Party Vibe

Have you tried the legal nights that go off down there ? It would be a good place to get to know the local crews.

Went to one on dartmoor ages back, since then nothing, I’m dying for one this weekend, have a load of stuff that needs using up also

Don’t get me wrong for a second, Joel Andrews death was a terrible mistake, and I mourn for his family and friends, but the last thing he would have wanted would be closure of raves. Some of my friends were with him during the rave (it was at Fernworthy reservoir), and he breathed the essence of “not giving a fuck”, which is what these parties represent. They are escapism from a world of fun that still revolves around profit, where turnover is more important than how much the guests enjoy themselves. People die regularly from drinking, whether it be fighting, a stupid mistake or simply an overdose. If any action were to be taken, it would be to attempt to draw the rave back into the essence of a regular fun/ freedom -fest, as opposed to either closing it, or letting more secretive and more hardcore drug fuelled ones take place (this is essentially what happened to the London squat scene after deaths and violence drew a negative eye to it).

To be honest though, that is a battle against the very nature of a Britain focused on consumerism and competition. I’m sidetracking, the real point is Joel wouldn’t have wanted the scene to dwindle out and give way to the other menacing spectres that young people like to think they are free to (commercial parties or elitist secretive drug use)

@General Lighting 449655 wrote:

I totally agree that he wouldn’t have wanted this to happen.

The reality though is that unfortunately, the opinions of ravers with regard to “freedom to party” and “don’t give a fuck” hedonism are becoming increasingly irrelevant in the wake of tragedies like this and Britain as a whole facing some serious political, environmental and economic challenges.

Devon and Cornwall are no different from Essex and Suffolk or London/SE England as far as the rule of law is concerned – music events are supposed to be licensed.

I understand your idealism as folk felt like that in SE and the East a few years ago but the harsh realities are that unlicensed events are only “tolerated” until they cause incidents what negatively impact on the surroundings and those attending them. This is as much what got the Eastern events locked off, as political dogma over “capitalism/consumerism” – a simple application of the rule of law rather than market forces.

Even the best run unlicensed rave usually shows a blatant disregard for private property rights, as well as laws brought in by international consensus (whether or not we agree with them) that recreational drug use should be controlled.

OK this law breaking was overlooked for many years particularly during better economic times and elected governments being more tolerant of local hedonism, especially as it was confined to a relatively small minority of the youth population, but times change.

Many now in power are my age group and remember the rise in raves and drugs of the early 1990s and this had both positive and negative effects on society – for instance I know so many people of my age with serious addiction and health problems due to the 90s hedonism. Worse, many of these people are parents and haven’t exactly brought up their kids in the best of environments.

There is an equal counterargument from those in the Emergency Services and the NHS (who have to pick up the pieces) that unlicensed events cause risks to people, as do licensed events including those more focused on alcohol, and whilst licensing doesn’t stop incidents, it is a way of making organisers more easily accountable for the safety of people and recovering public sector costs.

Many of the folk making this counterargument, especially frontline staff are not much older than the ravers themselves or even the same agegroup, and they aren’t doing it because they want capitalism or competition, if anything the Emergency Services and NHS are unhappy with the present “pro free market” Government due to the risk of budget cuts.

However there is also now a consensus by the authorities and Government that they are now (perhaps belatedly) also realising the risks posed by excessive alcohol use in town centres and are clamping down on the townie/pisshead venues – many are having their licensing fees raised to recover the costs caused by excessive alcohol abuse, and may go out of business altogether. (Some in my town have).

I agree with these sentiments to some extent, but I do think that this all down to the way that society functions. Sure it can’t just be labelled under consumerism and capitalism, but drugs such as LSD have been outcast from society largely due to capitalism (lobbying of parliament by religious sectors, tobacco companies etc. If not capitalism simply Conservatism with its direct fear of change.

I’m sure accidents from LSD cost the NHS significantly less than alcohol induced violence and vomiting do, and if young, bored members of society were to replace their drinking and competitivism with a thirst for exploration in the form of LSD, in a controlled environment, then perhaps these accidents wouldn’t happen.

It’s more to do with the fact that we are so far into “the war on drugs” that the govenment can’t loose face. Also because of the “bad press” illigal drugs get, alot of people belive that acid is infact worce then alchahol somehow.