“We’re pissed off with being conned…” Rave promoters Raindance introduce a ‘Ravers Charter’ [December 1992]
Following on from the likes of Energy, Biology and Sunrise, names that are synonymous with the halcyon days of acid house, the early 90s saw a raft of would-be entrepreneurs flood the rave scene, often with negative consequences.
These unscrupulous promoters became synonymous ripping off punters, arranging parties that fell far short of expectations, and polluting the positive vibes….leading one crew, Raindance, to introduce a ‘Ravers Charter’, to reclaim rave culture and ‘improve the way people treat each other’. 🙂
In December 1992, the Blaze fanzine ran an article on this new approach, summing up the challenges that the scene faced after four-and-a-half years of solid raving.
‘What’s happening to raves?’, the article reads. ‘Are they soon to become a thing of the past? Are there too many villains promoting for a quick buck? Are people fed up with going out raving?’
While the emergence of hardcore, garage and progressive are cited as potential reasons for the rave scene’s malaise, this pales in comparison to the ‘total bullsh*t’ being printed on flyers for events, which leave a sour taste in ravers’ mouths.
‘We all pick up flyers now and read what promoters promise. Some of its true, but some of its lies in an effort to attract you to that event. We’ve all turned up at an event expecting the world as promised and find an empty tent with nothing in it but a DJ and a couple of strobes. We’ve all read the one about strobing UV lights and stunning sets to transport you to another world. Well, we the ravers are pissed off with being conned time and again.’
With its Ravers Charter, Raindance called on promoters to give money back to customers if a range experience doesn’t meet their expectations – in a bid to ‘sort out the people who care about their events and the people who are just doing it to make a fast buck’.
As they put it, such a step is necessary in order to maintain the vibrance of the scene – lest we forget that 1992 was also the year in which ‘cartoon hardcore’ (in the guise of Trip To Trumpton, Tetris and Sesame’s Treet) hit the pop charts for the first time.
‘Every year people say rave is on its way out, it’s not. It’s not as vibrant as perhaps it was, but there’s still a big demand for events. If we let the situation carry on as it is, and let various people lie to us ravers, then maybe the scene will die sooner rather than later. So it’s important that we all get together and make sure every promoter in the land becomes a part or create (sic) their own money back systems.
‘The only way this can be done is by joining forces and letting organisers know that we are fed up with the bullshi*t’.
You can read the full article below, click the images to open in a new tab.
[Taken from Blaze, December 1992]
About Post Author
