I arrived at Camp Bisco Eleven at 9:30 PM on Wednesday,  July 11, well prepared to have the greatest experience of my life. You know how they say that if you have low expectations you will never be disappointed? Well, in the case of Bisco, my extremely high expectations were more then exceeded.

I drove up with C.J. and Denice, two friends of a friend who needed a ride up. The three of us were sharing a tent, but for the most part, I was riding solo this Bisco. Lucky for us, we ended up in the best camping lot, due to the fact that we arrived so early [the gates opened at 9:00 PM]. We set up camp, befriended some neighbors, and then Denice and I went to explore the grounds, stopping by a booth to say hello to Phil, a friend I met at The Come Up Music Festival. Walking the grounds was a bit overwhelming, passing a sea of people, islands of campsites, and shops anchored along a strip referred to as Shakedown Street. 

I keep telling my best friend, Ally, that I don’t know what to write here, that the experience was beyond description, that at the same time there was so much, and so little, happening that I cannot possibly put the events into words. The days were spent listening to the melodic tones of The Disco Biscuts, and nights were spent raging to Kill the Noise and Atmosphere, unwinding at Silent Disco to some stellar D.J.s, such as ConnetICON and DVS.

The most special part of this festival for me were all the beautiful souls I met. People who were so willing to give, so willing to share, and asked nothing in return. They were the true embodiment of peace, love, unity, and respect, who adopted me as one of their own. Traveling solo, I was scared I would be lonely at times during the weekend, and feared that I would be imposing on my new friends, however, whenever I expressed these concerns my new friends assured me that they loved having me hang out with them.

Camp Bisco was truly a life changing experience filled with great music, incredible friends, philosophical discussions, and one of the greatest senses of community I have ever felt. I wish I could do justice to this event, but it’s simply something one must experience for themselves.

Well, it’s time to leave for Gathering of the Vibes! Keep checking back for more on my music festival filled summer vacation!

PLUR,
Emilie 

It’s confirmed! Guess who’s going to Camp Bisco 2012?! 
Stay tuned for my report on the weekend! July 12-14. I couldn’t wait until then to post about it, I just had to let you all know I’d be there.

Wow, it’s been a while since I posted… and even longer since I raved. The last real rave I attended was in April 2011, and it’s now November! After

Ida, my old rave sidekick, moved back to Finland in June. We still keep in touch via e-mail!

realizing that people continued to read, comment on, and enjoy my blog, I decided that I owed it to the rave community to explain myself…

• After the threats I received over this blog [see earlier posts] I was a bit hesitant to return to the rave scene. I did, but I was definitely more careful about where I went and who I associated with. Witnessing the death of PLUR scared me, and it definitely contributed to me ceasing to rave.
• At one of the last raves I attended a good friend of mine rolled a little too hard and after a horrible three days of jitters and sickness, she decided to retire from raving. Losing her from the rave community was another factor in my decision to put a hold on raving. Although I pledged to be a sober raver, my friends do not necessarily feel the same way, and the destruction my friends were doing to their bodies was not something I wanted to be apart of. [One of my close “rave family” members was arrested and ended up in rehab last spring. He has been 7 months clean!]
• Over the summer I worked weekends at a renaissance faire. On weekdays I worked as a personal assistant and I modeled. Due to my heavy work schedule, I did not have the time or energy to rave. Although I wished I could go out and party, I had a commitment to my jobs, and I had to be bright and energetic for them all.
• Brooklyn ravers may remember seeing me out a lot during the school year last year… in September I started college in upstate New York, in a town without raves. I now find myself at frat parties with a bunch of drunk assholes, instead of with ravers in an abandoned warehouse, enjoying a light show.

Although I’ve been absent from the scene, I have never stopped considering myself a raver. I still wear kandi almost every day, and tell stories to my new college friends about what raving is like, promising to bring them along one day. Hopefully over winter break I will make my return to Brooklyn and the rave scene… and I hope I wasn’t forgotten!

Peace,
Emilie

On December 22, 2011 California State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma introduced the “Anti-Raves Act of 2011.”  This proposed legislation follows the death of a 15-year-old from an apparent drug overdose at the Electric Daisy Carnival in California earlier in the year. The bill, AB 74 would add a new section 421 to the California Penal Code which would read, in part, as follows:

“(a) Any person who conducts a public event at night that includes prerecorded music and lasts more than three and one-half hours is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or twice the actual or estimated gross receipts for the event, whichever is greater.”

Aside from my major anger at the blatant attack on ravers and rave culture, my first issue with this is the complete and utter violation of the first amendment, which gives Americans freedom of assembly, along with many other freedoms shot to death by this bill. In the bill’s current form, those licensed to hold public events on private property are exempt from the law, including bars, theaters, and other entertainment venues. However, it takes away the freedom of rave promoters, rave goers, block party hosts, school dances, charity events, and religious gatherings, which may take place on unlicensed private property. Obviously law enforcement agents would not be going after a 13-year-old holding their Bar Mitzvah or a charity dance, but still. Laws should apply to everyone and if a party lasting longer than 3 and a half hours playing prerecorded music is illegal for ravers, it should be illegal to all. Assemblywoman Ma claims this bill was proposed due to the death of the 15-year-old at the Electric Daisy Carnival, right? Well, last time I checked EDC took place at a licensed venue and it completely legal.

In addition, the concept of “prerecorded music” clearly attacks DJs, “electronic” artists, and those hip-hop and rap artists who rap to prerecorded tracks. Does anyone out there remember a time when live rock and roll was a sin, a sign of drug use, banned, and the records burned? Actually, when jazz first hit the scene it was scene as devil’s music and parents were told to not let their children partake. I speak from experience, if someone listens to EDM, techno, electronica, whatever you want to call it, it does not equal drug use, does not mean they’re having promiscuous sex, does not mean they worship the devil, whatever your notions about us ravers are. Some of us are sober, virgins, and believe in God. Why not target drug dealers a bit more? Why blame the DJs?

In fact, on to the drug issue. Assemblywoman Ma claims this act is due to two California citizens who died because of a drug overdose at similar events. But my question for Ma is, how many other California citizens died of drug overdoses who had absolutely no connection to the rave scene? I’m sure it’s way more than two. And again, if drugs is your issue, why not crack down on security at these events, instead of banning them altogether? Personally, I don’t care if people want to use drugs, it’s their own life and I don’t like telling people how to live their life, but I’d rather the rave scene become completely drug-free and clean than disappear.

I’m sure I’m not the only person who finds this law insulting. Are Americans so stupid now we should lose all freewill to speak for ourselves? Where is the lines drawn? First they tell us what drugs we can or cannot take [in my research I’ve found cigarettes to be far more dangerous than marijuana, and alcohol worse than E], what parties we can or cannot attend [outlaws and raves = evil and must be stopped, but we’ll allow Woodstock-look-alikes (such as Mountain Jam in upstate New York) to continue, even though they’re on just as many drugs!] , and now what music we can enjoy? Where does it end? Next we’ll be told that belly shirts and low-cut tops equal promiscuity, and booty shorts are are sure sign you’re a loose girl. The government wont cease to leave us alone until we’re living in a police state, until it’s 1984. 

I apologize to my readers. This started as a commentary on the Anti Rave Act of 2011, but ended in a political rant. Please let us rave, Assemblywoman Ma, let us be.

Peace,
Emilie 

“If you don’t start showing some peace, love, and unity, I’ll break your fucking faces”. -DJ Frankie Bones

DJ Frankie Bones said that at a rave in 1989 in response to a fight that broke out during his set. Lately, I’ve been wanting to break some faces myself. Probably due to facebook and the over-advertising of events, ravers have been tenser and getting into more arguments then ever before [I’ve been told this by my friends raving for years, and I’ve noticed it myself in the 5 months I’ve been raving.] Crews have been fighting, ravers have been calling the cops on events because of jealousy or other petty issues [getting people arrested], and people have been threatening each other for no reason. Because of this, a lot of ravers have been taking a break from the scene [I took a little break myself… I’ll be back next weekend!] and parties advertised as massives haven’t been quite as large as planned.

Personally, I can’t remember the last time I went to a good party. Lately, everywhere I’ve gone has either been empty or busted before the party got going. Even before I went on my two-week leave from raving, I skipped a rave in favor of just attending the afterparty, which I knew would be good.

When I first starting raving around 5 months ago I was amazed at the people, the music, and the friendship. Everyone I met had a smile and offered to trade kandi, share a cigarette [I don’t smoke, but my friends do], or buy me a water. I was shocked at how sweet, friendly, and caring a group of people could be, especially since I come from a town where people tend to be a little more stuck up than most. As the months wore on, things started changing. People started asking my friends to buy cigarettes off them, no one offered to share their drinks anymore, and people seemed a lot more uptight. I don’t really understand how things changed so quickly, but it’s been deeply disturbing me.

There’s been some knights in shinning neon throughout this all… the rave families and crews who refuse to get wrapped up in the drama and feuding, the kids who throw afterparties and give us a place to go even when the rave is busted, the friends and strangers who respect PLUR and refuse to let the scene die.

To all the ravers out there: remember how things used to be. If you see someone rolling face, offer them some water or gum. If you see someone stranded, offer them a few bucks for the train ride home. Say hello to the shy looking kid who you’ve never seen at an event, and give the virgin a new piece of kandi. What goes around comes around, remember how people treated you when you first started raving and pay it forward. If we all work at it, we can revive the rave scene and bring back the peace, love, unity, and respect.

Peace,
Emilie

I had a rough day today. Not to bore you with my nerd-life, but I have a ton of work to do for the international baccalaureate program [like advanced placement, but international], some killer French oral exams to do [I fail at French], and hell week [AKA tech week] for my school play, which involves staying in school until 10:00 PM at night.

In the middle of rehearsal today I started receiving vicious comments, and even a threat, on my blog. I was considering deleting my blog, as much as I didn’t want to, to stop the issue, however, after crying and talking it out with a very kind new friend, I decided not to. The reasons I decided to keep the blog up is that A. I believe in freedom of speech, B. I don’t believe I wrote anything wrong on here, C. everything written on my blog that people had an issue with can be found on other websites [which are credited in the posts]. In addition, I never post any other ravers’ names, any rave crew’s names or contact information, or locations of any raves. The only person the police could trace from this website [although I highly doubt they’re reading my blog for information on who to arrest] is me. Cops are a lot more likely to look on facebook, where addresses of raves and names of ravers are public information. Anything on this site is stuff I’m sure they already know or could easily find out.

Obviously, a threat is serious and for that reason I will be laying low for a while. That doesn’t mean I wont be raving, because I wont let a few people scare me from doing something and being around people I love, but it does mean I will be a lot more cautious in the upcoming weeks. I will be traveling in larger groups [I guess no outlaws for me!], I will not be posting which event I’m going to on twitter, facebook, or my blog [if you are a friend of mine and want that information you can contact me], and I will probably be checking out the rave scene in upstate New York soon [which will be fun, it’ll give me a blog topic!]

I’m sorry for anyone my blog has offended and I hope this post clarifies any issues you are having. If you’d like to discuss it more, please e-mail me at rollingstoneraver@gmail.com and we will talk. If you make valid points against any of my blog posts I will be happy to remove or edit them.

Thank you again to those who have supported RSR and have been continuously reading, and a special thank you to the man who has been talking me through this, helped me understand the real issues, and supported me no matter what my decision was in the future of this blog [you know who you are].

Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect,
Emilie

I’d like to take this time to tell you all about a wonderful new product, RaveAid!

From their website:
“RaveAid is the ONLY dietary supplement designed to support health during sensory stimulating events such as a rave, music festival, or night at the club.* Sensory experiences can cause stress on the mind and body resulting in loss of concentration, depression, and fatigue. With RaveAid, you can stay focused, content, and replenished – even after the most extreme parties!* RaveAid contains the highest grade neuroprotective ingredients for sensory enhancement and come down relief.*

RaveAid was scientifically formulated using hundreds of anecdotal reports and academic
studies, so you can be sure you’re getting the right nutrients to heighten experience and
reduce harm during sensory stimulating events.* RaveAid’s premium ingredients include
5-HTP, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Magnesium. Each bottle
contains 60 easy-to-swallow vegetarian capsules for maximum absorption and effectiveness”

This wonderful product can be ordered at www.raveaid.com using the promo code PLUR. This code will get you $5 off your purchase! =)

Peace,
Emilie