RAVE AT KC HALL DERAILED BY WARY MOM

Are rave parties being pushed in La Crosse? Mary Smith thinks so, and as a
mother of a teenage son, she's not about to take it.

Smith, not her real name, says she confiscated a flier from her son a few
weeks ago that advertised "Free To Be You & Me." It touted itself as a
techno concert to occur May 17 at an undisclosed location in La Crosse.
Then it listed a phone number to be called on the day of the event "for
further instructions and details."

As a mom who remembers what it's like to be a teenager, that spelled
trouble to Smith.

So she called the number listed on the card and talked to DJ ESP Woody
McBride. He assured her it was not a rave but a techno concert. She got him
to tell her where the concert would be and she called the venue, the
Knights of Columbus Hall on Hwy. 16.

Imagine how surprised they were, says Smith, when they found out they were
about to host a rave. She didn't think the KCs would want to be known as a
place that hosted raves.

She was right.

"I'm an old guy. I don't even know what a rave is," said a KCs
representative, but he sure as heck knew he didn't want to be hosting one.
"We have a liquor license to protect," he said, so they certainly wouldn't
agree to a party for minors. "We understood it as being booked as a party
for adults."

When Smith told him her son had gotten the flyer from a friend at his high
school, he was concerned, he said, and the KCs decided to cancel the event.

That put promoter Rich Jantz on the spot. He had to find another place
quickly to have his techno concert. He found it at a bowling alley in
Westby and the concert went on.

"They were really nice," said Jantz, who recently graduated from Western
Wisconsin Technical College in visual communications. He's since moved to
Detroit but says he's still upset about how Smith handled the situation.

"All she had to do was say (to her son), 'No, you can't go to this party',"
Jantz said. Instead, she felt she had to stop the show.

"One person is not going to stop a movement," Jantz said.

Call it a rave if you will, because Jantz does. His definition includes
playing techno music in an exotic, secret location. It adds to the mystery
and atmosphere, he said.

So the KC Hall is exotic and mysterious?

"No," he admitted with a laugh. "That was all we could find."

McBride says there is a lot of angst over something that shouldn't be
upsetting anyone, including Smith.

But Smith says she's convinced she's keeping La Crosse a safer place for
son and other teens because she stopped the event from happening in La Crosse.

"It said 100 percent virgin venue. What does that mean?" she asked.

McBride said it means it's a brand-new location where the kids have never
danced before.

It also says 100 percent drug free and that's something McBride says is
important. No, he can't guarantee your son or daughter won't do drugs. But
if they're caught, they'll be kicked out.''

McBride said he "was genuinely interested'' in Smith's relationship with
her son. "I asked her a lot of questions that I ask other parents with kids
her age, whether she suspected he had experimented with drugs."

And then, McBride said, he told Smith what he tells other parents.

"If he's 16, he shouldn't come unless you're with him - at any music event,
whether it's rock, country or techno," he said, because that's not an
atmosphere where you should leave your child unattended. "You can get drugs
at the carnival these days."

This party was aimed at people 18 and over, McBride said, and the secret
location was part of the appeal. "That's part of the fun and the mystique
of doing techno gatherings. Techno music isn't played on the radio and it
isn't played at nightclubs. It's a little bit exotic and an alternative
form of music. The location is kept secret as a surprise. A unique location
adds to the atmosphere - a barn or warehouse. The novelty is what makes it
exciting."

In the case of the party being at the KC Hall, McBride guesses that if they
had published the location, they might not have gotten a good turnout.

"There's a little bit of a stigma about going to have your party at the KC
Hall."

None of these problems are new to McBride, who has been spinning techno
music since 1992 when he started out at First Avenue in the Twin Cities.

"It's an exotic kind of music. People are going to see it as different and
strange. Techno is discriminated against," he said, "so it might change
locations two or three times. A concerned mom calls the KC hall and all of
a sudden they don't want to do it anymore. We're very misunderstood."

As for whether this was a rave or not, McBride votes for not.

"A rave, by definition, is electronic music being played in an unsanctioned
venue that usually goes all night and it's unchaperoned. For something that
shuts down at 1 p.m. for an 18-plus crowd at a KC Hall, that's not exactly
a rave."

"I've played at many raves and raving as we know it doesn't really exist
anymore."

But McBride still loves techno music and it's frustrating to him that it's
so misunderstood.

"I'm a very outspoken proponent of chemical-free venues. I have zero
tolerance for drugs - if you're caught you're out and they'll do their best
to keep dealers out."

And when McBride talks about drugs, he includes alcohol.

"Alcohol is a drug that has been rejected by the electronic (movement)," he
said, because it can make you feel too lethargic to dance. "I prefer to
perform at an alcohol-free event. I'm a good guy. I just like this kind of
music."

McBride says he wishes Smith would have accompanied her son to the event so
she could have seen the scene for herself. "His interest in this is not
going to go away," McBride said, so she would do better to try to
understand. But he also understands about a mom wanting to protect her son.

"I'm willing to live with it," he said, if Smith feels like it's something
she had to do for her son.

Smith says she does feel as if she had no choice.

"The music itself is fine. I don't want parents to think techno is bad."

Smith said the music is OK, but she dislikes the secretive nature of these
raves or concerts.

"A lot of kids are not going to show their parents (the flyer). I'm on my
son all the time. I can tell when he's lying because I used to be him. My
mom was on me all the time, too."

Smith said she hopes other parents will learn something from her experience.

"They always say one person can't do anything. I proved it wrong. My goal
is, please let other parents know."