PEACEFUL RAVE RALLY WAS A SEMINAL EVENT

Youth Accented Positive Vibe To City Politicians

It was a strange day, indeed.

For the first time in Toronto, the rave community converged on the
doorstep of municipal politics Tuesday to stage a demonstration. It
was a simple message delivered amazingly well.

It's not about drugs and it's not about violence. It's simply about
dancing, listening to inspiring music and having a good time.

It was a chance for outsiders to experience what all the fuss is
about, and it was a seminal moment for the city's rave scene.

Sure, the more than 10,000 demonstrators flocked to Nathan Phillips
Square to hear some impressive talent assembled for the occasion. And
yes, the chance to party under open skies on a hot summer day is not
without its charm. But a resentment of the ban on raves on city
property had more to do with the amazing turnout than most people realize.

The rave community assembled en masse to protest its treatment at the
hands of government, media and the public at large, all of which, with
few exceptions, have done nothing but contribute inaccurate
information about a scene they have never experienced and frankly
don't understand. Young people have always been misunderstood, and
while being hassled over a desire to dance all night to "repetitive
beats" may seem like a downright dumb reason to get upset, it's more
important to this particular group than almost anything else.

Anyone who attended Tuesday's demonstration would have been floored.
If you rounded the corner of Yonge and Queen and headed west, the
steady thump-thump-thump of the music would have quickened your pulse.
And the sea of youth on the pavement that day was extraordinary - not
just the sheer number, but the diversity of cultures and styles, too.
To play on a worn but appropriate phrase, the energy was electronic.

Wandering through the crowd upon arriving at the square, one couldn't
help but feel the sense of community experienced at a rave. This
wasn't your garden-variety protest. Aside from the odd speech from the
stage and a few scattered signs, uninformed passers-by would have
mistaken it for a festival rather than a political demonstration.

And that was exactly the point.

What has always made a rave more than just an average night out is the
opportunity to experience a singular, positive vibe with a large group
of people. That shared sense of purpose, that desire to create an
instant community of music-worshippers forms the core of a healthy
scene.

Events of the past few years have somewhat tarnished the "pure" rave
experience.

Like any underground movement that grows and, by the sake of its
new-found popularity, is thrust into the mainstream, it not only
became more corporate and therefore more difficult to foster that
community spirit, the glare of the spotlight also became more intense.

The outside world started watching, regulating and reporting raves,
centering mostly on negative aspects - specifically, drugs and violence.

The merits of such scrutiny are open for debate and have been debated
for some time now.

The biggest accomplishment of Tuesday's rally was the vibe it
fostered, how it effectively forced the powers that be to see the
positive over the negative.

In a sense, the victory was twofold. It showcased the rave scene in a
positive manner (even city councillors called it peaceful), and it
gave the dance movement a shot in the arm, something it badly needed.

Believe it or not, the ban was the best thing that could have happened
to the rave community. It mobilized a group that had previously been
nothing more than loosely connected.

And guess what? City council yesterday voted 50-4 to lift the
three-month-old ban on raves on municipal property.

With certain restrictions, of course.

But hey, it's a start.

And if the events of the past week are any indication, the rave scene
has been taken off life support and may in fact be healthier than ever.

E-mail Sean Stanleigh at sstanle@thestar.ca