Myths About Raves
There are lots of fights, and not enough security.
Consider this. Small raves, such as the ones in Canberra such as Neverest, Hard To The Core and etc which can consist of around 100 or 200 people; or large raves in larger cities, such as Utopia Homegrown 2 or the Final Transmission which can consist of 6000 + people, or even raves such as Sensation White that featured in Melbourne to bring in the New Year for 2009 which had a whopping 40,000 people. There are no more fights in these places than what there would be in any venue with that amount of people, crammed into a small space, especially with the addition of the bar's that are usually included at these venues. Shove any amount of people into a space with alcohol and there are bound to be conflicts. Whilst entering into these venues, one is encountered by countless sniffer dogs, has to walk past many paddy wagons and police (both in uniform, and undercover) and may be frisked, or have their bags checked, many times before entering into these events. These security guards and police do a damn good job to make sure everyone has a safe but fun time, not to mention the First Aid team. It is extremely untrue to say that there is a lack of security at these events, or that there is excess violence.
Everyone is "munted" (on drugs).
This is also extremely untrue. Some ravers have been going for more than 10 or 20 years to these events, and swear that they will continue to do so until they are physically unable. For example, I saw the same guy at both Godspeed in Utopia, he would have been roughly in his fifties and he was in a wheelchair, right in the middle of the dancefloor on both occasions. Myself and some friends, and this man, were the last ones left outside as the sun rose after Utopia. I remember just seeing him sitting there staring at the Arena as they were closing up. In a way, it was quite touching, as he was staring in such a nostalgic yet loving way. It made me wonder where he had come from, and how long he had been doing it for. I'm sure there are thousands of stories all over the world, that may be similar to his. Thousands of those stories may not include any powders, liquids or chemicals that some use to enhance this experience.
Now, it is pretty easy to tell when someone is under the influence of drugs, ecstasy or methamphetamines in particular. Grinding of the jaw, swollen lips, restlessness, enlarged and shiny pupils, and they are unusually friendly and/or attracted to everything/everyone. If I had to pick one quote from all of the raves I have been to, it would go something along the lines of "oh my god.. you're so pretty, like you're so gorgeous.. and you're so like amazing ! do you have any gum?"
However, there are still alot of people that are not like this at raves. (Yet, they can still be as friendly and lovey).
I am sure, without a doubt, that there are certain people which only go to these events to take ecstasy and other stimulants - however, the vast majority will usually claim that if you go to such events always on drugs then you cannot experience the atmosphere and the music for what it truely is. Another quote that I have heard many times is something like "If you can't enjoy this for what it is, without drugs - then why are you here?"
