Plur or Plurr? My thoughts on today's rave culture.

Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. These four words were ingrained into my head in my early party days. They were a staple of the underground rave scene, a mantra for the many souls who partook in their weekly rituals of letting loose their stress filled weeks. Raves were a Mecca for all walks of life, and you could literally meet so many different types of people. Some notable people I have met at raves included priests, monks, house wives, grandmothers, generally people one would never expect to run into at an underground dance party. PLUR for me was the staple that binded all these various individuals into one complete book, for PLUR gave myself and others a culture commonality. At this time, the music was important but played the second fiddle in the grand scheme of the rave orchestra. It was a time, and definitely culture, that does not seem to exist anymore. The advent of the extra R, which stands for responsibility, seems to me to be an oxymoron, as there is hardly any responsibility when it comes to what raves have meant over the years. The inclusion of corporate sponsorships, the ever growing size of three day festivals, and the cookie cutter formulas of dance music nowadays, has destroyed what was once a scene that was about belonging. Instead it is now a scene about fitting in.