By Candice Wyatt: Arts and Entertainment Editor
Graphic by Rachael Danyew
The rave movement has turned what were once underground dance parties into nationalized events involving tens of thousands of attendees. The recent Electronic Daisy Carnival (EDC) held at the LA Coliseum on June 25 and 26, 2010, attracted over 135,000 attendees, making it the largest rave in North America. Unfortunately, a 15-year old girl overdosed on ecstacy and within days headlines filled Southern California newspapers and the LA Coliseum put a temporary ban on raves at the venue.
The reputable venue EDC was held at and the 18 and over age requirement did not prevent this fatality.
“Drug use can have risks but that doesn’t make raves unsafe, it makes drug use potentially unsafe,” said Nathan Messer, President of DanceSafe, a non-profit harm reduction organization.
DanceSafe has addressed the rising concern that drug use is a dangerous and prevalent occurrence in the rave scene. The organization’s Web site, www.dancesafe.org, uses education and awareness as the key to making raves a safer environment. The site has drug information, health and safety tips, as well as drug screening test kits that can take a small amount of an ecstasy pill and test it for other potentially dangerous additives.
“We neither condone nor condemn drug use. Rather, we believe that each person should make their own choices, and that people DO make better choices when given pointers to good information,” stated Messer.
A few unfortunate events have given raves a poor reputation for being a drug-centric, unsafe environment and has lead police, legislatures and local communities to fight against the new culture of electronic dance music.
The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a subdivision of the U.S. Department of Justice, released “Rave Parties: A Problem-Oriented Guide for Police,” in 2002.
“The use of rave-related drugs has not been strongly linked to other crimes and unlike other youth events or other types of concerts, raves do not typically involve much assault,” stated Michael S. Scott, a former chief of police and author of the COPS “Rave Parties” guide.
“Rave culture discourages sexual aggressiveness, and while some drugs do lower sexual inhibitions, they also can inhibit sexual performance. So in some respects, raves are safer places for young people, especially women, than conventional bars and clubs,” stated Scott.
The acronym that the rave culture lives by is PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect). Responsibility was added to the mantra in the late 1990s to increase awareness of drug overdoses at raves.
A junior at CSUSM majoring in Literature and Writing, who chose to be referred to by her given rave name, Raggedy Ann, has attended five raves.
“I like the music at raves. It’s like every time I go to the club they play crappy rap music that I don’t want to dance to. People [at raves] are all really nice and just want to dance,” said Ann. “I don’t feel like the amount of security or police affects the quality of a rave. They are there to make sure there are no fights and to just have a presence.”
For first time ravers, expect a high entrance fee. Raves are often accompanied by extravagant light shows and various DJs. The music is loud, so bringing a pair of earplugs along will protect your hearing.
“Ravers should be advised to wear loose-fitting clothing, drink plenty of water if they are sweating, and take breaks from dancing to rest and cool off. Rave-related drug users should also eat salty foods to prevent hyponatraemia,” stated Scott.
In addition, you should also be able to spot warning signs to a potentially dangerous rave environment.
“If it is so overcrowded that it is impossible to get to exits easily, if fire doors are locked or blocked, if security isn’t searching for weapons, if cold water is shut off in the restrooms, if bottled water is sold without the caps so you can’t refill it and carry it with you, all of these are bad signs. Also, some sorts of medical staff should be present for any event with more than about 500 people,” stated Messer.
The upcoming Abstract Festival will be held on September 11, 2010, at the San Diego Sports Arena from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. There will be two stages and you must be 18 to attend. A full bar will be available for those who are 21 and over. Tickets can be purchased on abstractfest.com and prices range from $40 to $90.