Just the other day a good friend of mine sent me a YouTube clip of an “orbital rave” that occurred in 1989:
I am really happy to say that I actually attended this event. I was sixteen years of age and relishing this new surge of youth culture that was freshly emerging; exciting and heady, a time to be thoroughly enjoyed and that we did.
However looking back on it now I was struck with just one thing. Throughout the entire ten minutes of the video clip there is not one shot of the DJ.
Not one.
Instead we are treated to a visual feast of the real stars of the show, namely us, the punters. Sweating and grinning and gyrating insanely and giving themselves up to the music as you really are supposed to. Feeling the music and actually dancing to it.
For me, this shows us how far we have come, and how far we have lost our way. At any given venue of late, the crowd can be seen almost praying to the altar of the DJ box, the very worst culprits to be found in one of the places where this music takes its origins; Ibiza.
The kids now stand in the throngs at Ushuaia, entranced, doing the obligatory pointy finger dance at yet another relentless breakdown. iPhones held aloft filming the whole event, or Shazaming the tune, or Uploading pictures to Facebook. I’m all for the internet and using technology to share the love but have we lost the main reason for the whole thing?
Real clubs with a respect and love for the music are rapidly realising this. Berghain/Panorama Bar have always enforced a strict no camera policy, and Fabric have recently released the below image:
At the excellent upcoming Black Atlantic event, Mister Sunday at Oval Space on the 9th of November there are even hard and fast rules for the dancefloor;
A COUPLE OF RULES FOR OUR DANCEFLOOR:
1. Please don’t take photos.
2. Please don’t text or make calls or any of that stuff.
You can do all these things off of the dancefloor, but when you’re inside the speakers, get down.
This seems to me like the perfect advice, lets go back to our roots and really enjoy the music we’re “supposed” to be listening to!
Trust me we’ll all enjoy it all that much more.
See you down the front on the 9th 🙂
Boutainblog™ 