The Free-Party/Rave Scene Revival?
Aug 23 2006 21:53
Forgive me if im re-posting an already discussed issue (as the article im referring to is about a month old), but i tried searching for it and could get no response due to the whole beta thing. And im the new kid. So there.
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/festivals/story/0,,1828591,00.html
Just wondering what people made of this apparent re-surgence of the free party scene and what this could mean for the possibility of young people's disllusionment with the police's role in protecting private property and their apparent selectiveness in what constitutes an acceptable and an unacceptable use of property.
Quote:
The Devon and Cornwall police force is particularly concerned that partygoers will attempt to gather for a large rave in the West Country after the success of the event earlier this summer when revellers were able to sneak on to a disused airfield using a car rally as cover.
This, to me, clearly demonstrates that it is not the use of the disused airfield that was the problem, it was that one was something that promoted consumption in a niche market/participation in a mass market and one was about diverting trade altogether from an already huge and profitable market. (In purely economical terms, there are other issues in a more abstract ideological and hegemonic *is that a word?* sense)
I suppose what im getting at is, is rave culture really going to be reborn and what opportunities do you think could arise from it in regards to locally orchestrated autonomous movements for social change?
Aug 23 2006 23:05
#2
*cringe*
hair metal never really was my thing.
Aug 24 2006 00:03
#3
well if my flatmate is anything to go by, he helps organise/plays at/goes to free parties and he got fitted up by some dickhead policeman who claimed he'd stuffed drugs up his arse. So it's certainly not improving his view of em...
Aug 24 2006 00:47
#4
From when I've been to free parties everyone there does hate the police which I guess is a start, though I'm not sure if many of them use this in a constructive way.
synth mate if you're from Northampton and are into free parties then we probably know some of the same people (i'm not really into them, I always get knackered and cold and want to go home halfway through the night like a boring bastard 
I'm afraid 
, but I know some people who are). We should meet up 
- did you know we have a Solidarity Federation group here?
Aug 24 2006 01:03
#5
Bit of a discussion on this over on U75. a while ago. Its on the up over here as well. I think there's a certain tiredness around how so much of the new wave of British lads on guitar have colonised the soundtrack
of the city at night. As well as that a generation that grew up as kids with romantic notions of rave are now old enough to start pulling things together for themselves, there's been a nice confluence of interest as a result of this. People have been able to break away from some of the more established venues and promoters because they simply do not provide any more due to the declining fortunes of commercial dance. If there are no reliant official nights churning out what you want to hear, then people cater for themselves. Equally the mid 90s commercialisation of dance spelt the death of the rave hysteria, opening a space for its limited return outside the eyes of the cops.
Aug 24 2006 13:07
#6
Hi
Excellent post antrophe. Totally correct.
Love
LR
Aug 24 2006 16:04
#7
synth_k1d wrote:
*cringe*hair metal never really was my thing.
You honestly find GN'R more "cringeworthy" than glowsticks, bright orange bellbottoms and putting string in your hair?
Fucking pseudo-hippies. I mean, seriously...the only reason people there hate the police is cos they keep locking up their ket dealer.
Aug 24 2006 16:11
#8
Hi
Glowsticks are ace. Glowsticks in the mouth is better than grillz on a dancefloor baby. Yeah!
Love
LR
Aug 24 2006 16:18
#9
Magnifico/synth: my brother used to put on parties in Oxfordshire, around the M40. Don't suppose you ever ventured that far south (its not that far). That would be cool x a bit.
I never went to that many/knew many of the people who were involved in the surrounding area 
Anyway: there seemed to be plenty of people who didn't stop going... maybe, they kept it alive
Aug 24 2006 19:22
#10
Easy Alan tht's pretty close to flaming.
Aug 24 2006 21:35
#11
...and now on slightly related note, someone from a clubbing forum in Dublin has put together an index of all the old raver anthems up on Youtube, some of them are classics. Enjoy the vidiocy!
Aug 25 2006 13:02
#12
Hi
Oh yeah! Man, I am loving this. Thanks v. much. I've been throwing shapes for over 18 hours now. I've lost 1/2 a stone in the last couple of weeks.
Love
LR
Aug 27 2006 07:20
#13
Aug 29 2006 08:47
#14
yeah i saw that article on the news last night, twice.
In the first report it said there were "1000 revellers" then that number dropped to 500 once it made it to the regional news.
It's interesting the way the establishment has chosen to focus on injuries sustained to the police, when the TV reports showed many more partygoers in a much worse state (bruises, gashes, bleeding wounds etc.)
Everything the police did in this instance was counter-productive, injuries on both sides (both physically and in a PR sense), loads of litter & debris left behind at the site due to people fleeing the conflict and 10 miles of tailbacks on the m11.
NICE ONE LADS! )
Aug 29 2006 11:17
#15
From what I've been reading on that the people who placed it were being really fucking stupid, put it right near a residential area, on flat ground, in a situation which has already been tense cos police have been arsey in the area for a good couple years now.
Result: Elderly residents complain, police charge in and a situation develops.
I'm not defending the police here but it was really thoughtless of the organisers, unless there's another factor I don't know about. The ravers themselves were apparently not too badly behaved before the cops came in though, were clearing up and everything.
Aug 29 2006 11:42
#16
to be honest, I think elderly residents need to learn to be a bit more tolerant.
I mean, it's the previous generation that should be held to account a bit for the crap they've passed on to us. and to then spend all their time complaining about noise, rather than apologising for their participation/complicity in imperialism, capitalism, the concentration of land in the hands of the aristocracy, and the degradation of our environment, is, I think, a bit rich
Aug 29 2006 12:25
#17
john wrote:
to be honest, I think elderly residents need to learn to be a bit more tolerant.I mean, it's the previous generation that should be held to account a bit for the crap they've passed on to us. and to then spend all their time complaining about noise, rather than apologising for their participation/complicity in imperialism, capitalism, the concentration of land in the hands of the aristocracy, and the degradation of our environment, is, I think, a bit rich
Oh the hilarity!
Aug 29 2006 13:08
#18
I wasn't joking
the implicit message in Saii's post was that old people have some kind of pre-ordained right to be treated like Gods, whilst the rights of young people can be readily discarded if they contravene the Gods' rights.
I think this is a common misconception.
For me, the old have had their turn and fucked it up. I see no reason for them to be treated with such respect.
Also, this was in the countryside, which is where the upper middle classes tend to retire to when they've worn themselves out with all their coercion, bullying and manipulating. The whole of Saii's message sounded like a call for the defence of Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.
Aug 29 2006 13:09
#19
That is a joke yeah?
Aug 29 2006 13:20
#20
I'm beginning to think he's serious, his posts on the Postmodernism thread are quickly degenerating into Humpty Dumpty linguistic games.
Aug 29 2006 13:43
#21
Osama bin john wrote:
to be honest, I think UK residents need to learn to be a bit more tolerant.I mean, it's them that should be held to account a bit for the crap they've passed on to us. And to then spend all their time complaining about terror, bombings, 7/7 rather than apologising for their participation/complicity in imperialism, capitalism, the concentration of oil and resources in the hands of puppet regimes, and the degradation of our environment, is, I think, a bit rich
Aug 29 2006 13:47
#22
a bit, yes
but not sure what harmless fun (i.e. something comparable to playing loud music in a field) Osama bin john is talking about being tolerant of
p.s. do you or don't you accept the concept of labour aristocracy?
Aug 29 2006 18:08
#23
The implicit message in my post is nothing more or less that it's a really stupid idea, as an organiser of raves, to do so next to a spot where you're going to get reported. Not to mention irresponsible to place unsuspecting partygoers in a position likely to end up in a confrontation with cops.
On the subject of old folk however, why the hell should they have to put up with banging tunes at 4am? I'm stuggling to believe that anyone would seriously make the unbelievably sweeping statement that they all deserve it, are all middle class and should apologise for ruining the planet. Colin Ward lives in a village near me, would he, in his 80s, qualify in your undoubtedly perfect judgement for a decent night's sleep if ravers started up outside his window?
And what if they weren't radical leftists, what if they just did their best to lead a good life and didn't get involved much, never crossed a picket line but never led a charge either? Did they 'fuck it up'? What about the vast number of rural poor who still exist in the countryside, despite your oh-so convincing 'they're all rich' argument? Not to mention the pensioners (many of the ones I've met, this being a countryside lad btw, have fuck-all money).
I'm not talking about treating people like gods I'm talking about treating them with a bit of fucking respect, just like we'll want when we're getting on and fancy a bit of peace and quiet. Ffs I get hacked off now if some inconsiderate prick wakes me up in the middle of the night, let alone when I get older and suffer from (insert ache and pain here).
There's a huge difference between the right of young people to have fun being infringed and said young people behaving like selfish arseholes. Anarchism isn't about one lot having rights and the other not, it's about MUTUAL respect. Jesus if you'd said 'it's all the Blacks' fault' you couldn't have been more irritating.
I'd say more but this is a non-flame board.
Aug 29 2006 18:36
#24
Aug 29 2006 20:21
#25
yeah, points taken. didn't mean to be so irritating.
but I do still feel there is a general tendency within this country to stigmatize certain groups of people. I also think young people who take drugs have been the victims of this - e.g. Blair's Respect Agenda.
I also don't think it's a major inconvenience to have to listen to loud music once in a while. I think the residents who do sometimes encounter this are spurred on to complain and vilify what they perceive as 'yobs' by the kind of anti-yob discourse that prevails in the media at the moment.
This, to me, is part of the trivialization of significant problems, and obsession with tackling minor problems perpetrated by minority/scapegoated groups, that is a major part of the Blair-Bush disciplinary strategy.
I'm sorry if it irritates you that I think this. I'm also sorry if I didn't put it this way when I first posted. And I'm also sorry if you feel I was in some way directly attacking you, which I didn't mean to. I did say that you implied that elderly people should have more rights than young people, which as you point out you didn't, so I apologize for that too.
Aug 29 2006 21:18
#26
Most of that I can agree with, and it's certainly the case that young partygoers are attacked when they don't need to be because of stereotyping.
I do think that as there's plenty of space in the countryside, raves can be placed better than they sometimes are. As I say it's very much a case of mutual respect - landowners shouldn't be such arses about the odd party on their land as long as it's not doing too much damage etc.
Alot of my thinking on the subject is informed by an old hand at the scene (posts as General Lighting) who is a really sound guy living round my way. He tends towards an evenhanded approach, saying that raves need to be sustainable/thoughtful in the same way as anything else, and shouldn't be given extra slack in the eyes of their supporters simply because ravers do get victimised by society.
Raves, from his pov, should to the absolute best ability of the organisers be out of earshot of people who don't want to be involved, otherwise you are forcing yourself on people who don't have a choice. There are lots of ways to minimise, including finding valleys or old quarries, putting them in woods or old factory buildings, anything which dulls the noise outside the partying zone. Things should also be cleaned up properly afterwards, and generally wherever possible care should be taken to minimise the impact on the surrounding public.
Afaic that's not a sop to pressure from narked grannies, it should be the starting point for anybody calling themselves a socialist/anarchist etc. Fundamentally, if we want to call for a society of mutual aid and co-operation, that's what we have to support and encourage, not just say 'well you should put up with it because we want to have fun'.
Aug 30 2006 22:47
#27
Quote:
John: I mean, it's the previous generation that should be held to account a bit for the crap they've passed on to us. and to then spend all their time complaining about noise, rather than apologising for their participation/complicity in imperialism, capitalism, the concentration of land in the hands of the aristocracy, and the degradation of our environment, is, I think, a bit rich
...is this not the same generation of british people that participated in the spanish civil war in defence of their ideals? its not very fair to label all elderly people supporters of capitalism/imperialism just because the radicals amongst them werent able to instigate a revolution. Bare in mind, historically, there were much higher levels of militancy amongst their generation, but unfortunately social-democratic and state capitalist parties diluted and diffused this energy.
Quote:
John: but I do still feel there is a general tendency within this country to stigmatize certain groups of people. I also think young people who take drugs have been the victims of this - e.g. Blair's Respect Agenda.
I think the residents who do sometimes encounter this are spurred on to complain and vilify what they perceive as 'yobs' by the kind of anti-yob discourse that prevails in the media at the moment.
This, to me, is part of the trivialization of significant problems, and obsession with tackling minor problems perpetrated by minority/scapegoated groups, that is a major part of the Blair-Bush disciplinary strategy.
couldnt have put it better myself. Now elderly people feel victimised mainly because the daily mail/tony blair is telling them they should, not because a group of young working class people outside in the cold playing football with their hoods up has any sinister undertones.
And...Im so fucking sick of old people shouting at me in the street for riding my bicycle....ON THE PAVEMENT!(i know, unforgivably bad. but the road is scary, ok?)
...synf x
Aug 30 2006 23:16
#28
Quote:
Now elderly people feel victimised mainly because the daily mail/tony blair is telling them they should,
No - they have at least as much as the rest of us to be pissed about - they are often isolated, vulnerable, lonely, neglected, unwell, dependent on underfunded services etc. Sometimes people, including pensioners, are seriously harassed by groups of kids in a way that can seriously affect your quality of life. And I'm no pensioner, but I don't like the arseholes who wake me up in the city with their car stereos, so why would I like being kept awake all night by selfish brats in the countryside, where sound often travels further? It's not like people usually even get any warning of a rave so they can go away for the weekend.
Tabloids can manipulate partly cos they are addressing real issues of concern in a simplistic, distorting, divisive way. To just take the opposing view is only to mirror that divisiveness.
Sep 1 2006 11:50
#29
i agree with you that elderly people can often feel isolated etc. just like the rest of us, but i was making reference (in a joking and pretty implicit way) to the way elderly people are taught to identify with the victim mentality. My nan...who is by no means 'doddery', isolated or harrassed...still gets afraid if some drunk kids walk down the street at night making a noise. And im not talking "inconvenienced", "annoyed" or "peeved" im talking fear. And this is totally out of character for her as someone suprememly confident and active in many community projects and probably a better social life than me.
But this is due to the way elderly people's fears are so effectively targeted by the media, who readily exploit the generation gap to alienate young people from old to the point where rational and intelligent elderly people are lead into the false belief that everything young people do has a sinister undertone.
If you are a young person yourself, surely you are saddened by the fact that some elderly people are intimidated by you simply being there? Of course there is a real threat, there will always be a group of exploited people who will, in turn, exploit the vulnerable amongst themselves. But i dont see how this is really any different to how its always been under global capitalism - only now capitalism is more ruthless, and its propaganda more effective and divisive.
Maybe its different where you live, but where i live there seems to be alot of (often unwaranted) tension between the generations - and this seems to get worse when you get into more affluent middle-class suburbs.
It is interesting that you presume elderly people to be "often isolated, vulnerable, lonely, neglected, unwell, dependent on underfunded services" as this is certainly unacceptably true within some swathes of the population and almost epidemic in the fantasy land of the tabloids. However, i would also like to remind you that alot of pensioners and elderly people have very active, happy and fulfilled lives (with or without money...without, in the case of my nan) - but still identify with the victim mentality, as it is such a prolific misconception. Maybe, Ret Marut, we are all prone to "mirroring that divisiveness".
Lets confront the real issues concerning young and old alike instead of reducing ourselves to complaining about one night of loud music every 6 months. Respect and tolerance, surely, should be a two-way street.
...synf x
Sep 1 2006 13:16
#30
synth_k1d wrote:
If you are a young person yourself, surely you are saddened by the fact that some elderly people are intimidated by you simply being there?
It's not just old people, they want us all to be afraid of each other.
Hi
Ho ho. Not if clubs in Devon and Cornwall are anything to go by. It looks more like an 80's disco revival if anything. Guns and Roses and Thriller are suddenly order of the day. There's a Bon Jovi tribute band on up the road tonight.
"No fighting, no fighting... ...Shakira, Shakira." I could open a vein, I really could.
Actually, maybe you're right. Perhaps it's an omen, maybe history really will repeat. I'd better start my E lab up again.
Love
LR