Ok, this all really dates back,
never should you call your
event a
rave in
the 21st century. The only place to really find a
rave anymore is a
rip-off magazine-advertisement or the
dictionary. That is not, however, saying you couldn't have a
kick-ass time
organizing,
partying,
raving and
dancing to the beat in an event of your liking.
As for how to actually hold a real(tm) rave (see disclaimer) yourself, here's a bunch of tips:
1. Pick a proper date. You will not want anything that directly conflicts with a local Astral Projection gig, another local underground-party or the Love Parade. If you are not worried about the risk involved, perhaps worry about breaking the beautiful sympiosis. Intentional stepping on other people's toes is, well, stupid.
PLUR
Oh. Also. Set the date well in advance and far away. A lot of things will come up that you really didn't expect or remember to handle as supposed. Don't worry.
2. Secure yourself a proper venue. You will want something that does not have the burden of people living near - especially ensure the place shares no entrance and that it's unpopulated during night-time and the week-ends.
You will also want to make sure you can both afford it and that it's neither too far away nor too big. When organizing your first parties, don't expect tremendous amounts of people to come. It doesn't always happen. Play safe. Huge arenas are bound to look really empty and disappointing, whereas smaller parties may have a much more relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.
At this point, you should already have some vision as to what you are organizing. A chill-out party, a HC rave-event, purely an uplifting trance-happening or whatever turns you on.
3. Get others involved. You won't want to do everything yourself. It would be just plain, well, dumb. Even if you are worried about being left in the background, so what? You are not doing it for yourself, right? The reason you really are supposed to bring together a rave, is to offer everyone an equal and delightful experience. Not to ego-boost anyone or anybody. Besides, you still know you did it. It doesn't really matter what others think, does it.
With a venue already in sight, it's actually pretty easy to chat up some good folks to join you on the venture. Perhaps also ask them to partake in the funding? It's not always cheap.
4. Jointly fuzz out the details Eight heads is always better than one, what? Express your ideas to the whole bunch, ask them for more input, jointly sketch out what is the exact plan and what are you wanting to do.
Agree on who takes responsibility for what, how are the profits shareed or bills paid, etc. Do it now. Get people to spit out those words themselves, do not believe their "hmmyeah"'s. It's sixteen to seventeen (some say eighteen) times easier to forget a "hmmyeah" than a real, well-elaborated reply of agreement and mutual understanding.
5. Too much equipment is better than too little equipment. Things tend to break, they also tend to be broken before they even reach the site. Especially if you are into organizing something big, take an extra or two extra of everything. Sometimes, two extra just isn't enough!
6. If you don't know how to do something, be straight (or at least lie well to the bitter end). Hey, in a big bunch of people, the chances are somebody else knows how to do it. And if *they* don't know how to do it, the chances are they just might know somebody who knows how to do it.
7. Don't lie to the authorities nor the venue-owners. Hey, even if you can fool them once, do you really think everything will go fine two times in a row? There's a definite difference in being selective with your truth and being found guilty of Falsible statements for the purpose of betrayal.
As for whether you wish to remain a ''solo party-organizer'' in the eyes of the police, if and when they do show up, maybe it actually might be a good idea? Especially if it's only about the noise-complaints or something quite as silly? That way their records will stay clean and the venues can be rent in their names in the future without any trouble.
Though, admittedly, if you are all screwed - well, you are all screwed. It's not the end of the world, many venue-owners really do not care who rents their space, especially if it's already in a shitty shape anyway.
8. Spread the word! After everything seems final and ready to go - even before that - make sure the proper people know about the party you are holding. So unbelievably many beautiful parties have been ruined because of lack of advertising... Flyers, posters, guest-lists... They all do serve a purpose.
9. Hire a gorilla. Ok, after spreading the word, nasty people are also bound to show up. Some that will just want to ruin your party or others that really just do not belong there. You'll find yourself a lot more relaxed when you know the game is not completely lost even if some morons do show up. They probably will, especially if they consult mr. Murphy on your gorilla-status.
10. Be creative. Hey, it's finally your own chance of making a difference. What if your rave really featured something special that's never been seen in your local neighbourhood or even the whole city/state before? It doesn't cost much to be creative. Maybe something you come up with will actually become a mainstream-trend in the local techno or house parties? Mm, that wouldn't be terrible, would it? Why not try something out - just make sure people still can get all their normal dancing-fun out of the party. Because, after all, If you really are going to do it all, it doesn't cost much more to do it right.