Why I Appreciate Having Experienced Old School Raves

Old school raves of the late 90’s, early 2000’s were quite an experience to attend! I know, I know, countless others have beat this dead horse so hard that it died twice…

But relax, this isn’t another exhausting tirade from some burnt out, elitist has-been talking about “damn kids these days” while shaking their fist in the air. Besides, I’ve never been to Ibiza or Burning Man, so I don’t think you’d get the full effect of that type of dissertation from me anyways! 🙂

Nope…this post is about something else. I’m simply going to list some of the attributes of the earlier days of dance music from my own experience here on the west coast of the United States. Ah yes…good times indeed! I’ll also share some interesting observations and comparisons to what I personally see in today’s dance music scene.

Genre Wars And Elitism Didn’t Exist At Old School Raves

Although music snob elitism has always existed, it was very minimal back then. In fact, it was the exception, not the norm. People at old school raves were just happy to have a forum to go lose themselves in music and dance for hours on end.

Now days, it often feels like people are more concerned with being perceived as a “cultured audiofile expert” than an actual fan. Damn hipsters, I tell ya! 

This hilarious Jimmy Kimmel segment from a couple years ago shows people at SXSW being asked what they think about bands that don’t actually exist, and their responses and priceless:

It Was More About Genre Inclusion And Openly Embracing The Different Types Music Back Then (Or at least it felt like it to me!)

In the 90’s and early 2000’s, there was a big push in society towards embracing diversity in general. For me, this was high school and college years. Think of the glory days of MTV. Rock, hip hop, electronic, alternative and more, all being served up on a buffet of diversity. And it actually worked!

I remember good people from several different scenes and crowds all sitting in the campus lounge watching MTV and enjoying different flavors of music together. It was inclusive. It was a learning experience for us all to say the least. As a society, we finally had readily available, commercialized, mass distribution platforms where this could take place. 

With cable TV peaking and the internet taking off, people could be exposed to many different ideas, lifestyles and perspectives. And the dance music community was of course on the cutting edge of this transition within society.

Because of this pervasive ideology at the time, old school raves reflected it by generally having a set list and curation of artists that was very diverse. The music journey told a story throughout the night.

The set times and genres were purposely organized so the energy and  BPMs would start off slow, rise to a crescendo and often let you back down gently at the end. 

You’d see a night start off with some down tempo, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow / trip hop type vibes, then move into some vibey house or breaks, peak out with trance or drum & bass, maybe even some hardcore. Then it would often come full circle back down to some experimental or downtempo, as the sun came up. And everybody there loved and appreciated the entire journey!

Here’s a few recent tweets by dubstep maestro MUST DIE! about people pigeon-holing line ups and genre-hating:

Of course it depends on what the night is intended to be, what the promoter is trying to portray with the event, and how the line up is billed. Obviously, if you’re attending a tech house night at a local club and the opening DJ plays drum & bass, then yes, that could be a legit cause for concern.

But what about the responsibility of the fan to do a little research first on the event to find out who’s playing and when? If you’re only there for the headliner and genres you don’t care for are warming up, then go hit a damn bar for a couple hours before coming!

Also, there’s nothing worse than an opening DJ not playing their time slot. Walking in to a show at 9PM and being beaten over the head with the sledgehammer of peak hour electro or dubstep is a surefire way to kill the vibe of the entire night.

I see this all too often now days. DJs swing for the upper deck during their set without any self awareness or respect for the general flow of the night. Vomit. 

Newsflash! You can still play electro, drum & bass, even dubstep as an opening set if your track selection and vibe are right. There are plenty of tracks in those genres that are more vibey, deep and laid back then the high energy, peak hour stuff they’re known most for.

Honestly though, I do miss the overall general intention of “how can we make this whole experience better for everyone”, as opposed to the current climate of “how can I personally benefit the most here” type of attitude. I’ve noticed this change over the years. But in reality, it’s just a reflection of society in general. 

Like it or not, we’ve moved into the A.D.D., instant gratification era where it’s all about self absorption and how many likes you get on your latest Instragram pic. Peoples’ attention span and patience for anything that doesn’t fit their specific preference is quickly thrown to the side and ridiculed as lame. </end mini-rant>

DJs Were Real At Old School Raves

Most artists played vinyl. A few live PA acts would bring their gear and rock a nice live set, but for the most part, it was all about toting heavy record cases around and using the industry standard Technics 1200’s.

Here’s a picture of me playing techno to the crowd before DJ Swamp was about to perform, with Dig Dug in the background. Circa 2001:

This was an incredible night with a variety of different genres showcased.

You couldn’t fake the funk back then. You actually had to mix records live! No pre-made sets. (Pre-planned, yes. But not pre-made or pre-recorded.) No button pushing, no digital crutches to use…it was just you and the wheels of steel in front of a relentless crowd who would walk off the dance floor the instant you lost your focus and started galloping.

DJs embraced the one before them rather than completely stopping the music and getting on the mic. It was a test of skill and mastery to seamlessly transition from the DJ before you. Completely different genre? Get creative.  Maybe play a couple tracks from that genre before making a smooth and seamless transition to a new genre. (Abrupt changes are definitely not the dance floor’s friend.)

Tricks of the trade were needed. Playing a drum & bass set after a breaks DJ? Try mixing in a DnB record at 33 RPM. It will be the same tempo as breaks, so you can mix the two.

Then hit the crossfader to the DnB track right when its breakdown hits while also hitting the 45 speed button at the exact same time. When the drop comes back in, you’re now in DnB tempo and people on the dance floor are scratching their heads wondering how the hell you did that!

Playing clean, well programmed sets could not be faked back then.

Nothing against the large corporate event productions employing “DJs” who play pre-recorded sets. I see there’s a market for this. And I know that a lot of people discover electronic music this way. So more power to them. (I just have no desire to give that machine any of my own money.)

I think the modern EDM culture is summed up in this clip of some guy apparently named Salvatore Ganacci “DJing” at Tomorrowland 2018:

Ok, so in order to avoid jumping in the elitist, music snob toilet too far myself, let’s talk about squads!

Attending And Throwing Old School Raves With The Squad!

My original crew was called The Bomb Squad and I worked with a local production company in Southern Oregon called Digital Confusion Productions.

There wasn’t really anything like this happening in the local area at the time we started. We were certainly pioneers in a lot of ways. It was a lot of trial and error. Finding venues and overcoming the stigma of dance music hysteria talked about on the news was challenging.

We would put together local events and travel to bigger shows when we could. We had to drive a good 6 hours to either Seattle or the Bay Area to catch any big artists. Portland was a bit closer, and that was an easier trip to make as well.

We laughed, we cried, we helped each other through hard times. We loved, we learned, we grew as individuals. It was a journey of self discovery within this new and evolving culture called dance music. And this, I’m sure is the same today for the squads of the younger generation who are just getting into it.

I’m really glad to have had the experiences I’ve had over the last 20 some years. Others may disagree, but I don’t feel I’m particularly jaded or elitist about things.

I simply feel that the wonderful experiences I’ve been fortunate to enjoy over the years with dance music simply give me a different perspective on the scene than people who have missed out on what might be described as the golden era.

Respect the experience of the OG’s and fully embrace the young and new! Much love. 🙂