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One big change is that they got better and much more organized. I go to an annual event with a few hundred of my friends and family. We rent a lodge in a nation
by kstrauser 2y ago
One big change is that they got better and much more organized. I go to an annual event with a few hundred of my friends and family. We rent a lodge in a national forest, set up an enormous sound system, and dance for 3 days around some very confused deer. There are food trucks and coffee bars and dozens of portapotties scattered around, plus daytime poolside sets while we swim around and listen to 100dB house.
We grayvers still like to have fun, just more comfortably. We have work next week, you know.
- guynamedloren 2y agoI’m confused. You say that you “go to” an annual event, but then you describe it at a massive private festival that you’re self organizing. Which is it?
- TheRealPomax 2y agoThose two things are not mutually exclusive.
- karlgkk 2y agoAs someone who does something similar, it’s easily both
- rizz0 2y agoThe best festivals are co-creative experiences.
- kstrauser 2y agoThere are all sorts of volunteer roles someone needs to do, from directing parking, to helping in the kitchen, to roaming around at 3am to see if anyone needs help, to working the first aid stand, and a hundred other things. I always sign up for at least a couple of shifts doing something, so feel like part of the "we" helping to put it on, but it's still something I go to as a participant to have fun.
- marcus_holmes 2y agoIn Australia these are known as "bush doofs" and are essentially community events - they're organised, run and attended by a group of people rather than an organisation. You can't buy tickets to them, you have to know someone who's in the group chat for them. You can just turn up on the day if you know where the event is; they're always incredibly remote, usually on a patch of bush (forest) on someone's enormous farm or a national park, pitch a tent, join in, help out where you can. Security is "if you act like a dickhead you'll be asked politely to leave by a bunch of people". There's no financial contribution, except sometimes a hat is passed around if someone had to pay for equipment hire or similar. You can buy drugs there, but only if you know the person you're buying from; usually better to sort yourself out before you go, there won't be anyone advertising anything for sale at the doof.
- defrost 2y agoThey can look a little like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH_RWBSQ9ic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH_RWBSQ9ic Note: Burning car and local farm fire truck to stop fire spreading.
- strken 2y agoThat's the Kellerberrin B&S, I think: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_and_Spinster_Ball https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_and_Spinster_Ball. Hence why the uploader called it a BnS, the girl at the start says "welcome to the blokes and skanks ball", everyone's driving a ute with a sick bullbar instead of mum's station wagon, and they look like they're all fucked up on Bundy and coke instead of MDMA and coke. Not quite the same thing as a bush doof.
- defrost 2y agoStrictly speaking it's a West Australian Inseminator's Ball (as titled) which were for a while run in parallel with the B&S balls although to the best of my knowledge they've both died down in popularity - Muresk Agricultural College very nearly closed, although it's gotten fresh grant money in recent years which may have changed things up a bit. It shares a bit of overlap with many other variations of a bush party that I've been to, they've all been a little bit unique, a little bit the same. There's even been a odd local lesser version of the more famous US Burning Man here - inspired by is perhaps the best description: https://blazingswan.com.au/ https://blazingswan.com.au/ and not like a B&S, a bush doof, nor a Burning Man. None of these things look like an inner city warehouse rave or nightclub either.
- block_dagger 2y agoI imagine it's more than just the deer who are affected by 100dB sound pollution and "confused" is probably quite an understatement.
- o0-0o 2y agoHmmm Raves died in the 90s for a few reasons. 1. They made dancing illegal (look it up before rage comments). 2. Corporate sponsors moved in. 3. Glow sticks / candy ravers 4. Drugs 5. Police tactics and not being able to be paid off by promoters. 6. The internet (remember map points and info lines?) 7. Models, actresses, famous types going and demanding special service / VIP. 8. DJ as GOD sick gross 9. OG promoters cashing out and not caring. Think Drop Bass and Daft Punk (google it). 10. Techno mainstream / a la hip hop. (DRUGS/S&M)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- kstrauser 2y agoWhat sound pollution? There are permits and everything, and woodlands are really, really big. A couple hills over you wouldn't be able to hear a thing.
- block_dagger 2y agoPerhaps humans wouldn't be able to hear a thing, but what about birds, rodents, and other animals? 100dB is something only humans can produce. To assume that other species aren't negatively affected seems wrong to me. I don't have the data to prove it, however.
- kstrauser 2y agoAny concert amphitheater probably has 100x the sound power. Our speakers are very loud when you’re dancing next to them, but they’re not strong enough to be ear-splitting to a seated crowd of 80,000 people. In the scheme of things, this is nothing.
- justinator 2y agoI still remember the first one I was supposed to go to. They didn't tell you the location until the day of. It was a high school gymnasium. Didn't work out so well.
- inopinatus 2y agoSo, basically, everyone grew up.
- mmanfrin 2y agoI was up there this summer, great weekend :)
- kstrauser 2y agoRight on! I missed this summer and the fall classic, but plan to head back to at least one of them this year. (My social media profile pic is me wearing neon glasses there one year.)
- KingMob 2y agoLol at grayver. I guess my beard now counts. In my corner of the woods back in the 90's, we also had the occasional "graver" (no y) who were mixing up rave and goth aesthetics.
- FiberBundle 2y agoA yeah the deer are just confused, no need to worry. Keep partying!
- pimeys 2y agoWe did that same thing for ten years in a row. Especially fun when some catastrophe happens, like a lightning strike to the house when everybody's in the garden, breaking all fuses, water pump etc. Remember we had probably three years without some crazy accident. Nobody got killed though, so all good.
- kstrauser 2y agoAh, good ol’ type 2 fun, where afterward someone can sell “ride the lightning” tshirts as a fundraiser.
- polairscience 2y agoWhere's my invite?
- latchkey 2y ago> One big change is that they got better and much more organized. If I'm thinking of the same groups you're mentioning, they were already super organized. Mostly because they've been going for decades now.
- kstrauser 2y agoIf you’re thinking of groups, plural, then you probably know the ones I mean. And yeah, I wear the 20th anniversary tank top to the gym.
- olyjohn 2y agoWhy not just say what you're talking about? Are these some secret festivals or something?
- anigbrowl 2y agoInsider cool points. TBH I find it sad to be doing this at great expense but not putting any effort into making something accessible for younger generations.
- kridsdale1 2y agoThey’re talking about Regional Burns. They’re all over America and I presume the world.
- ikr678 2y agoThey are making accessible to younger generations - many regional doofs and burn adjacent events I have been to are all ages, existing members bring their kids. If you are asking why they don't go out of their way to advertise to outsiders, it's because these events do not scale well, and what they absolutely do not want are thousands of insta/tiktok tourists who don't contribute back to the scene or bring extra scrutiny from police.
- 2y ago
- grahamj 2y agolol @ grayvers I left it all behind years ago but your event sounds awesome. Glad some people still keep the vibe alive.
- kstrauser 2y agoHonestly, you won't find me on the dance floor. I'll be meandering around listening to the music I love at seismic sound levels, looking at the art exhibits people set up, and chilling with my friends. I just want to soak up the vibes and love everyone and the world for a few days, not dance myself to exhaustion.
- leptons 2y agoAre you me? lol. I'm in SoCal though, and we still do our own family-style desert parties and we sometimes go to bigger desert parties (Moontribe still going strong), and sometimes go to the mountains in the central valley too. Slinky (which was near Fresno) was so much fun until it ended recently after 21 years :( My friend group doesn't have anything in the mountains quite like Slinky to replace it, but it sounds like you keep your invite list small, and for good reasons I know. My wife still dances all-out, and she goes every weekend to see Doc or Farina or DJ Dan or whoever is in town. She can't live without getting sweaty from dancing, and I admire her for it especially as we're getting older - I'm in my 50s now, my knees are not what they used to be. Have you seen the recently released documentary about Wicked Soundsystem? I'm guessing you're probably familiar with those guys. We saw it in a theater in LA and then went to the after party, it brought back so many memories.
- AtlasBarfed 2y agoCalifornia is a last bastion of sorts socially, because los Angeles is an extrovert magnet. Ironically to the north, an opposite social civilization has attracted all the introverted people. Entertainment must extrovert to gain eyeballs, but it uses the technology of the introverts to do so. But underlying this ironic alliance is a force that cares not for the social polarity, it simply will nihilistically predate on both spheres to produce the maximal profit while eating away at the fabric of a functioning society. The matrix really is the endgame goal: pods plugged into a VR machine. The matrix struggled with plausible explanations for why the machines kept humans in that state, and the endgame of capitalism likewise has no solution how the world would function at the end of its road.
- SequoiaHope 2y agoIn Oakland we still have plenty of renegades!
- circlefavshape 2y agoWhere do you live?
- kstrauser 2y agoI'm in NorCal near Oakland.
- flocciput 2y agoHow much does it cost (not to organize, but for someone to attend)?
- kstrauser 2y agoThere’s a wide range, but the specific one I described is around $200 for a 3 day weekend.