Scene
The first responders rave
The concept is deliberately provocative: a fundraiser rave for police, FDNY, and paramedics. The same institutions that normally shut raves...
Tag
format-opinion
Dark Culture
Stop marketing an event. Start marketing the calendar.
The standard promoter playbook: create an event, design a flyer, run ads for 30 days, hope people show up. Repeat...
Scene
The queer scene’s hypocrisy problem
The queer community built large parts of the music scene’s infrastructure — clubs, safe spaces, bookings, entire genres of dance...
Scene
The scene is a meat grinder
The rave scene chews people up and spits them out. Not the audience — the operators. The DJs, the promoters,...
Dark Culture
Gossip is Google reviews for the underground
Gossip is a necessary evil and tool. Something to keep us all honest with each other. That is the position,...
Dark Culture
Platforms come and go. Email addresses are portable.
Instagram can delete your account tomorrow. TikTok can get banned. Twitter can change the algorithm and bury your reach. Every...
Scene
Meritocracy vs identity lineups
The question that splits the NYC underground in half: should DJ lineups reflect the demographics of the scene, or should...
Scene
4am hard stops are killing techno
New York City forces most nightlife venues to close at 4am. Some close at 3am. A handful have permits that...
Scene
The rave scene is quietly conservative
The rave scene markets itself as radically progressive. Open-minded. Inclusive. A space where all backgrounds converge on the dancefloor. The...
Scene
Why promoters who cosplay as socialist idealists are about to get eaten
Almost every promoter in the NYC underground tries to cosplay as a socialist idealist. They adopt the language, post the...