Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 28, 1993 TAG: 9306170499
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Melanie S. Hatter
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Native Roanoker Jeff Alderson is bringing one to the Exhibition Hall of the Roanoke Civic Center.
For the uncool, a rave is like an all-night festival. There's deafening house music, electronic dance music, spun by numerous DJ's. Young people wear retro clothes from the U70s and dance until dawn. An elaborate light show, clothing and jewelry vendors and an art exhibit make the rave more than just another dance party.
And for those needing to recuperate during the night they can head to the "chill out" room to kick back. Or there's the "smart bar," selling non-alcoholic drinks high in amino acids for energy. "They're like fruit drinks," Alderson says, kind of like the concoctions body builders drink.
Alderson, 24, graduated this spring from Phillips Junior College in Melbourne, Fla., where he studied film and video production. Until he became sidetracked by the rave business, he produced videos on a free-lance basis. After discovering the rave in Florida, he and his fiancee, Ursula Kennedy, decided it should come here. "Roanoke needs that," he says. He still has friends here who complain that there's nothing to do.
He says he learned the ropes of organizing a rave from a friend in Florida who hosted eight raves. Alderson ran the light show at some of them. The friend now owns a club in Cocoa Beach, and Alderson may open a nightclub in Roanoke, he says.
The term "rave" has no particular meaning, but it's believed to have been coined in Britain, playing on the idea that the party goers were "raving lunatics."
Raves started in the late 1980s in Northern England where thousands of young people spent whole days outdoors dancing to "techno" music, similar to house but faster and less melodic. Last summer, raves hit the U.S. in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York.
Grand themes like "global responsibility" often follow a rave, and some have raised money for causes such as AIDS, Alderson says.
Until recently, they were secret, underground events. Participants found out about the event only hours before it started by calling a phone number at a specified time. The designated spot was usually an abandoned warehouse. In some cases, parties were raided by police, and the organizer was arrested for trespassing or holding a party without a license.
People often travel long distances to attend a rave. Alderson expects a couple of car loads from Georgia, where his girlfriend is attending college. He has distributed flyers around Washington D.C., Charlottesville and Lynchburg, he says.
Alderson says there's rarely any trouble at a licensed rave because everyone is focused on having a good time, but just in case, he's planned to have a police officer outside the door, and the civic center is providing security guards.
Most raves don't serve alcohol, and Alderson is sticking to that.
The event begins at 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. and is open to 18-year-olds and up. For tickets, call 343-8100. They are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.
by CNB