Party Vibe

Unfortunately I’ve been away from SE England for 14 years and stopped actively partying around 2010 (as the scene got locked off in my area), but I think some of the old crews like OOOPS are doing stuff now and again (or at least they were until lockdown!)

A few folk from the old crews popped up around 2012-2014 to advertise various (legal) reunion events but alas, most of these got refused authorisation – then there was the shitstorm over “legal” highs from 2010 onwards (culminating in new laws against them) as well as new laws and increased enforcement against drug driving in 2015; which makes raving somewhat difficult if you don’t live in a big city..

TBH a lot of ravers are now late 30s to early 60s and busy with family commitments/responsibilities, I’m not surprised if they don’t want to openly admit to kids/grandkids what they did 20 years ago (or at least gloss over some aspects of the lifestyle).

Unfortunately also 3 of the best crews from the SE and East also had their rigs stolen over the years and that has of course fucked up the old skool ethos where everyone was to an extent trusted and invited to random places for afterparties..

I moved to Ipswich in 2006 and work in IT/network management for a health and social care company (which looks after seniors and adults with long term health conditions), so am currently busier than ever sorting out remote working facilities..

I did cycle to some of the Ridgeway parties – for many years I lived on the border of Reading and South Oxfordshire so the Ridgeway wasn’t even that far away – as well as most of the Reading and Basingstoke warehouse parties and in High Wycombe; but wasn’t the only one doing so (the parties even used to get discussed on the cycling forums!). It was perfect cover as there are many popular cycling routes near all the rave locations and people are riding along them 24/7 at the weekends…

East Anglia is bigger and the main party locations near busy roads – making this less feasible (its also harder to hide as the terrain is flatter).

I literally only got a car last year, as I needed it for transporting computers and other hardware for work (and these days am a bit more sober living anyway..)