Party Vibe

@1984 406330 wrote:

I take your point about the money but if there is no money in it then why did gangs take over things in order to make money in the past? My history is on free party’s is patchy but I thought one of the reasons for its decline was gangs moved in to make cash, violence increased etc.

this is mixing up complex things going on between the licensed and unlicensed event scenes.

nightlife, particularly in London has always been funded by criminal gangs, before any of us were born. The Metpol Clubs and Vice unit was set up in the middle of the 20th centry do deal with this.

in the 1980s and 1990s some raves (both licensed and unlicensed) were indeed subject to the depradations of turf wars between drug dealers. Another unwanted occurence was youth gangs attending many legal rave events to commit robberies of cash, drugs and personal items. For some reason until the late 1990s these gangs concentrated on the legal raves (perhaps people had more bling) and mostly left London squat parties alone (they were in fact safer than legal events at one point!)

Then some of the gangs started getting involved in large scale organised violence (knifes/guns) associated with legal events (particularly jungle/D&B and garage/urban) and metpol clamped down big time and locked down a lot of urban raves – and worked with commercial promoteres to beef up security against both drugs and violence (hence dogs, coppers at legal events, form 696)

This pushed many of these youths into the squat parties, where they continue to be an unpleasant nuisance until robustly dealt with – and even then more crawl out of the woodwork. TBH they do still try and target legal events but security there can drag them out, give them a few slaps and hand them over to the old bill which is not an option at squat parties!

today there are indeed many people trying to make money at both legal and illegal dance music events but its not all one gang, its various gangs all fighting for turf. however many of the people organising music events with any brains want none of the gang activity, nor to make loads of money out of them. Those what do get involved in this side of the scene often eventually end up facing a variety of unpleasant consequences, whether it is from rivals or the criminal justice system.

@1984 406334 wrote:

cheers for the info GL. I am probably just being a grumpy git when it comes to scum but just hate to see peoples property trashed and all the “revolution” stuff starting up. And I still cant help but think money is behind the bigger stuff like scum, but have little basis for this other than the entry fee. Not that it matters a blind bit what I think but then forums would be rather empty without people giving il-informed opinions when they are bored lol

TBH I agree that in-use property should not be trashed, especially as its whats led to the zero tolerance in this area, and certainly wouldn’t class a rave as any form of political activism, its more a distraction…

Money has always been behind the dance music scene to one extent or another, if only just to keep even legal events going as often high risk but legal investments attract organised crimes money as its a good way of laundering it. Its why the Clubs and Vice unit was set up in the first place and also why licensing checks are harsh in nearby East Anglia..

Chris Liberator is a very talented clued up chap (and indeed speaks honestly about the gangs etc) and there are a minority of very talented and socially concious people on this scene but the bulk of them are and have always been apolitical hedonists for whom partying is a rite of passage rather than a gateway to more creative or enlightened thought.

I wouldn’t say I’ve met too many “junkie / K head types” at the outset but I’ve also seen way too many good creative people overdo things and fuck up big time, and a lot of the hedonists just get bored and drop straight back into townie life..

squat parties always make a resurgence around this time of year.