A good DJ is like a good fuck. Builds you up... teases you a little... makes you think the BAM is going to come... but no. Then, when you least expect it, when you're so hot and bothered and you've been let down by all the crescendo without an actual BAM, just when you think the DJ will keep being a fucking cocktease manipulitive bitch, he HITS YOU WITH THE MOST INTENSE CRESCENDO-GASM YOU'VE EVER HEARD and everyone's jumping in time with each other, and the fire-spinners and lightshow artists are spinning in time with the music, and everyone just connects in this beautiful space as the sun is rising.
jello~ my name is shelly, but my raver friends knew me as jellybean. i used to hate it. my myspace name was "shellybean" and i felt that the person who gave me the nickname was being super cheap with it and not giving it much thought. i never thought it would be the year 2021 and i would continue to use "jelly" in some form as a nickname. shelly. jelly. jellybean. jaybee. jaybles. one half of jellybob.
i feel really lucky and blessed that i got to experience raving in the timeline that i did. the main stream had not caught onto edm yet, so our parties truly felt like our own freaky getaway at the end of every week. we still map point parties, where you wouldn't get the directions to the party until the night of, and after you drove to a certain location. the directions could contain things like 'reset your odometer and when you hit x miles, turn right.' our parties were out in the desert, in the forest, or at random (sometimes illegally entered) warehouses in downtown los angeles. the music was loud, the lights were flashing and my friends were some of the most colorful people in the room.
i wish i could of been a little more present in those moments but you don't know you're making the memories of your lifetime when you're living them. i cherish those nights i spent dancing under the moon. i would not be the person i am today without those few years when i was just becoming a young adult. they were truly the best days of my life.
css by nico (rabbitguns) / background from transparenttextures ("absurdity")
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 maybe 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 35 Hz 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 realisations 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 it's 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 stabilise and secure for us. We seek to relinquish our inhibitions, and free ourselves from the shackle's 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 dis-utopian 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.
2006
july 1st - misse's big adventure 
july 14th - primal trance 
august 5th - return to harmony 2
september 2nd - nocturnal wonderland
october 13th - raveolution october 14th - frooty loops 2 october 20th - childs play october 28th - monster massive november 4th - kandieland 3 december 2nd - winterfresh december 16th - jolly raverright click, open in new tab to view in full size.
2007
january 6th - 1up january 13th - preset january 20th - shake like an earthquake january 27th - connected 3 february 17th - rescue ravers april 6th - kandie randie's birthday april 13th - kingdom heartcore may 12th - binary history may 19th - miles of smiles june 8th - homebass june 30th - electric daisy carnival august 4th - voices from the underground august 10th - homebass 2 september 2nd - funtrip september 8th - cybertron september 14th - homebass 3 september 19th - lovefest october 6th - pre-raveolution october 19th - pound puppies november 3rd - oogie boogie november 8th - free raveolution november 17th - soup kitchen of manifestation december 1st - winterfresh december 31st - liquid nyeright click, open in new tab to view in full size.
2008 and beyond
january 20th - homebass returns february 2nd - mardi gras 4 february 17th - happy love march 22nd - jump! march 29th - 50/50 april 5th - fresh anniversary may 17th - miles of smiles june 28th - electric daisy carnival august 23rd - fresh squeezed september 20th - beyond the beat october 4th - love fest jan 31 2009 - plur 6 oct 18 2014 - htid la oct 7 2016 - stimulate launch dec 2 2016 - stimulate 2 feb 18 2017 - love stimulation april 7 2017 - ravers reunion july 28 2017 - ravers reunion 2right click, open in new tab to view in full size.
i am also so very grateful to the rave photographers and their cameras for capturing all of these memories on film and hosting them online for a decade afterwards. here are some of my favorite photos from our infamous nights out (without exposing anybody). right click, view in new tab for larger photos.
Videos
i raved in the generation that didn't really have smart phones, and our cameras that we did have access to could not film the party that well. plus all of the videos have been on youtube for more than a decade now so they look pretty bad.My Favorite Songs
Here are some of my favorite happy hardcore tracks.
the spark (t4tsuya remix) - scott brown, m-project i will pick you up - s3rl, tamika timebomb (al storm remix) - clsm, lisa abbott taking me back (kutski & darren styles) - sound rush, kutski, darren styles 2 bad 2 rude (original mix) - al storm wonderwall - ganar, dimension if i were you - ganar, dimension timebomb (cube::hard remix) - clsm, lisa abbott ordinary people - dougal, gammer definition of a bad boy - scott brown genre police - s3rl, lexi feel the melody - s3rl friendzoned - s3rl, mixie moon r4v3 b0y - s3rl, krystal i'll see you again - s3rl, chichi angel eyes (vagabond vip) - brisk, ham how far i'll go - da tweekaz float away - dougal, gammer fly away (hixxy mix) - visa dreams come true (ultravibes remix) - neoclubber surrender (hardcore adrenaline mix) - al storm, army on a high - dougal, mickey skeedale like a rainbow (chris unknown remix) - re-con, demand come with me (ste ingham remix) - special d beneath the lights (darren styles remix) - molly when i close my eyes (darren styles remix) - dougal, gammer freak - re-con, klubfiller just be - technikore right here right now 2011 (technikore remix) - re-con control (squad-e & klubfiller) - squad-e, cat d all that i need - s3rl, kayliana planet rave - s3rl, renee #yeet - technikore, jts we killed the rave - gammer, whizzkid choke - al storm x my3r5 ravers mashup - s3rlkandi
Kandi kids in Los Angeles were something else. We dressed in fuzzy pants, with 60"+ leg openings. Stuffed animals bounced around our necks as we jumped in time to the music, and we had plastic beads up to our shoulders. Here are some photos from my personal collection.
External Links
Websites, past and present, that were important to the California rave scene when I was partying.
My LA rave flyers album 1999-2005 My LA rave flyers album 2006 forward DanceSafe TiggerLovesYou WhaddupNow CandyKids.net Glowsticking.com 4Ravers.com HappyHardcore.com Erowid Bluelight Rave Preservation Project Nocturnal Wonderland site archive Electric Daisy Carnival archiveother links, news articles, stories etc that i find important to the archival of our moments in time, either shared by my generation, or the previous ones
These Photos Tell the Forgotten Story of LA's Latinx Rave Scene in the 90s - We talk to Map Pointz founder Guadalupe Rosales about the party crews that gave teens a sense of belonging beyond gang culture. 'Why Don't We All Go Bonkers?' – The Rise and Fall of Happy Hardcore - DJs, producers and the scene's major players tell the full story of dance music's most divisive genre.documetaries and important videos
Better Living Through Circuitry The Last Dance The Untold Story of American Rave Fliers Anabolic Frolic the Hullabaloo Experience Hullabaloo: View to a Thrill American Massive Small Town Ecstasy Under the Electric Sky