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06/20/2011 4:35:00 PM
i'm in disbelief the mother blames the government.. she should blame herself for allowing her daughter to attend an event like that, or better yet her daughter for taking the illegal drug
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Thor_31 06/19/2011 1:23:00 PM
i heard about the double hit parties. I started in 98. But i think you are wrong about EDM being worthless without drugs. I routinely listen to all types of EDM sober, i dont smoke anymore..and i still enjoy it. Sure taking a substance at a event can enhance the music experience, but you don't need drugs..you must not truly appreciate the music.
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guest 06/19/2011 1:02:00 PM
I wonder what other substances they check for when these party goers are taken to hospital. MDMA alone is fairly safe. The problem is 75% of street pills contain adulterants like PMA, Piperzines, etc. PMA is normally the cause of death in "ecstasy" overdoses. PMA can raise the body temperature dramatically. MDMA only raises it about 1 degree north or south if its a clean substance. If you dont know what your are taking, dont take anything. Educate yourself if you choose to take a drug.
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03/03/2011 7:02:00 AM
I am actually doing a story for a Reporting II class I'm taking at my university. I was wondering if I could interview you or if you could give me permission to quote some statements you have made here.
contact me at bdanthony22@yahoo.com
thank you :)
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RobE 01/20/2011 1:57:00 AM
Journalistically, this article will not go down as one of your better moments Dennis.
First, how many people die in an average city on a daily basis from drug overdoses (especially prescription drug use), unsafe driving or things such as bar fights? This is important because anytime you create a large community you inherently bring with it all the problems large gatherings create. The greater the crowd size the lower the average IQ of its members. Moreover, how many emergency room visits does a city of 50-100,000 generate on average and how does that compare with what happens during raves? You could have checked into that.
Secondly, you quote someone who is little more than a professional exploiter and marketer of hysteria, who cites no statistics to back up her assertions, just like what happened with the hysteria over heavy metal in the 1980's. So not fact checking her claims is poor journalistic practice. Or is LA Weekly's policy now the same with stuff like this as Fox News' is with regard to overwrought and false claims about Obama, to echo them for the sake of pumping up the emotional mood of your article in hopes of drawing more eyeballs and the attendant advertising dollars?
Thirdly, if your main problem is that the scale of the raves makes them harder to police, then how about we begin to limit the size of towns to 5-10,000 since they will,, by extension, then be easier to manage? Let's force all civic entities where more than 10,000 people are living to be broken up into smaller ones in the name of safety and easier organization. Okay, that is a ridiculous proposal, as is the concern over the size of the raves.
Fourth, since these raves are going to continue, you did not interview crowd control experts in law enforcement or in academia for proposals that would help to reduce the number of adverse consequences for rave goers. In that way, you are just as guilty of taking a half assed attitude toward how such events are organized as Parks, Knabe, et al are.
Look, I am in no way a fan of raves because I think the music played at them sucks. However, just as my then 15 year old little brother and his friends went to see Pink Floyd at Anaheim Stadium on the Animals tour and did acid during the show, anytime you get that many kids together drug use is inevitable. So the problem isn't the raves themselves, but the behavior on the part of its participants.
Therefore, the pragmatic approach would be to have asked what regulations could be imposed on promoters (who should, btw, be paying for all the extra law enforcement costs) to make raves less likely to see people dying or badly injured. Unfortunately, you have chosen merely to give us wild anecdotes rather than an adult problem solving assessment of the risks that do arise. Really, your piece is little different from the rhetoric of then Police Chief Ed Davis at a 1973 Pink Floyd set of shows at the Sports Arena where he engaged in some media friendly and profile enhancing arrests of otherwise non-threatening and law abiding pot smokers. Stop being the echo chamber for hysteria and start doing your homework.
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Mrtea77 01/19/2011 11:53:00 PM
I saw Led Zeppelin and The Who play to packed stadiums in the 70s. There were lots of drugs, but no violence (one fight outside the stadium at Zep the night before the show, between two PCP heads). Not even any accidents on the road after the show, even though the average driver was probably under the influence of something. In all the years of going to big rock shows in the Bay Area, I can't think of a single fatality; what is it that causes this latest genration to get so out of control that they die?
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guest 01/13/2011 11:10:00 PM
Dennis,
It's good to see you post here in response.
The first 5 events listed happened in the US (over a third of the listed incidents).
Considering that these US events listed occur during the cultural peak of the Rock movements, it does show that large gatherings of whatever music is predominant in youth culture has led to deaths since at least the sixties.
This doesn't appear to be new to the US, or concerts in general.
So would there be a willingness to examine this cultural trend?
So much is being made of the death of 1 teenage girl in 180,000. Would there be a willingness to examine the statistics around Sunset Blvd, and see how often people die of drug overdose/ drunk driving per 180,000 people who travel to Sunset specifically for nightlife?
Or even better, would there be a willingness to cross reference 180,000 teenagers who do drugs and see what percentage of them end up dying of drugs or drunk driving?
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Guest 01/10/2011 9:11:00 AM
What does the deaths happening outside of the U.S. have to do with anything? He made valid points.
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Crow T Robot 01/07/2011 7:19:00 AM
Though this article raises some issues that the new counter culture needs to consider I sadly think that some of the commenters could have written a more compelling article.
For me it just feel like the "Rave" scene is going through what could be called the "Woodstock Effect" which basically means that once a scene is so big it can attract 100,000+ it has been assimilated into popculture in such a way that it looses the character of the origins of the scene and you get leeches and thrill seekers who don't care about the integrity of the scene they just want to get theirs, wether it's money or an amazing high.
For hippies the best days of the scene were 1955-1965 when "Happenings" small illegal parites where everyone was on Drugs dancing and tripping all night (sound familiar) were the only ways to experience the scene. Once Woodstock hit in '69 being a "hippy" was all the rage in the 16-25 set and veterens of the scene were ready to give it up (There is an episode of Playboy After Dark from the late 60's where papa bear himself Jerry Garcia said that hippy is dead and the scene needed to grow to something different) just consider that Woodstock was the first festival of its kind and the gates were rushed, the announcement of the bad acid, and the hundreds of injuries. Now fast forward 50 years later and history is repeating itself.
I personally have been attending concerts since I was 15 and been going to "Raves" since I was 17. That was back in the late 90's early 2000's and I have really loved every minute if it. Sure there have been bad shows and bad circumstances over the last 11 years but the good far out ways the bad. There are sure fire ways to limit the amount of tragedies that can happen at these events and really it takes everyone involved working together to make it work right. There is not 1 person to point the finger at, we all share the responsibility.
But from the stories I have been hearing about the most recent string of "Megaraves" (I thought they were called "Massives") it really just sounds like the city officials and promoters are being cheap and lazy. Considering that it costs up to $80 a pop for a ticket and there were over 100,000 people there you would think that with revenue like that they could provide better services. But think about it, what does the city of LA care about the integrity of the scene when they are making so much money. I'm sure the way they see it is that they get to make tons of cash and if the rave scene gets some bad publicity who cares, they are just in it for the money. And why the promoters wouldn't jump in to improve the situation make me think that they are earning so much money from the city of LA that it's worth it for them to let these kind of things happen, otherwise they are just unprepared to handle this kind of event. I've also been to huge "jam band" (God I hate that label) festivals and they know how to manage a huge group of messed up people. The band Phish goes as far as to hire their own horse mounted, specially trained, security force for their festivals, they don't use city police or hire random people from the community for crowd management. Cops often make the situation worse when they are trying to control a huge group of inebriated people, most of whom have bad opinions of authority anyway.
With that being said, all event goers (raves or otherwise) should keep in mind that promoters and governments have always had a long history of being corrupt and callous, so if you want a good time take matters into your own hands.
First off if your not comfortable with the event don't go! We live in LA there is no shortage of events to go to, and if your set on seeing a certain musician odds are they will come to the City of Angeles again. With every dollar you spend on these events you are voting to have more in the future, if you don't like the promoter, venue, size, or the amount of young kids there just don't go. If you can show up early! If you are between the ages of 16-25 chances are your not responsible for a whole hell of a lot, so ditch school/call in sick to work and get there when the doors open before the crowds, you can get a great spot to dance, water, all without fear of being crushed. For all of us out there who like to add a little illicit chemical spice to our musical main course do your self a favor, GET YOUR DRUGS BEFORE THE SHOW!! Just like the promoters and the government, drug dealers will become exponentially more brazen and callous when their is a bigger chance of making lots of money. When the crowds are that big a drug dealer can get away with things that they would not consider in the smaller venues or in a person to person exchange. A dealer could get the everliving shit kicked out of them if they sell drugs that are bad, bunk, or not what they thought they were buying in a smaller club or to a person they know. But when their are over 100,000 people it is easy to disappear into the crowd never to be seen again. Speaking of drugs This is a subject I think the article was totally misleading on. First off MDMA and ecstasy are not the same thing, just like apple flavored juice drinks are not real apple juice. Ecstasy should have MDMA in it but it seems to me that over the years it has had less and less. Ecstasy is always mixed with some other type of chemical, usually speed, cocaine, heroin, ketamine, or even caffeine. This is why ecstasy use can be so dangerous, you are mixing unknown quantities of different chemicals over a short period of time (but if you buy it from someone you know before the show you can ask what it cut with so you know). It's also why a lot of kids in the ER are not acting as loving as one would think, they are most likely hopped up on speed more then MDMA. Pure MDMA is absolutely available out there and it goes by a different name that I will not mention for fear that my favorite party favor will go down the same path as its dirty relative E, and personally i feel safer on pure MDMA then when I go out drinking. While I'm on the topic how many people die in LA every weekend from alcohol related deaths? How many young people at colleges and highschool parties die from alcohol poisoning every year? But hey booze is legal and a huge part of the US economy so we all just turn a blind eye.
And the last section of my rant goes to the parents. Think about how you where when you were this and think of all the bad shit you got into. Now consider that our generation has multiple Woodstock sized events just about every month or more with 5 decades of research and development in the field of getting fucked up. Knowing that you might want to do a little digging into your kids lives. Sure kids lie, we say that we are gonna sleep at a friends house when really we are heading to down town with a head full of chemicals, but your the adult and you need to be hip to that! If your 16 year old is sleeping til 5pm on saturday/Sunday, spending tons of cash but doesn't seem to be buying anything new you can see, or has a huge collection of glowing, LED items you might want to have a talk about drug use. You should probable have that talk with your kids anyway, but there are definitely signs that your kids are indulging.
So this was a bigger rant then I expected but it's a subject I feel passionately about. Some of the most meaningful experiences in my life were when I was young on drugs surrounded by a whole community of likeminded folks sharing in the groove. I was a highschool kid who felt totally alienated from my generation, but when I went to my first rave I felt this increadible connection to my fellow outcasts, because I realized that I wasn't alone, there is a great big family of misfits out their who don't abide by the popular notion of a wholesome good time. That was such am amazing experience for me I would hate to take that away from the next generations of lonely and confused kids. That's also why I don't want the city officials of LA to defile the thing that brought me such a meaningful experience. All of these deaths are tragic because it feels like they could have been so easily avoided with a little knowledge, preparation, and better decisions. I just don't think this article does enough to explain the whole story, and unfairly attributes these tragedies to the Rave culture in LA as a whole when to me it feels like a failure of specific event coordinators to create an adequate environment for the kind of festivities they are promoting.
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giggles 01/05/2011 11:20:00 PM
I can’t decide what is the most hysterical part of this story: the Reefer-Madness-level hysterical tone (is the ghost of William Randolph Hearst running the Weekly these days?); Bernard Parks’ statement that when he was police chief ten years ago “people were saying identical things about groups like Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones (someone tell Bernie the turn of the millennium was not in 1970); the cop who claimed that 85% of rave crowds are on some drug or another (I assume she’s including anti-depressants and nicotine in that count); the delusional statements from public officials that these megaraves are safer than the illicit, underground warehouse events; or the self-justifications of some of the ravers themselves on this board, among other places.
When I was in my mid-twenties a decade ago, I tagged along to a few raves with friends who were heavily into the scene. They were always relatively small events at a club or warehouse, and always a great deal of fun. It was almost axiomatic that the larger the rave, the rougher the crowd. An event with 100,000 people, many of whom are teenagers being overstimulated by noise, lights, and a powerful hallucinogenic drug that raises your body temperature and often demolishes inhibitions? (And that’s assuming the Ecstasy they’re taking is better than the crap that was flooding the market seven or eight years ago and killing the scene for a lot of people.) These promoters are just asking for trouble; it’s amazing to me that there haven’t been even more overdoses and deaths.
Which reminds me: while acknowledging that my evidence is anecdotal, ten years ago you NEVER heard as many stories about bad trips and hospitalizations and deaths as I read in this article alone. Hell, I never heard any stories like this at all. The scene was safer when the out-of-touch oldsters who run the local government stayed the hell out of it. They should try staying the hell out of it now.
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Thurston Wells 01/04/2011 11:42:00 PM
Valid topic, vapid writing.
Author Dennis Romero rages against raves, and apparently, decent editing and professional writing. Romero’s summer articles, especially the Venice RV’s, were better written and showcased a broader set of talents. Like many other on-line commentators, this anti-rave article betrays excessive bias towards the “mega-rave” scene. Romero’s article also lacks a full reporting from both sides of the issue.
For instance, given that “former Los Angeles Police Department narcotics officer Trinka Porrata, a rave-drugs expert” estimates that “85 percent of rave crowds are taking Ecstasy or other drugs” needs expanding. For the ED rave, the 160,000 crowd would have 136,000 “Ecstasy or other drug” consumers. The sole tragic death represents 0.0007% of the massive crowd. The other 99.9993% accounts of attendance are missing from the article, lending the bias towards the tragedy and diminishing the input of the people who had a fun, safe time. The point is not to diminish Ms. Rodriguez’s passing, but to highlight the vast discrepancy in rave attendance outcomes.
This sort of sensationalist writing is a disservice to the legacy of the LAW, which has produced many fine articles over the years. Perhaps in future articles, the editors’ names can also appear in the byline is order to expose the persons responsible for letting hackneyed writing to make it to press.
-Thurston Wells
Westwood, L.A., CA
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01/04/2011 9:13:00 PM
I've been going to raves/ in the EDM scene for 5 years. It's a horrible stereotype that EDM lovers are degenerates. Not that I care what some anonymous commentator on the internet says.
The most interesting people I've met in my life outside of college have been in the rave scene. It's one of the few venues to be yourself outside of the oppressive US society where we only get 2 weeks of paid vacation if we're lucky enough to have a salaried job at all.
I've lived abroad and learned very difficult foreign languages. Think all the BS you want, I'm going to continue enjoying EDM in whatever venues I may find, clubs, undergrounds, massives. Sorry it pisses some of you off. I was much more concerned about all the tramplings I saw at EDC, there is no excuse for the promoters not having planned safety well enough with the numbers of people they expected.
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Jim 01/04/2011 9:10:00 PM
These kids aren't overdosing on MDMA. They are overdosing on other substances. It's a shame that such an uneducated and unscientific article would be printed spewing misinformation.
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01/04/2011 11:11:00 AM
I can't believe the LA Weekly turned the clock back to 1993 and FOX-NEWSed us with this bullshit article. Really? The fact that you brought Moontribe into this uneducated fear-driven article is a joke. Sure Mega-raves are stupid but more people die from smoking every week. What exactly are they going to ban? Gatherings over 3,000 people? Gatherings that attract people who takes drugs that are over 3,000 people? They don't even know what they want to ban. This article is a joke. Shame on you LA Weekly. Shame on your dorkus who wrote this piece of toilet paper. Now I'm gonna print this out and wipe my ass with it.
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01/04/2011 11:11:00 AM
I can't believe the LA Weekly turned the clock back to 1993 and FOX-NEWSed us with this bullshit article. Really? The fact that you brought Moontribe into this uneducated fear-driven article is a joke. Sure Mega-raves are stupid but more people die from smoking every week. What exactly are they going to ban? Gatherings over 3,000 people? Gatherings that attract people who takes drugs that are over 3,000 people? They don't even know what they want to ban. This article is a joke. Shame on you LA Weekly. Shame on your dorkus who wrote this piece of toilet paper. Now I'm gonna print this out and wipe my ass with it.
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Scienze 01/04/2011 4:40:00 AM
I've been in the dance music scene since '97, am a functioning and productive member of society, and still continue to go to the country's largest festivals such as EDC, Coachella, Ultra, Burning Man, etc., because they are the most forward thinking centers of large scale free expression, togetherness, and amazing music that I have yet found in this country.
Every generation's music is resisted by the generation before it, whether we're talking about 90's hip hop, 80's punk rock, 70's disco, 60's acid/hippie rock, and so on back to the swing dancing era of the roaring 20's. Every emerging genre of music is simply a new generation's way of expressing itself and something to be embraced, not censored.
Mega scale festivals and gatherings have existed throughout modern history, they are not something new to electronic music. Any time you have 100,000+ people together in a crowded atmosphere there are going to be a handful who run into health complications, whether they be from heat exhaustion, dehydration, trampling, bad personal choices such as overindulging in drugs/alcohol, or whatever else. The answer is not to censor the events or go with the knee-jerk reaction of shutting them down because they are feared and misunderstood. Any large scale event needs to be well planned in order to be safe, music festivals are no different (think proper layout to avoid bottlenecks, hiring sufficient security, easy-to-find first aid stations, sufficiency of free water sources, police/fire department involvement, etc).
The powers at be in Los Angeles should be applauded for standing up for freedom in this country, not to mention for recognizing the economic reality that large scale events for 100,000+ people make an enormous contribution to the region. Think about how many goods and services 100,000 people buy before/during/after an event...not only paying for money spent at the event itself but also gas, hotel rooms, clothing, phone calls/text messages, CD's, music downloads, restaurant meals, makeup, deoderant, airplane tickets, digital cameras, chewing gum, and the list goes on and on and on!!! Many millions of dollars are generated for businesses of many types/sizes, tax revenues are earned for struggling municipalities throughout the region and beyond, attendees make memories to last a lifetime...everybody wins.
As for the drug problem in the western world...educating youth to be responsible for their own actions, to not experiment with their bodies/health, and to value intelligence over degenerance...perhaps those are better answers than waiting for a high-profile problem to occur and then pointing fingers.
It's time to accept that people are going to these festivals for much more than drugs...the emerging generation has an internal longing to be part of a deeper and more positive collective existence than they are finding elsewhere within our society. It's the rise and self-expression of the next generation reinventing the world, as every generation has done before it. Let it continue, and in fact join in...it's a beautiful thing for people of all ages to be part of.
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Smic_2005 01/04/2011 4:26:00 AM
Actually by your language and the folks in the photos above really seem to be the degenerates.
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01/04/2011 3:37:00 AM
I've been to parties like this in England and the US. In England we have the sense to install extra base stations for cells phones at large events so everyone can communicate. Monster Massive didn't suffer from the same problems but evidently, affected Together As One.
I'm glad you were able to enjoy it and I hope I can again once the organisers get their act together. But you have to agree, there is much room for improving these events.
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Themandus88 01/04/2011 3:27:00 AM
3 words.
Fuck. The. Media.
You degenerate pigs are trying to violate our rights as citizens.
I find it funny how you only look at the negative side of all of this. Which is what makes you one-track minded fools. Banning raves will only force the scene into underground which would lead to more deaths and drug abuse since there wouldn't be any standby emergency teams or law enforcement. Not to mention the people dealing drugs will have the best opportunity to fearlessly sell as much as they want.
Take another look at what you're doing, because it's not only a violation of our first amendment, but it's also going to put a label on people who love the genre of music played at raves as "Druggies", or "Hoodlums". You people disgust me and I'm going to laugh when you realize what you're doing is blatant stupidity at it's finest. And @ the poster before me, when you say, "Without drugs, electronica music is essentially worthless.", that just tells me that you were one of the typical douchebags who could enjoy the music while under the influence of said drugs.
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Double Hit Mickey 01/04/2011 2:14:00 AM
I went to L.A. raves back in the late 80s (when they were illegal), and have watched the movement balloon to astonishing proportions, but while I think it is an excellent idea to incorporate harm reduction techniques and perhaps ban these large scale raves, let us be clear: without drugs, electronica music is essentially worthless.
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i used to wear ufos 01/04/2011 12:19:00 AM
One thing a lot of kids have yet to learn is, "when you get the message, hang up the phone." most people who've been into EDM have had a moment on the dance floor where they said, "i'm going to do this for the rest of my life." i don't anymore, but the music's still there.
Dennis, the focus should be on the permitting of these venues to promoters who obviously can't handle the logistics of providing safe entertainment for 100,000+ patrons, regardless of their age or the genre of music being provided to them.
I stopped going to parties in 2001 because I was the oldest person in the room at 24, picking kids up off the floor and getting them water. I also stopped going because the music started moving away from what I was into. The problems with the rave scene will continue because we have promoters who feed on the young and older ravers who are sick of greedy promoters and babysitting 17 year olds.
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01/04/2011 12:12:00 AM
This definitely wasn't the worst "megarave" I've been to (any and every EDC, and Hard @ The Forum win title of the worst)... that said, this New Years at TOA marks the last massive I ever attend. Each year is the same old - kids who can't handle their drugs and poor organizing on the promoters part. I think that in the future I'll just pay to see these DJ's individually at smaller, well-controlled venues and avoid all the hullaballoo!
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Strumpling 01/03/2011 9:49:00 PM
You've been going for 10 years and are just noticing there's no cell signal when thousands of people surrounded by concrete in the Arena?
"we decided to stay put on the Sports Arena dance floor until the end of the evening as it was the safest."
I was outside for most of the night because the Arena was a complete mess. You've got it backwards.. No wonder you had a crappy time.
"Nor did we risk going to see any of the other artists we wanted to see in the other arenas"
It wasn't much of a "risk" moving from stage to stage. We traveled around when we wanted to see somebody at another stage and got to where we needed to be without losing each other or panicing.
"not that we would have been able to find them given the lack of any information about the arenas/lineups inside the festival."
They had a map with the lineup information available as a small handout at the information booth. Oh but let me guess you were too scared to go to the information booth. People were also handing them out near the entrance.
Anyway, I've rarely been super impressed with GoVentures (Perhaps Insomniac should help them out a bit with logistics for TAO. Yes, Insomniac, the horrible demons behind EDC) and didn't witness any of the horror and terror that you seemed to be unable to escape in your night of unending emergency and danger. Didn't witness any of it, as I was spending a lot of time at stages enjoying music. You've been at this for 10 years?
Was my first TAO, may be my last, but certainly won't be my last "megarave." Since when is it called a megarave anyway? It's a "massive."
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01/03/2011 8:11:00 AM
yeah. and?
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01/03/2011 6:21:00 AM
If refugee camps had raves, they'd be called Together As One. It was the most unorganised and dangerous event I have ever been too out of many over the past ten years.
The first problem occurred before even getting into the event. Unorganised lines outside with thousands of frustrated party goers waiting to get in. It doesn't matter if this is a rave or a sports game. If you trap several thousand people in a confined space and make them wait for 3 hours to get in, as I did, while being pushed and crushed by those behind, they will get frustrated, angry and want to get out of the situation. This prompted many people to jump the fence while other who simply couldn't handle the crush turned around and attempted to make their way out of the line in tears. Not an easy task in such a crowd all pushing forward. To add to the problems, a security guard in an elevated position on the Exposition Blvd entrance, supposedly to monitor the situation, could see the dangerous crush of people and as they shouted to him for help, he would mock them. No wonder that many a missile was launched at him. The simple answer is to plan for this many people and expect to get them inside in a timely manner. People don't mind waiting a while to get in, but 3 hours is too much, especially by which time we'd missed many of the acts we'd paid so much to see.
The same poor organisation continued within, where entry to the dance floor of the sports arena was limited to one person at a time. A line of fencing and guards prevented people from entering in a steady flow and with no coordinated line to enter, thousands of people were swarming on the entrance to get in. This was by far the worst crushing experience I've ever been in. People were pushing much harder and crowds were stumbling all over and screaming. I shouted at the guards to help us but they ignored our pleas for help and maintained the dangerous one in at time policy. This was something that wasn't a problem at Halloween's Monster Massive also at the same venue.
Once finally on the deserted dance floor with a few other lucky party revelers who were fortunate enough to survive the crush to get in, we could see the extremely crowded upper seating area. We stood on the floor strewn with litter, empty bottles, abandoned items of clothing, presumably thrown from the upper floors in frustration transforming the dance floor into something that resembled a refugee camp. A moment later I rushed forward to the girl dancing in front of me. She was a little startled at me running towards her and grabbing her, especially since it wasn't midnight, but I had to explain to her that there was a guy dangling dangerously from the upper balcony some 20 feet above her head and he was about to drop. Once she saw, she soon moved out of the way. A scene that was repeated throughout the night.
I was also keen to regroup with my friend who was separated from me at the entrance in the crush, but there was no cell phone signal in the venue all evening. Not exactly great if you are caught in an emergency and need help in a hurry. So after contemplating braving the crushing crowds outside, we decided to stay put on the Sports Arena dance floor until the end of the evening as it was the safest. We never got to meet up with our friend or see him again for the rest of the night. Nor did we risk going to see any of the other artists we wanted to see in the other arenas, not that we would have been able to find them given the lack of any information about the arenas/lineups inside the festival.
I really hope that Go Venture are reading this as I have a few other suggestions for you: it's great having the signs telling people to drink plenty of water to be safe, but make it accessible. Provide some water fountains. Have reasonable security that can handle the situation. Don't have them provoke the crowd and cause them to act in a dangerous manner. Have the security to respond accordingly to situations. Don't let people be crushed right in front of your when you can open up the gates and prevent a dangerous situation turning into something much worse. Lastly after the party ended, lots of people convened on Exposition Blvd where taxi cabs normally are waiting, as at Monster Massive. However, for this party, the curb had been fenced off so there were no cabs waiting leaving people to have to wander the streets, run out into the road for and fight for cabs with the thousands of other people all trying to get home.
Go Ventures- you ruined my new years celebrations. I hope you learn from this and can turn this around before you get shut down for good. Until then, I will no longer be returning to any of your events.
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hutch78 01/03/2011 5:36:00 AM
"I'm only 24"
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01/03/2011 2:40:00 AM
this article touches on the true problem with raves - kids are stupid. they seem even more stupid than kids from just a few years ago. i'm only 24, but the kids who are 15-19 now seem entirely different from what me and my peers were like at that age. where did we go wrong?
also, i think that a HUGE problem at massive raves is the fact that the security personnel are not as professional as they need to be. at the nocturnal festival this past september, there were NO water fountains except for ONE water station at the front entrance, and the security guard working the only women's bathroom in the entire place was rolling balls. it was ridiculous. she was too busy being high to make sure that people could get in to stay hydrated.
and the article mentions "increased security precautions" in place at the Spookfest at the Cow Palace. um, i just walked right in. they barely searched me, and they didn't even card me.
if these venues are really state owned and run, the state itself needs to think twice about the people that it hires to work these events.
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Bppomales 01/02/2011 10:51:00 PM
All I know is... Everyone should try ecstacy AND go to a rave at least once in their lifetime.
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01/02/2011 9:20:00 PM
Good point, but most of these deaths happened outside of the U.S. Look at it this way, if these deaths happened consistently at the same venues with the same kind of crowd, would they have been allowed to go on year after year?
The Love Parade was canceled -- forever -- after last summer's tragedy.
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l9H 01/02/2011 2:21:00 AM
Correction: I mean to write:
"I'm not arguing that we should not improve conditions and be more considerate and helpful to strangers in need at massive raves -- of course we should."
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l9H 01/02/2011 2:16:00 AM
Way to jump on the alarmist bandwagon, LA Weekly!
But your attempt to de-contextualize EDC and demonize massive festivals, raves, and concerts featuring electronic dance music is poorly researched and, although we shouldn't really be finding an argument in a piece not intended as op-ed, poorly argued, too.
The death at EDC is tragic. Smaller parties are, yes, more fun, at least for me. But one death out of more than 150000 attendees barely rates on the scale of concert tragedies. And though you quibble with promoters for not using the tag "rave" and using the tag "festival" in order to escape criticism -- it actually is much more like a classic rock festival than a rave, imho -- the fact is that these shows are so over-policed it's ridiculous.
Yes, they are overcrowded, very often - except when alarmist reporting from sources like yours or poor promotion or uninteresting acts results in anemic attendance! Going to a massive can sometimes feel like there are more police officers than people waiting in line to get in - witness the Love Festival last summer, which suffered both from the moral panic arising after the EDC tragedy and from less than stellar bookings, and where the outside of the arena was swamped with scores of police officers sitting around and doing absolutely nothing. And don't even mention the undercovers hired by the promoters -- a point you fail to emphasize sufficiently is that these kinds of promotors often take steps to avoid or minimize potential problems that would make rock promoters give up their lucrative positions!
Compared to massive rock concerts, these events STILL don't even rate. And compared to other festivals, attendee fatalities are also very low for such a massive event.
None of the events I list below had anywhere near the attendance of EDC, but all resulted in more deaths. I'm not arguing that we should improve conditions and be more considerate and helpful to strangers in need at massive raves -- of course we should! But to see how poor research on your part results in a ludicrous charge of city officials allowing promoters to make money off killing young drug-addled victims, consider the following list of concert/club/festival fatalities. EDC and other recent events barely rate. Hospital visits because of inexperienced people using bunk drugs is another story, but you muddle that too: you claim that rising numbers of inexperienced young people taking Ecstasy is the problem -- but couldn't you at least point out that these people couldn't possibly know for sure what they were taking unless they had sourced test samples in advance and sent them off for testing?! This problem has little to do with EDM promoters or LA City Council members being, essentially, ignorant and exploitive. But if you are using a tragic death to tell us that the LA City Council members may be corrupt, out of touch, and incompetent, you're not only late to the story, you're exploiting the girl's death yourself!
Compared to many of the events I've listed below, all much smaller, the EDC tragedy seems, thankfully, more limited. And by the way, what are these venues for if not to hold massive events? Oh, yeah, right, we should all be cheering for a football team. Right.
***
December 6, 1969, Altamont Pass, California: Famously, one man holding a gun is stabbed by one of the Hell’s Angels members hired for security by the Rolling Stones; a hit and run accident kills two; another person drowned. 4 people total are reported dead.
May 28, 1977, Southgate, Kentucky: At the Beverly Hills Supper Club, 165 people die after a busboy tries to warn people that a fire has broken out, but the crowd doesn’t listen; later, when the fire reaches a room where two comics are warming up a crowd, they panic and the victims burn to death.
December 3, 1979, Cincinnati Ohio: The Who, Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum: 11 deaths, many more injured when doors opened late and crowds rushed the inadequate entrances.
January 18, 1991, Salt Lake City, Utah: In conditions similar to those that contributed to the deaths at Riverfront Coliseum in 1979, 3 people of ages ranging from 14 to 19 die in a stage crush.
1998, Detroit: A man falls to his death from an upper balcony at a Rolling Stones concert.
June 30, 2000, near Copenhagen, Denmark: during Pearl Jam’s performance at the Rokslide festival, 9 people were crushed to death as fans rushed the stage. The next act, The Cure, cancelled its performance out of respect for the dead. 26 people are injured elsewhere at the concert in a crowd of approximately 25000.
March 18, 2001, Jakarta Indonesia: when boy band A1 appeared at a mall record store for a broadcast appearance, the crowd panics and stampede for the exits. 4 girls are crushed to death.
February 20, 2003, West Warwick, Rhode Island: Over-capacity crowds at the Station nightclub stampede as fireworks ignite a fire. 100 people die.
December 30, 2004, Buenos Aires Argentina: 3000 people pack in to a club zoned for 1000 to see Callejeros. Someone sets off fireworks, and a fire breaks out. 194 people die.
January 1, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand: A fire breaks out in the unauthorized Santika nightclub as the band Burn plays; 66 people die.
May 23, 2009, Rabat, Morocco: On the final night of this 9 day festival featuring Stevie Wonder, Kylie Minogue, Ennio Morricone, 11 people were crushed to death as a stampede erupts during a performance by Moroccan singer Abdelaziz.
July 10, 2010, Duisberg, Germany: At this re-formatted version of The Love Parade, which started out as a peace demonstration in1989 in Berlin, 21 people were crushed to death in a stampede when police stopped concertgoers from entering the arena without stopping people from entering the narrow tunnel entrance into the arena.
August, 2010, Hasselt, Belgium: At the multi-day Pukkelpop festival, The Call frontman Michael Breen, 60, dies of an apparent heart attack. Later at the same festival, Charles Haddon, lead singer of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool commits suicide by jumping off of a telecommunications mast.
November 22, 2010, Phnom Penh, Cambodia: In a different kind of festival, 345 people die in a stampede during a festival celebrating the end of the rainy season.
When you consider how many people attended EDC last summer, it's surprising to me that there weren't MORE problems. Evidently, that crowd had more ability to party through terrible concert conditions than you give them credit for!
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01/02/2011 12:09:00 AM
By all means, let's ban raves from publicly-owned venues. But I must ask another question. Where are the parents? What sort of parent would let his or her child attend one of these events????? What ever happened to the word "NO"? While I favor a ban on raves, the real responsibility for preventing rave-based OD's lies with the parents. Remember Erma Bombeck's famous line. "I loved you enough to say 'No." even though I knew you'd hate me for it." That is precisely what parents need to remember.
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Pat 01/01/2011 7:41:00 PM
Hmm, now let's see if I get this straight. The Coliseum Commission wholeheartedly approves officially sanctioned, commerical megaraves where Ectasy and other illegal drugis sold to mobs of young people who sneak in or gatecrash, overdose nad pass out once they're on the premises, and either are rushed to the ER for heavy-duty nursing or to die from Ectasy poisoning. Meawhile, this same Commission -- whose members include former L.A. police chief Bernard Parks -- denounce the smaller, nonsactioned, and far safer warehouse raves as a lethal danger to young people. Is it just me or is there something horribly, horribly wrong with this picture?
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Vickytoria7 01/01/2011 5:31:00 AM
I have attended both a larger scale rave with about 100,000 in attendance and a much smaller one with about 5,000. I agree that the larger raves present a serious issue. The smaller one generally tend to attract a different crowd of more experienced rave goers while the larger ones attract a large amount of first timers that also experiment with drug like ecstacy for the first time there. This creates an issue because not only have they entered into an unfamiliar teritory, they also have no idea how the drug will effect them and what to really expect.
I was in attendance at EDC in the Collisuem up in the stands, when i looked down at the enormous crowd on the ground, I could not believe that the organizers for the event could act so irresponsibly. The people were packed in like sardines and at one point i saw paramedics carry someone out from the front of the crowd. There were no bathrooms and it looked almost impossible to move around on the field. The water and food werre on the sides in the middle of the field. At one point, they even started keeping people in the stands from entering or leaving even though the water and food were outside of the collisuem. With the knowledge that people are dancing for hours and some on drugs, i would have thought the promoters would have sold water inside the colliseum if they were not goint to let people in or out.
I believe that one of the best safety measures massive events could take on would be greatly reducing the number of tickets they sell. While htis procaution may help law enforcement with regulating the crowds, there are many other issues that must be addressed before anyone can consider massive raves "safe".
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12/31/2010 10:22:00 PM
Way more people were harmed at EDC than just one. I was stepped on for ten minutes just trying to get to the bathroom. Insomniac is not fit to produce any large scale concert event after that disaster.
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12/31/2010 10:20:00 PM
8 REASONS TO AVOID TAO LIKE THE PLAGUE
EDC WAS A DEATH TRAP
I've been to five Insomniac Events, including EDC this year. Forget the girl who OD'ed, just remember the laweekly videos of people being crushed, stampeded, and bloodied? I was in that! You can't see me, but I was stepped on for ten minutes, unable to get up, and my shoulder was bruised and fucked up for five weeks. The sports arena is really no different, and I don't trust anyone doing a rave in an arena, but especially Insomniac. Fuck you Insomniac!!!
IT'S FUCKING RAINING
Look outside. This is the rainiest December in years! It's going to be fucking freezing, even if it doesn't rain. Don't be fooled by the indoor SPorts Arena. They can only put one stage inside, it can only hold a couple thousand people, and the rest are going to be under leaky flimsy tents. TO get from one place to another, you have to walk through mud. You will spend two hours waiting in line to get in, minimum. Unless you really love standing around in a miniskirt for hours shivering, stay the fuck away.
TRAFFIC BLOWS DONKEY BALLS
Before you stand around waiting in line, remember you are going to have to sit in traffic for another two hours on the way in and the way out. And the guy next to you is going to blast shitty music all night. And there's no way to get out. You can't even turn around it's such a clusterfuck.
GO VENTURES EVENTS ARE FULL OF CRIMINALS
Undercover agents arrested 300 people at Go Ventures raves this year, and that's ONLY what was caught. Imagine all the other meth-heads, pickpockets, taggers and gangbangers they DIDNT catch! Dont be fooled by the new 18+ either, with this rule MORE ghetto kids show up, they just wait outside, gathering up and tearing down fences. at monster massive there were hundreds of drugged out kandy ravers who successfully mobbed the main entrance! When the fire marshalls see the gatecrashers taking control of theevent the whole show gets shut down. Even people who bought tickets sneak in because the lines are so slow.
THE LINEUP IS A RIPOFF
The trance artists are the weakest TAO has ever had. It's puny compared to this year's EDC or Ultra lineups. The greedy shits at Insomniac are holding out on you and you don't even know it! The electro and dubstep stages are a straight rip off of Hard Summer and HARD Halloween.
THEY WILL OVERSELL IT
The last two GO Ventures parties inside the Arena (Monster Mssive and TAO last year) both reach capacity early in the night. They shut the doors, and you have to wait in a long ass line, hoping someone will come out so you can take their place. This is the same bullshit they run every year.
IT'S IN THE GHETTO
When you have to park and walk through Compton and Watts to get to the party, you realize that your shit is not safe. Every time they have a rave at the coliseum/sports arena, the local thugs have Christmas with your cars. Due to the mass amounts of crime, the police stations are overwhelmed, you may have to wait 6-7 hours just to file the report of your broken window/ missing stereo/ missing car. While your waiting, how about getting mugged & raped too? Double whammy!
NO REFUNDS
Ask anyone you know who already bought a ticket -- it's printed on the ticket NO REFUNDS. When the event is canceled due to weather, or shut down due to public hazards or gate-crashing toddlers, you'll be out in the cold and rain at 11:30 next to a homeless guy at the beginning of 2011, looking at the useless ticket in your hand that you wasted$80 on.
IT ENDS EARLY
OK, so this more than 8 reasons after all. Raving is all about staying out late partying, so why do they end at 2:00? That also means music will shut down before that! Doors are at 6:00, but who's really going to get there that early on a workday? This is new year's eve and girls like me need to get ready. By the time you actually get inside you probably will have missed all of the acts that you wanted to see. DJ Reza gets a better time slot than Jack Beats? Who actually wants to see THAT fat fuck at peak time?
THERE ARE WAY BETTER PARTIES ELSEWHERE
For starters, Hollywood is full of great clubs where you can get your new years rave on well past 2am: GIANT has a killer trance lineup if your 21, HARD is 18+ at the music box for electro & house hipsters, the raveonettes and autolux are playing with tons of djs at the standard, digweed at avalon, etc. there are also great drum and bass (hive & tech itch) and underground house (sublevel) in downtown, bootie la at echoplex, and the EPIC NYE rave w/ moby ferry corsten and afrojack in san diego are all better options than the nightmare that is tao. I dont care where you go, just dont go to the sports arena!
So now you know. TOGETHER IS DONE. spread the word, please re-post!
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12/31/2010 8:25:00 PM
the author's discussion of both Coachella and the Exposition Raves gives a perfect opportunity for comparison on important lifestyle and environmental issues. Coachella is held at a Polo Ground with an emphasis on Recycling , Renewable Energy and general respect for the environment with which the festival is held. The city and promoters have a unique opportunity to show that with the benefit of support of the City of Los Angeles that large urban raves can be stellar productions with orderly, non-violent, crime free events filled with an emphasis on cleaning up water bottles, keeping the grounds clean, participating in Global Inheritance like 4D Energy FACTory Experiences to help teach in real time the benefits of "green" living with simultaneous cultural enthusiasm. The city and promoters should work together to make Raves something we associated with whats good culturally for sustainable living for the Millennials and beyond. I enjoyed my 37th birthday at Electric Daisy Carnival was was sadly disappointed by the 'cluster' that was experienced at check in but truly horrified by the water bottles on the ground and general disrespect. The city has a unique opportunity to prove that mega raves can be orderly physical cultural education / participation and with the addition of the new Exposition Line show that it can all be done with minimal traffic hassles for the surrounding community.
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12/31/2010 8:01:00 PM
Whaaaaaaa. One dies in 80,000. 79,999 had a great time. Sounds fair. People are supposed to die at raves. Plus only idiots die from drugs. Quit ruining my good time with you damn kids.... and get off my lawn!
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DubDub 12/31/2010 5:28:00 PM
The thing is, you get these people who don't know any better that completely take the spotlight for the scene. There are drugs at ANY music event. Go to a hip hop show, people are also on E, Cocaine, drunk or whatever. Go to metal show I bet you will see the same. Yet when 1 person dies in the EDM scene all hell breaks loose.
I myself go to music festivals sober. I enjoy the music for what it is. The problem with the current scene is lack of education and knowledge about what actually goes on and how to be safe since most parents have no idea and the kids that go are too naive and still easily influenced. This is why it is better to have 18-21+ events ONLY. The real issue is having all age events. Go to a 18-21+ club or event and you won't see this kind of garbage going on and if you do, chances are it is a lot less than an all age massive event.
There is that factor and the factor of the production company that is throwing the event, not preparing professionally as they should. They should have pre-planned layouts of where to evac someone if need be. They should have plenty of security. They should have people posted at certain areas to watch for drug deals and make sure no one is on the floor seizuring.
Again though like I said in my second paragraph, if we had 18+ events then this kind of crap would subside and become better for everyone. The only reason there are all age events is because of the revenue. If anyone that is a government official that opposes this scene had half a brain they would realize this.
Don't ban the music festivals. Change the fucking age limit to 18-21+ and see what happens then.
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Wade Randolph Hampton 12/31/2010 3:16:00 PM
OOOOhhh Dennis!
Can't believe you're still spreading this venom after a decade and a half! Meanwhile this movement has shaped your city...given it a vibrant, colorful fabric...even offered a wealth of celebrated alumni into your coveted entertainment industry. Not so unlike the revered 60's era music movement, which had a supposed price to pay, as well. Taking your naive editorial tact back then eventually revealed foolish and antiquated writers, much like yourself right now. Not to mention, we have put a LOT money into your publications pocket, as long as I can remember. The very people who pay your salary.
This isn't about the events. This is about the parents of a 15 year-old, who need to get their shit together. Why don't you write a big fat bunch of propaganda about that, sir? But it wouldn't sell magazines because everybody's got a bad 15 year-old around the house, right?
Kids who are willing to go there...to this extent...are going to do this with or without the event. You are simply seeing the citywide addiction and abuse issue aggregated into neat little, easily quantifiable number...and one that can then be applied to the promoter, versus the parents who have no control over their kids.
For whatever it's worth, I have no problem with the concept of limiting these events to 18 years-old. Never really needed the kids around to enjoy myself but, I understand their attraction to this music. You will simply force those kids back into even less supervised, illicit warehouse, but...if that's where you want to send the ambulance...knock yourself out.
So keep writing your tall tales of how we are different somehow than the jetsetters whoofing down blow in the bathrooms at the Bowl or the Greek at a show for a traditional band. Just know that with every key stroke...you have likely added to the sensationalism...the very thing that seems to attract more to our army. And the very opposite of your intentions by writing this article, I can only imagine.
We're here to stay. Believe that.
There's the pen. There's the sword.
And then, there's passion.
Dont' ever underestimate the power of that emotion, pal.
Wade Randolph Hampton
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Cwblaze666 12/31/2010 7:21:00 AM
IN All honesty the big parties are the enemies because there is more corruption and harder to manage, seldom to people die at small parties. For god sakes, i'm a Scientist and some of these comments from the kids on the forums makes me wonder if those kids have caused neural damage from take too high of a dose too many times.
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Darwin 12/31/2010 5:01:00 AM
Smart and responsible rave goers don't die or OD at raves, mega or small underground. Who cares if the dumb ones die? Why are we fighting evolution?
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Gerid1vsqz 12/31/2010 4:24:00 AM
Your a piece of shit work? hope your lil bitch sister doesn't die at one too? After all what would be so special about that lil bitch if she did? BIG FUCKEN DEAL ANYWAYS!!!
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Acscibetta 12/31/2010 3:33:00 AM
people shouldn't die at raves. more then half the participants at an event shouldn't be on drugs. that whole peace love respect thing people throw around at raves is hypocritical. you shouldn't need a mood altering drug to be nice to people. the new generation of ravers treat the events as an excuse to act w/o any responsibility and take copious amounts of drugs. if authorities came up with a way to prevent 100% of drugs from entering these events, i'm positive those 185,000 events would turn back into the couple thousands people events i use to go. this ban sucks, but stop trying to pretend there isn't a huge issue here.
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12/31/2010 3:31:00 AM
Nearly accurate account of the electronic music scenes. That picture of the Bwomp! party is not an accurate portreyal due to the naked "rave refugees" attempting to dance on stage. Shoulda gotten a picture of the breakdancers in the back or the kids getting down in the speakers!
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STFU & Get over it. 12/31/2010 2:29:00 AM
People die at raves. It fucking happens.
What's so special about this little bitch?
That she was 15? BIG FUCKING DEAL!
If wasn;t her, it would have just been someone else.
Why ruin something for everyone when one person fucks up?
Seriously, pull your heads out of your ass'.
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bring back DANCE SAFE 12/31/2010 1:51:00 AM
Good Evening, Parents.
Tonight, I'm going to take you on a tour of Club Mac;
where all the bad little kitties go,
and try to leave their bondings...
By various means of methods,
anything necessary,
Something that you won't quite be accustomed to.
So I've equipped each and everyone of you with your own individual camera,
so that you could take pictures of these bad little kitties doing bad little things...
for tomorrow's paper.
So whip out your fifteen dollars, and prepare to enter Club Mac.
We've been here not more than thirty seconds,
and already I see a bad little kid doing bad little things.
He is sucking on a balloon.
Now, this is not an ordinary balloon, parents.
It's a balloon filled with a gas called, nitrous oxide -laughing gas.
He, he, he, he, he, he, he, ha, ha...
but this is no laughing matter.
Cameras ready, prepare to flash.
Now over here we have Little Johnny and Miss Susie,
smoking on a joint!?
This is not the thing to do.
I think we that have to take pictures of these two.
Cameras ready, prepare to flash.
Now over here, we have some naughty, naughty kids.
They brought in their own liquor to the party.
Now we can not have that now, parents, can we?
Six packs and pints, I think not, so...
Cameras ready, prepare to flash.
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Brad 12/31/2010 1:23:00 AM
LA Weekly should be ashamed for printing this sensationalist piece of trash. Did Romero bother to interview anyone with the opposing point of view? We're all supposed to believe kids at these events are helpless cattle being led to the slaughter by money-hungry city politicians and promoters. Of course no mention of the 99.9% of attendees who exercise responsible judgment and have a great time, drugs or no, and don't die. Obviously, that's not the important part.
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12/31/2010 12:36:00 AM
There are a large number of things a promoter can do to reduce the harms associated with drug use at their events. Teams of roving volunteers that assist with problems, chill out areas, free cold running water and misting tents, onsite ground control and crisis counselors, and peer education regarding the immediate dangers of drugs.
Read the Coliseum Commission report:
http://www.lacoliseumlive.com/joomla/images/documents/edcprelimreport.pdf
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Matt 12/30/2010 11:00:00 PM
The guy that wrote this is the most biased and ignorant writer I have seen in a while.
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Adrian 12/30/2010 10:30:00 PM
If you get hurt cause your on drugs I'm pretty sure its your own fault. If a drunk-driver kills someone and them-self do we blame the bar or club they where at? Or for that fact the type of drinks they where drinking? But if you take something your body cant handle you deserve to die. sorry how I feel. I have been going to "Raves" since 2004 and Yes I have taken a lot of mdma in my day. I was always safe and smart about how I did it. Its stupid young kids thinking their invincible thinking they can take whatever and it will have no negative effect on their body. And if your child is under 16 and you dont know where they are at late at night on the weekend your are fuckin up as a parent
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Sancho R. 12/30/2010 10:29:00 PM
Have you ever wondered why 'megaraves' (LOL) attract so many people? It's not the drugs. It's fairly easy to buy drugs anywhere in any city. It's an indescribable experience a true music lover shares with thousands of other music lovers. It's a night where you can dance the night away to your favorite artists while they perform live. Watch any youtube video on any 'megarave' and all the comments state the same thing..."best night of my life!" If these events are as horrible as the media implies, why are they only getting bigger? For every negative article, blog, news report or video on electronic music events, there are thousands of comments, blogs, pictures and videos that show the real side of these events.
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PLR 12/30/2010 10:28:00 PM
Ho-hum. Another blatantly misleading article using the same scare tactics that haven't worked for the last hundred years (since drugs became illegal). Why not talk about the honest risks involved in drug use and how they can be minimized? Anyone who is actually concerned would write an article with that information instead of this drivel.
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Gingerbread 12/30/2010 9:04:00 PM
So let me get this straight? You prefer kids stay at home and do the drugs they would be doing anyway instead of going outdoors and enjoying it with their friends and strangers? Instead of relying on puritanical views to ruin the fun for everyone else how about we let people make their own decisions and live with the consequences? Should we shut down the fun for everyone because of a few rotten apples?
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Ssnrt866 12/30/2010 8:56:00 PM
I would say 50-80% of people at big raves are out of their minds on drugs, and anyone who disagrees with that is naive, blind, or works for the city/promoter.
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Ssnrt866 12/30/2010 8:51:00 PM
Commercialized raves are dumb. This scene stopped being relevant, musically and culturally, in the early 1990s. The drugs don't work anymore because the ecstasy stopped being good a long time ago. Keep it underground. Don't go to these big corporate-run cheesefests. Take shrooms. Look at some stars. Set up soundsystems in the desert. Make music. Fuck Burning Man. Party on.
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Strumpling 12/30/2010 7:44:00 PM
Another blatant trash-piece from Dennis Romero.
Do you really think you're doing balanced journalism here?
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Itwas0nlyak1ss 12/30/2010 4:05:00 PM
I'm what you would consider a 'raver' and I do not partake in any drug use. Stop generalizing the attendants. Those who truly love the music are there for exactly that- the music.
Unless you have actually experienced one of these events, I don't see where you would get your expertise.
The raves aren't about drugs- the people who take them make it about drugs.
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Mig Knob 12/30/2010 4:58:00 AM
Brilliant. Everybody who likes EDM let's just agree to stop lying that raves aren't about drugs. Let's stop saying its safer than being at home. Why is the state subsidizing drug abuse to make promoter/pushers more money? Do it at a private venue and let the business be responsible not the taxpayers. Romero does a great job showing the FACTS here. Now we get to watch everybody ignore the FACTS while they lie to themselves and protect the promoters who lead them like sheep on drugs (great band BTW).
Save the rave. Kill the BS.
