Halfway thru 2004 and the current state of the scene is looking grim. With the closing of one of the valley's best clubs, Freedom, I wonder what will happen to the the rave as we all know it. As I look thru the living art photo archives and glimpse back at the days when the scene was vibrant and full of large parties everyweekend, I can't help but wonder where it all went wrong? what happened to those days? was it the bad media coverage? the rave act? or all of the above? are we still just in a slow recovery of those harsh blows or are we at the end of an era? will I ever again see the warehouses overflowing with people and an amazing energy. are the days of the rave over ?????????

I recently sat at my computer looking at all the pictures of parties from the past too. I remember when everything was so exciting, so new, so welcoming. I remember the feeling of adrenaline rushing through my veins while I approached a party. The sense of being, of being surrounded by friends and to a point...family. Those days have seemed to slowly subside. The days of being drenched in sweat while listening to your favorite D.J., of meeting a ton of people every night, of seeing all the nameless faces you have grown accustomed to, of talking crap about how another party would be at the Nile have slowly been becoming a distant memory. A memory that I will keep with me forever. But as I sit back I also remember a time when in the early 90's one of my best friends was talking about a place where she felt so much joy, met the best people, heard the best music and felt the most overwhelming sense of belonging. I asked her what this place of bliss was called. She said it's a thing called a "rave". Just as the days that lead up to that moment seemed as if I was drifting, so have the days become now. But I find comfort in knowing that although things aren't as they used to be, someday, someone, somewhere will get fed up with all the world can offer and need to find a place to be free. They will say, "Hey this music on this radio sucks. So does just about everything on T.V. Let's do something else. Bring your turntables and invite the crew. I know of this killer location where no one will find us. It's an abandoned warehouse in downtown. I'll bring the music you bring the vibes. Fuck everything else, let's party!" And when that day comes a rebirth will happen. People will once again find the true meaning of happiness and remember how things used to be. Soon the party will grow and grow and the era of the rave will reign again. And as the thousands of bassheads and beat groovers begin to dance I will be right there next to them, sharing in their happiness. And although I am in my late 20's now, even if this rebirth occurs when I'm 50's, I will wait until that happy day arrives. I will still dance toward the D.J. I will still hug my nearest neighbor. I will still remember Pompeii in it's heyday. I will still carry the vibe of Emerald Forest with me. I will still feel the dirt on my face from Golden in the desert. I will still feel the sweat on my body from the Nile. I will still dance the hardest step to the most evil deepest, darkest drum and bass. I will still feel my first rave. I will still remember when I asked that life changing question, "What's a rave?" And more importantly I will still remember that life changing answer, "Don't worry kid you'll see. Give me your hand. Tonight...you're coming with me." So you see, the day of the rave has not died. It's tremendous power has only been laying doormant. It will rise once gain when the world needs it the most. And even if it doesn't comeback once again, the most important thing we can do is keep it's memory deep inside.

I have been involved in the rave scene for 7 years now. I was once the typical raver always on the typical ecstacy, K, G, acid or whatever. I eventually grew out of my drug days with the help of rehab. But I never quite grew out of my love for techno music and dancing. There are more sobber ravers than people think. I for one, am one of them. The government needs to see that not every single person visiting these parties are not trying to spend their night staying intoxicated as possible!!! Techno and dancing are a way of life for most of us. My whole existence has totally revolved around going to parties and dancing. SOBBER!! I have spent the last 7 years of my life traveling to various clubs and battling different groups of people, entering in thousands of breakdance compatitions, and just enjoying the beat from the DJ. And if the government ends up banning the rave scene for good, a huge part of me will be taken away. And as I think about that, my hobby, my life, the one thing that makes me happy will be gone. My dream is to some day be recognized for all the years of hard work and dedication to learning and perfecting the dance. And of course my biggest dream is to be a choreographer. Before the government trys to ban our way of life, they need to look into the fact that there are people on this earth that don't go to raves just to get as messed up as possible. They need look into the fact that there are people that go to this gatherings to fulfill their longing desire to dance and to hear the greatest music performed live by wonderful and devoted DJ's that feel the same way about the topic. I experienced my first party when I was 15 and since then, being 22, I will never find anything I enjoy more. SOBBER!!! I am just a 22 year old asipring female dancer that hopes to make it one day. The government can't take it away from us. We won't let me. Not something that means so much to us. But I would love to hear what you guys think!! E-mail me. I would love to get connected with new people that are into the things I am. But those are my thoughts on the matter.

My e-mail address is: [email protected]

I can totally see what you're talking about. I went to some of my old sources recently for parties... AZ-Raves(used to be the best...), DTS, Swell, Plur2k, Evil Kandee... they're all gone now. Even a few of the links I found were all 404 errors. I managed to dig up a URL for Earthdance.org, which was good because that party is in 2 weeks or so and I'm terribly excited.

The decline of the scene was something that I was hoping wouldn't happen... but these are tough times for us. Being a sober party goer, I find joy in the music, the dancing, the vibes, the show... The only thing that the decline of the scene has done is ruin one of my favorite outlets. I can, literally, find no other way to release all of this energy I used to use for parties.

If only there was some way for us to get it going again...

I feel a sense of loss also because of what is happening to the scene. BUT! I think the rave scene did its job very well. We all came away having discovered something wonderful about life and about being human. We were the dancing soldiers who came together to share our love and respect for one another instead of hate and prejudice. We hugged and kissed each other instead of killing each other. I may miss the scene but I can always put on a favorite CD and begin dancing and raving, even all by myself, remembering how fucking awesome it is to be alive and how lucky I am to have experienced so much love and how privileged I am to be able to carry it within me forever.

Ramy

Take a look at the house 101 thread on this forum and you'll see clearly the dance is far from over ;o) We had the same situation here a few years ago and the scene has never been more healthy :)

**JP - Northern ireland**

All i have to say is that this culture is MY LIFE. I live for the music , the people, the love that I know still exists in all of us. I know that I will forever fight for what I love and I ask all of you to please do the same. I have been in the scene here in Tucson for over 7 years and I have seen the ups and the downs, I also see that there are kids out there that truly beleive in the scene as much as I do and I know as long as we never stop trying, there will always be hope of some kind. The music is so beautiful, I want my kids to experience it the way I do with freedom and love. Please don't let this beautiful thing escape us!!

Why can't we have what we used to have? it's never been about the $ so why not take it back underground. i went to my first party in 1994, and i still have the same kind of love for parties as i did when we started this sh*t. it will always be part of who i am. my friends and i would drive out to the desert for a get-together, wouldn't you?

Ahhh, how could this be. Many of you may have left the rave scene feeling better then most. but what about the new ravers. there are people commning into the scene (such as myself) and looking back at the past raves and being thrilled to see such excitement. but then we go to one (if we can find one at all) and there are five people standing around Dj. it needs to keep living!!

Josh- Tucson [email protected]

I too remember the vibe of emerald forest true love of the music dancing and having a brilliant time withall your friends and loved ones. The parties today are run in clubs I mean what is that? The scene has been commercialised to the point of losing that purity and the essence of what it is to rave, confined into small clubs how can one truly dance I ask this of you. You have lost the purist techno lover and gained commercialised pop princess raver wannabees. As long as we hold the memories and our techno dear to us the scene will never die but hopefully soon it will evolve. Caspa

Don't lament the past. It's been over now for a while. Move on. It's ok to do something else. Sure the music is great but it's not evolving. Much of the music that is being put out is crap. It evolved but you didn't. Many of the dj's who were interested in doing something different all fell by the way side.

Here's the deal. In order for people to make money they have to put out music (or hire dj's) that are popular. Those people are not the ones who are going to change anything...and thus, it got stale.

Look for the next big thing now. It's not techno. It's not raving.

Sebastian Wolfe

ever since the rave scene went, due to the chavs, theres been nothing but violence and vandlisum, i want 2 bring back the good old days. The rave scene, the parties in the fields the parks the warehouses, i want it all back, i want to let myself go and be free once again

i am only fifteen and i dj, i was talkin to mi uncle about it and he said he misses the raves. i constantly talk to him about them and he also give me all of his old records which include all the early heavy stuff like acid house. I am so devistated that i missed that scene and when im older i want to bring it back to the underground.

Good Ol' days? Yeah the music was great, what little I actually remember. All I really remember is my friends drugging and drinking themselves to death. Yeah it seemed fun at the time, call me a stupid impressionable teenager. You all talk about the "scene" like it was and is the best thing in the world. It isn't, I've experienced some the best things in life. True love, marriage, and the birth of a beautiful, healthy son who brings me the most joy and love I have ever felt. There are better things to experience out there. Live your lives and Grow Up ! I have. Leaving you all in 1999.

SM

I left the scene years ago when the flood of new blood came in with no idea of theirself or their history and were just looking for a place to score. The point was lost a long time ago, i didn't want to stivk around to see what would come of it all.

krem

I was raving in London, England back in 1989, and believe me things have been on a downward slide since then. I no longer do the drugs but still love the innovative music - but it sold out long ago. Apart from a few sound-systems still doing the underground scene there is nothing left of London's clubland. I blame crack cocaine dealers and users - if you want to keep what is left of your scene you have to keep the crack-head zombies away.

Best of luck and remember - we still had more fun than any of the cops or other bad guys ever did or ever will... don't hate them, pity them.

k