Party on Bitches

A couple weekends ago I drove down to DC to stay with my sister and also to go to a "Rave" with her and Lauren. Now, in my lifetime, I have been to many Raves - some in high school, more in college, and even more during my early professional career (nothing that interfered with my work mind you, I never missed time or came to work in any state other than professional).

And Im not now admitting that I have ever done anything that would be considered illegal or damneding in any fashion. Let's just say that I witnessed illegal acts taking place and didnt stand up, as an American citizen doing my American citizen's duty, to report these miscreants. I may have even been under the influence - at one point or another - of friends to keep my mouth shut tight, almost to the point of grinding my teeth. I dare not tell which friends influenced me in such a way, but I digress... This time I was merely a witness, merely.... Merely enough....

I was offered a joint by a wide-eyed, caring individual. He thought I looked down and needed a pick me up, or maybe he was a dealer trying to decide if I was a cop or not. I mention this part about me being a cop because it is my belief that most of the younger audience around me thought I was a cap. Apparently a pink shirt and camo shorts equals NARC. Or maybe it was my recently shaved head or the black back filled with water that I was carrying (I seem to remember the LCB always being the only fucks at parties who carried big black bags - like they could hide) for Lauren. Then some Mexican dude (Im not trying to be derogatory, I heard him say that he was Mexican, and 36, during a conversation he had with some other guy that was in his 30s) kept standing next to me with his arms crossed, signaling to his dealers that I was a cop (I saw him do this to countless others as well). Ive been around a while. I know the games played and the signals used.

Anyway, I was offered a joint by this caring individual, but didnt inhale. Im not an inhaler. Im Clinton like that. I handed this fella his joint back and he was on his merry way, dancing and sharing with others. Nice fella. I was also offered coke, but didnt partake. I dont owe you an explanation! Extasy was also apparently on the free menu, but I just wasnt hungry.

Back to the experience: The atmosphere has changed. The scene is not as I remembered it, or maybe my aging brain cells just cant remember what I used to feel during these parties. While still present, I actually had to search for people using pacifiers. Glow sticks very much made their presence known, although the owners of said sticks didnt know what to do with them. The same can be said for the general dancing public as a whole.

It seems that no one remembers how to dance to electronic music, or they just werent around when the people who could dance would. Im starting to believe that this slight renaissance period of digital music might be driven by the young people who didnt get to experience what it was all about in the late 90s and early 00s. Shame for them really.

Raves used to be about more than just the music and what drug you could score. Money used to be spent on lavish costumes for performers. Huge sets would be erected with intricate designs, and not just for the stage, there would be set ups all around the rave. There would be more than one lame fire breather. And a huge amount of money would be spent on advertising the event, including multiple sized and styled posters - which today would sell for good money, if you happened to keep any of them.

This rave didnt have much in the way of entertainment beyond the musical acts. There werent any performers (although there was this one fellow dressed in a monkey suit, with 8 breasts and a 3 foot cock, but I think he came into the party, he wasnt a part of it), and the stages were boring, at best. The House area merely had a fold down tent to keep the dj out of the elements. The poster for the event was fairly cool, but there was only one version, and most of the "posters" were online.

Apparently, any money they saved by not spending it on additional entertainment wasnt put towards the sound, because the sound was abysmal at best. Amps constantly blew up, and the djs wouldnt even realize it because their monitors were still blasting. I hope Donald Glaude realizes that people werent dancing because they couldnt hear his set and not because his set was bad, because he blew the roof off the house in a very big, impressive way! BTs set was stopped three times because of the sound problems, and cut extremely short - Very disappointing to say the least.

To me it seems that Raves have become about 2 things, one each for the promoters and for the crowd: Money and drugs. And that is really a shame. A lifestyle that I led for a good long time is no more. Gone are the good ole days when every party would surpass the greatness of the previous party you would go to. Now you have to search for the good things about each particular party, and those good things are few and far between.

Or maybe I have just become old and jaded, and long for the days of my past. Who really knows? I guess I cant really look back. There really is no point.