RAVE-O-LUTION – AUDIO EXPANSION

To be part of Rave Culture, and experience joy as ravers do, there are a couple of things you should know.

We have always heard about UK Rave scene but not only European kids have lived Techno experience.
In the early ‘90s, rave exploded and became a driving force that reverberates today in music, fashion, and art.
One of old-school rave’s most striking features was the intensity of its global movement. In a few short years vibrant scenes promoting political and cultural values of collectivity and solidarity emerged in England, throughout Europe and as far east as Russia. But was never just a “old continent” phenomenon: it even crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and settled in America and Australia.In cities like Sydney and Melbourne, rave took on a life of its own.

Finding a perfect storm of youthful energy, suburban longing, punk spirit and a lot of open space, DJs and crews quickly sprung up and started throwing parties. The energy of Techno culture took over crumbling warehouses and attracted thousands of people to the natural environs on the outskirts of both cities. With it’s proximity to Asia, the raves also attracted a big hippie vibe that passed through the tourist trail of Goa and Thailand down to Australia. The crowd and vibe were not that different to the punk crowd: crusty, feral, hardcore, friendly, edgy, like-minded and loose. Rave began to filter through into USA away from Chicago and Detroit, the epicentres of the House and Techno revolution, from English expatriates and from american DJs who would visit Europe.
There was a boom in Techno scene in San Francisco Bay Area where rave’s roots resembled a giant acid test.
The Bay Area was a magnet for New Age thinking and philosophy. A groovy nightlife scene was already booming, mainly because of the area’s liberal stance and because of the area’s roots in psychedelia.

The great expansion of Rave Culture in North America is instead attributed by DJ Frankie Bones, who after having experienced a party in an airplane hangar in UK, organized some of the first American rave in the 90s in Brooklyn, called “Storm Raves”.
In New York, Frankie was the first to think of building a real cultural movement around a musical genre. Techno was going strong, but no one had ever thought of making it a trend.The events began with only a few hundred people in attendance growing to over thousands where the likes of Josh Wink, Sven Väth and Richie Hawtin were able to launch their performances into international careers. Among other things, what makes DJ Bones so special is that he is the person from which the the idea of Peace, Love, Unity and Respect (P.L.U.R) into rave community came from. The story says that in response to a fight that broke out at one of his “Storm Raves” in 1993, Bones is said to have got on the microphone and yelled: “If you don’t start showing some peace, love, and unity, I’ll break your faces. ”
P.L.U.R. can be interpreted as the essential philosophy of life and ethical guideline for ravers and clubbers. This universalist philosophy underpinning the tribal dance culture which began circling the globe with the rise of the Internet, theoretically takes precedence over any recreative or musical aspects of the scene.Raves represent a modern ritualistic experience, promoting a strong communal sense, where P.L.U.R is the main ideology.This four fundamental values ended up infecting more or less everyone. A slogan that will be mentioned thousands of times at the microphone in the various gatherings between abandoned factories, abandoned railways, parking lots and other structures far from the big eye of the institutions.
The encouragement to help and not to spoil the physical components of the party became a decisive Mantra for all ravers. P.L.U.R is the art of knowing how to party, to share emotions, to give an ethical depth to the immense pleasure of listening to Techno music. It’s probably the most important legacy transmitted to us by the great raves of the 90s and today it is a fundamental pillar of the global clubbing movement.
Old school, new school – it shouldn’t matter as long as we all try to keep the vibe alive.

Below you can find a playlist of 18 killer tracks that smash at any rave.