N.C. Raves: Dancing all night
What is a rave? : Dancing all night (1 of 10)

 

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Raves are all-night dance parties, usually starting late and finishing after dawn. Hundreds (or thousands) of people gather to dance and sweat while the rest of the world sleeps. MORE
 
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Copyright ©1998 Jim Webb. All rights reserved.


Link: The alt.rave FAQ
-- Fairly old, but still good general raving information
Raves, simply referred to as 'parties' by ravegoers, began in Chicago and Detroit in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As disco died, members of the underground disco scene started holding all-night dance parties in warehouses, playing 'house music,' a fusion of disco and soul, made by using turntables, electronic drum machines, and synthesizers. The parties spread very quickly in Europe, and more slowly in American cities.

Today, they're common in many areas of the United States, though they typically occur in nightclubs instead of abandoned warehouses. North Carolina usually hosts two or three parties each weekend, though they may be spread across the state, only a few places host them on a regular schedule. TOP


When is a rave a rave? Debate rages over what, exactly, is a rave. As raves become more popular, the line between nightclub and rave becomes more difficult to draw. Purists consider raves to be one-time events held in non-standard settings, like abandoned warehouses. For them, a rave is not just a party, but a special event, with some of the clandestine, anti-establishment air of the original house parties illegally held in abandoned warehouses. Others have extended the term 'rave' to include any all-night dance party that plays techno music, including nightclubs and regularly scheduled events. TOP