Resurgence of The Rave

Picture a tunnel covered in graffiti, packed wall to wall with sticky half-dressed bodies writhing around, the bass thumping the floor so hard that the walls shake enough to mimic an earthquake. Now let’s turn the clock forward 45 years, and instead of a graffiti-covered tunnel, it’s open land designated for 170,000 people anxiously awaiting their turn to see the day’s hottest 30 DJs. Still an experience packed with even stickier and extravagantly adorned bodies, but with an increasingly growing community that can’t be tamped down. Rave culture has blossomed into a living, breathing experience where everyone shares one love: music. 

Techno was created by a group of young Black artists in Detroit during the 1980s as a way to investigate new soundscapes, encourage style experimentation and welcome queerness with open arms. This genre was a way to escape from the heavy political issues weighing down on all of society. Techno grew and blossomed into an evolving community that brought in people of all different cultures, sexualities, ethnicities and experiences.