whole
 rave.  This is how we do it in Megatripolis and I'm very aware of the
 arguments about Art showing the Dark and the Light.  I'm very clear indeed
 that we get the Dark six days a week and, even if we get pure Light for a
 whole night, the balance is still on the side of the Dark. 
 
 Occasionally people will hit the dancefloor and loosen theselves up with
 some dancing.  Dancing at this early stage helps to get the blood flowing
 round your veins and generally loosens people up, helps them to mix, drop
 their social barriers, and so on. 
 
 Gradually over the night the music gets faster and more and more people
 join in. By just after midnight the place is starting to get as packed as
 it's going to be.  (This is different with indoor raves where most people
 probably arrive after midnight.) At my first acid house party there were
 20,000 kids going for it by 2am.  Massive energy as you can imagine. 
 We're now participating in a tribal gathering Love Dance to absolutely
 nonstop shamanic rhythmic drum rolls and electronic bleeps that slightly
 unhinge the mind (where am I? who am I?). 
 
 Gradually the Group Mind becomes more dominant.  It becomes WHO ARE WE? 
 I'm part of something.  I'm part of something that's actually bigger than
 myself.  I'm one of the people, these are my people, this is US! 
 
 In "Noise.  The Political Economy of Music" Jacques Attali says this: 
 "Music is prophesy.  Its styles are ahead of the rest of society because
 it explores, much faster than material reality can, the entire range of
 possibilities.  It makes audible the new world that will gradually become
 visible, that will impose itself and regulate the order of things." 
 
 By the middle of the night people are taking a break (some go all the way
 through nonstop of course) wandering around, huggng old friends and new
 friends, lots of hugging, not much direct sexuality because of this group
 Mind entity that's beginning to be felt by everyone present.  Ego meltdown
 into Group Mind and Consciousness. 
 
 Sunrise approaches.  Crucial time - definitely the mythological heart of
 the Rave.  Everyone back on the dancefloor now, dancing up a storm as the
 music gets louder and faster and more cosmic, possibly with angelic choir
 samplings and even classical music samplings to help arouse a religious
 sense of awe. 
 
 And so we DANCE THE SUN UP!  
 
 Like the old pagan festivals, we're all in this together, this is our
 planet, She is indescribably beautiful, gigantic, we are atoms of that
 Living Goddess.  Personally I can't see a better way to help people learn
 a love, respect and reverence for Nature than the classic open-air
 all-night Rave.  Can you imagine what it felt like with 20,000 people
 going for it and actually feeling together,and the power of a people
 together ... and then dancing the sun up?!  It is awesome, it is
 religious, and it is life-changing. 
 
 The current Yoga Journal has an article called Sacred Raves which says:
 
 "These all-night dance marathons look like hedonistic escape, but raves
 may just be the defining spiritual expression of a new generation."
 
 The Rev Matthew Fox of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco is quoted as
 saying:  "These kids are showing us how to pray in a new way, which is
 also an ancient way - with fewer books and more dancing". 
 
 [speech end]
 

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 Usenet: alt.culture.zippies * The Well: Topic 54, House Conference
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