From other sites
I go on the web archive and click through endless rave pages from 2002 for funsies :3 Here's the cool stuff I've found
click an image to open it in full size!
Stand up ravers of the nation
I go on the web archive and click through endless rave pages from 2002 for funsies :3 Here's the cool stuff I've found
click an image to open it in full size!
Our emotional state of choice is Ecstasy. Our nourishment of choice is Love. Our addiction of choice is technology. Our religion of choice is music. Our currency of choice is knowledge. Our politics of choice is none. Our society of choice is utopian though we know it will never be.
You may hate us. You may dismiss us. You may misunderstand us. You may be unaware of our existence. We can only hope you do not care to judge us, because we would never judge you. We are not criminals. We are not disillusioned. We are not drug addicts. We are not naive children. We are one massive, global, tribal village that transcends man-made law, physical geography, and time itself. We are The Massive. One Massive.
We were first drawn by the sound. From far away, the thunderous, muffled, echoing beat was comparable to a mother's heart soothing a child in her womb of concrete, steel, and electrical wiring. We were drawn back into this womb, and there, in the heat, dampness, and darkness of it, we came to accept that we are all equal. Not only to the darkness, and to ourselves, but to the very music slamming into us and passing through our souls: we are all equal. And somewhere around 35Hz we could feel the hand of God at our backs, pushing us forward, pushing us to push ourselves to strengthen our minds, our bodies, and our spirits. Pushing us to turn to the person beside us to join hands and uplift them by sharing the uncontrollable joy we felt from creating this magical bubble that can, for one evening, protect us from the horrors, atrocities, and pollution of the outside world. It is in that very instant, with these initial realizations that each of us was truly born.
We continue to pack our bodies into clubs, or warehouses, or buildings you've abandoned and left for naught, and we bring life to them for one night. Strong, throbbing, vibrant life in its purest, most intense, most hedonistic form. In these makeshift spaces, we seek to shed ourselves of the burden of uncertainty for a future you have been unable to stabilize and secure for us. We seek to relinquish our inhibitions, and free ourselves from the shackles and restraints you've put on us for your own peace of mind. We seek to re-write the programming that you have tried to indoctrinate us with since the moment we were born. Programming that tells us to hate, that tells us to judge, that tells us to stuff ourselves into the nearest and most convenient pigeon hole possible. Programming that even tells us to climb ladders for you, jump through hoops, and run through mazes and on hamster wheels. Programming that tells us to eat from the shiny silver spoon you are trying to feed us with, instead of nourish ourselves with our own capable hands. Programming that tells us to close our minds, instead of open them.
Until the sun rises to burn our eyes by revealing the dystopian reality of a world you've created for us, we dance fiercely with our brothers and sisters in celebration of our life, of our culture, and of the values we believe in: Peace, Love, Freedom, Tolerance, Unity, Harmony, Expression, Responsibility and Respect.
Our enemy of choice is ignorance. Our weapon of choice is information. Our crime of choice is breaking and challenging whatever laws you feel you need to put in place to stop us from celebrating our existence. But know that while you may shut down any given party, on any given night, in any given city, in any given country or continent on this beautiful planet, you can never shut down the entire party. You don't have access to that switch, no matter what you may think. The music will never stop. The heartbeat will never fade. The party will never end.
I am a raver, and this is my manifesto.
In the mid 1990s, somewhere in the Midwest, someone gave away a safety pin with small seed beads threaded onto it. This led to the massive explosion of an art form known as kandi in the rave scene, but outside of the scene almost no one knew what it was. It started with single strand bracelets but soon evolved into necklaces, cuffs, adding toys and stuffed animals, it exploded in popularity and complexity. It was a way for people to express themselves and their styles, not to mention their love of the music in the scene.
Raves received a bad connotation on the global scale, we were told that they were a conduit for drug trades and illegal activity in general. But that’s completely false, raves have no more drug trading than your local shady alleyway. In fact almost half of ravers identify as sober ravers. Raving is about the music, about loving each other regardless of who we are, It’s about PLUR. PLUR is an acronym that stands for Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect, and if you’re a real raver, you abide by PLUR in everything you do. The point of kandi bracelets is to trade them, and you trade them by doing the trading handshake, which is based on PLUR.
Peace: Make a peace sign and touch your fingertips with whoever you’re trading with.
Love: Make a heart sign with the person you’re trading with.
Unity: Place your palms flat together.
Respect: Lace fingers with your trading partner and slide a bracelet onto their wrist. If they are the one giving you a bracelet they will slide a bracelet onto your wrist
In 2020 I made a single beaded bracelet. I began researching tutorials for complex cuffs and necklaces, and I fell in love. I’ve now made shirts and hats entirely out of beads and string, a box under my bed is overflowing with bracelets, necklaces, and pants chains. The community surrounding kandi (known as kandi kids) is so welcoming, kind, and generous. The music is upbeat and energizing. I feel so at home when I’m with kandi kids. I’m still too young to go to raves right now, so my only outlet is teaching others about kandi and the rave community.
I’ve made several pamphlets, brochures and more, all detailing the history of kandi in the rave scene. My family has asked me to sell my work but as of right now I’m just not ready for that, since I see kandi as a primarily trade-based economy and I don’t want to monetize it. I think the beauty of kandi is its unique history and craft, and I just don’t want to exploit it. To me, the point of kandi is to make it yourself and to share it with others. To me, kandi is about making friends, not customers.
Kandi has completely changed my outlook on the world and how we interact. Kandi has taught me that we don’t need to know each other to love each other, to give generously, to let our childish and fun side run wild. Raves and kandi are beautiful, their history and their culture, their music and their colors. Raves and kandi are art, and art is love.