Introduction
Bright lights, crowded venues, whistles and glow sticks. It was all part of the hedonistic experience that encapsulated rave music. The illegal rave, not knowing where it may be, relying on word and mouth, turning up at a field or deserted warehouse with a heavy police presence, ready to raid it when speed and ecstasy are found. The notorious Ibiza house and club parties in clubs like Amnesia, Manumission, Pacha, Space, Es Paradis, Eden and DC10 were trance, techno and rave belted out. Foam rained down on the ravers, who were hot, sweaty and prepared to dance until the sun came up.
Who can forget the great music of the club DJs? Sasha, Jeremy Healy, Fatboy Slim, Dave Seaman, Nicky Holloway, Judge Jules, Pete Tong, Carl Cox, David Morales, Pablo Flores, Victor Calderone, DJ Harvey, Slipmatt, Sy, Tony Humphries, Moby and so many more. DJs with so much get-and-go and prepared to mix and spin records until their fingers were numb. Old Skool, Classic Rave, Hardcore Techo and Breakbeat. This Born Slippy generation liked to party hard, using just stamina to survive the night. There was no trouble or violence, just people coming together for a unique experience where many hands decorated the air and the music was accompanied by an orchestra of whistles. Twisting bodies, tired eyes and smiles as far as you see in a patchwork of clubbers. Psychedelic imagery beamed across the room, and you knew that when someone was going to the toilets, they weren’t answering the call of nature.
The Ultimate Experience
Whether at an illegal rave, an Ibiza club, Haceinda, or Ministry of Sound, you couldn’t escape the pull of the music. It drew you in with its alluring beats and unique fashion. This was heaven on a dance floor, and whether you could dance or not, you were drawn to it like a moth to a flame. More water flowed than alcohol, quenching and slaking the thirst of energetic dancers. Camisra’s Let Me Show You plays to a raving army with Ultra Flava as the next track. This Gen X generation was born in the 70s, raised in the 80s and raved in the 90s. Want Love by Hysteric Ego and many more classic tracks made this a dance experience you couldn’t afford to miss. It had a tempo and breakbeat that went into cruise control, exploding into a crescendo of power and volume.
The DJ was a deity that heaven dropped from celestial skies. A master of all they surveyed and the instigator of fun, dance and joy. A conductor with an imaginary orchestra where hand gestures controlled the crowd and whipped them up into an orgy of dance. The music of Plastic Dreams sent your body into rhythmic overload and one you could get a buzz from with or without the drugs. Balearic tunes that were poetry in motion. Dancing to the beat of The Goodmens’ Give It Up, a cocktail of whistles and tempos beats. Rise at The Leadmill, Sheffield, in 1995 with Sister Bliss, an unforgettable memory.
This experience was summed up by the Faithless track Insomnia, the Greek islands where partygoers flocked to savour the music—Mykonos at sunset and the buzz of the streets of the North of England. Trance music bounces off the continual flow of records. Hold That Sucker Down, a must as a request. These were not songs; they were religious anthems. Want Love on full pelt. An Adagio For Strings that made you friends out of thin air and brought people from all walks of life together. Long hair, short hair, vests, t-shirts or bare-chested chests, they raved the night away, a much-missed experience that we still cherish, love and would love to return.
