the local police here formed a Rave Task Force. it became very effective, and pretty much killed the scene. it got to the point where the cops would show up as the guys were unloading the PA from the truck. lots of cat and mouse games followed on trying to get past the cops. promoters even started lining up alternate locations to relocate if something got shut down. then the cops started threatening to use crack house laws to arrest the promoters for providing a place for drugs to be used. we don't have clubs to speak of and mainly just bars. we tried doing events at bars, but having to shut down at 2am is just a joke.

It's just not a real rave until the cops cut the tunes and flip on the the house lights at 3AM. Then you get to run the gauntlet of berries and cherries while saucered and blowed. I do miss what I remember of the '90s.

Cops. Pfftt. Wait till it’s an outdoor event where the entire sheriff’s department rolls up, and all the deputies are holding shotguns watching everyone load back up in their cars to leave. Or when the ghetto bird is loitering overhead with the spot light just to scare the party kids.

I know the artist that made the image* used for the inside jacket for the Prodigy says it wasn’t about rave culture, but it’s still one of my favorite counter culture images.

* https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6c/54/ff/6c54ff7df285244d2d56...

Sorry for the Pinterest link. It was the first one to pop up in search

> all the deputies are holding shotguns watching everyone load back up in their cars to leave

Tell me you're American without telling me you're American.

Yup, exactly this. In the city I'm thinking of it was a municipal bylaw allowing for obscene 5-figure fines for anyone organizing a rave, even it was just the DJ they grabbed. The scene withered after that.

>Gentrification and moral panic killed warehouse parties and raves.

With my experience as a Polish Gen Z member, gentrification has only made raves MORE popular in here in A.D. 2024.

Bored kids out of good homes, eh...

That's always been the cycle. As key acts from any sub-genre are subsumed into increasingly polished, expensive, and bland, club nights, festivals, and tours that community will eventually bifurcate into a properly dodgy and fun underground again.

Add in posting all the details online so the cops know exactly where and when to bust the rave.