Underground Raves: The Birthplace Of Dance Culture
It’s A Saturday Evening…
You’ve been looking forward to this underground rave for weeks. You’re all dressed up in your rave gear, you have all your kandi on, and you have plenty of glow sticks. All your flow toys are charged up and ready to melt faces. Your Camelbak is packed and ready to go. The only problem is… you still have no clue where it’s even being held at!
The Drive There…
Suddenly you get that magical text with the location of the event. As you drive there, you start to notice that you are getting further and further away from the bustling buildings of the city. Instead, you are heading towards what looks like a bunch of abandoned warehouses. In fact, most of those ARE abandoned or closed warehouses. You get to the address that was given to you, and it’s a warehouse that’s falling apart with nothing going on. As you wonder to yourself if you entered the right address into Maps, you are approached by a beautiful soul wearing bright furry clothes. He approaches your car to tell you that you are not lost, and you are indeed on the right track. After making sure that you’re not affiliated with any law enforcement, he gives you the real address.
When You Finally Arrive…
As you pull up to the real address another brightly colored soul comes up to direct parking. As you walk down the extra-long driveway to the warehouse, the music gets louder and louder with each exciting step. You finally get through the door and are transported to a completely different world. Everyone is all dressed up in their rave attire dancing the night away, completely immersed in the music playing. This is a completely judgment-free space, and there is no room for bad vibes here. You have finally reached a safe place where you can let out all your wildest inhibitions. You can let your TRUE self out here, without fear of being looked down upon. A place where you can let loose and fully lose yourself in the moment.
This is the scene of some of the first warehouse parties, and subsequently some of my first raves, that I ever attended. I personally started off in the underground scene and then moved up to massives like EDC and Ultra after I understood what the rave scene was all about. It was on this darkened dance floor that I learned the five core principals of raving: Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, and Responsibility or PLURR. I was TOLD what PLURR stood for by my friends that took me to my first rave. However, I learned what PLURR MEANT by watching all the beautiful people on the dance floor dancing like nobody was watching. The way all these people came together to create an environment full of loving and peaceful vibes was absolutely amazing. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen or felt before. I had never known so much pure love existed in one place! I knew I had finally found myself, I was finally HOME!
How Dance Culture Evolved…
Dance culture and raving as we know it today evolved from these underground roots. House and Techno started gaining popularity in the early 80’s in the northern mid-west, most notably Chicago with its house music and Detroit with its deep techno beats. These early acid-house and techno DJs like Adam Beyer, Carl Cox, DJ Pierre, and Phuture helped pave the way for electronic music to grow into what we know and love today. Those artists understood what being a DJ is all about… The love of the music. They didn’t care if they were playing for a crowd of 50 or 50,000, they played for the love of their art. These early artists truly cared about and loved all of their fans. These DJs were known to spin for hours and hours into the wee hours of the morning, simply for the love of the music and the diehard fans. In fact most underground raves today still honor that tradition and don’t stop until 6-8 am. This is why EDC goes from dusk till dawn!
Dance Culture And Nightclubs…
This love for their audience helped fuel the dance culture movement until it was so big that popular clubs like Studio 54 in New York City could no longer ignore them, and they moved out of the underground scene. Clubs started booking house and techno DJ’s and mimicking the warehouse feel with dark dance floors, fog machines, and lasers shows. They’re even called “night”clubs for heaven’s sake! Even large production companies like Insomniac Events got their start in the underground scene with OG raver Pasquale Rotella throwing warehouse parties throughout the southern California area. These underground parties eventually led to Pasquale creating the first Electric Daisy Carnival in 1996, and we all know how that story ends.
Underground Raves And Festivals…
Massive dance festivals like EDC and Ultra try to recreate that warehouse vibe with large mega-structures and secret, hidden stages with old-school DJs. EDC 2016 had a secret stage with guest artists from the early days of dance music. The only way to obtain the password to get to that stage was to follow a scavenger hunt similar to the old days of underground raving. Last year at Ultra Music Festival, Carl Cox presented the “Resistance Stage”, a mega-structure that brought back all the old school vibes with his extended set.
Final Thoughts…
If you have never been to an underground warehouse party before, then I highly recommend that you check one out. Ask your raver or DJ friends if they know of any in your area. Just remember that this party does NOT exist! So don’t go posting the address on social media if you are invited to one. It is totally worth all the run-around to find the party and rage ALL night long with great friends!