Oct
22

Welcome Ravers

Close your eyes and take yourself on a journey to your favourite club. Stand yourself in your favourite place, perhaps next to the DJ booth or by the biggest speaker. Now surround yourself with all your friends and like-minded people who are enjoying themselves as much as you are. Imagine your favourite DJ behind the decks and that tune you’ve been waiting to hear all night is just building up to drop. Now zoom in on the look on your own face at that moment. The bass is pumping through your chest, the smile is cemented from ear to ear. You’ve been dancing for hours but it seems like only minutes. You’ve forgotten every worry, responsibility, hassle or problems you may have in the real world. Does it really get any better than that? Is there a greater sense of freedom and escape? As you open your eyes and snap back to a brutal reality, your brain kicks back into sensible mode, all of life’s little nuisances swarm back into your conscious, and if you’re anything like me then you quickly check your mental calendar for the next time you will experience that feeling for real.

If you can relate to that then perhaps there will be something in this blog for you. I know that with so many club nights, raves, overseas adventures, and festivals planned, it would be nice to have a written account of all the experiences. I’ll hopefully include some reviews of new albums/mixes/DJs and things like that. Also I have verbal confirmation (which is legally binding) from a few of my more experienced music-reviewing friends, that they will contribute some material of their own. If you’re thinking this is just another form of Resident Advisor, you are very much mistaken, so stop thinking that. Basically somewhere in between a collection of musical reviews, a photographic diary, and something else I haven’t quite defined yet…a bit confusing perhaps but I’m hoping in time it will start to make more sense!

A very wise man by the name of Harry, my oldest friend and flat mate, came up with the idea for a Facebook group entitled Around the World in 30 Raves. It is pretty self-explanatory. We are only a week or so into it and already we have travelled a couple of hundred miles, crammed three huge nights in and I feel like there is so much to write and show for it that perhaps this blog can start partly as a vent for all this information.

I will wrap up this introductory blog with a little bit about myself. I am currently 23, living in central
London and working as a Futures Trader. I am very much a big believer in the ‘work hard play hard(er)’ ethos. I can’t see the point in getting up so early every morning, 6am in my case, and dealing with the stress and pressures of a job in the city, if you don’t use your weekend and free time to do the things you love. In my case that isn’t sitting on the couch with a good book and a glass of Merlot.

I’d much rather venture off to a dark and sweaty club, car park, warehouse or field somewhere in search of an unforgettable night with some good friends. For some people, comfortable hotels and luxurious food is the only type of holiday they would consider. I’m equally happy sleeping in a tent, surrounded by mud and very often rain, spending a long weekend in a field somewhere for a festival. Festival season is my favourite time of the year. Not least of all because it brings people together who live all over the place and is an epic reunion with some of my favourite people each year. You really can’t beat waking up to this view:

I was lucky enough to cram in 6 festivals this past summer; Snowboming, Melt, Secret Garden Party, Global Gathering, V Festival and Creamfields. Perhaps I will have a chance later on to go back and tell you a little about each. My musical taste changes but is very much biased towards the electronic genres. My passion has evolved from the days of Old School Garage, to Hard House, to Trance, to Funky House, to Drum n Base, to Dubstep, to Tech House, to Techno, just to name a few.

In case you are wondering, I do own a pair of decks, although I would not consider myself a DJ really. For me it’s more a part-time hobby and an excuse to mess around with some tunes every once in a while. I played a couple of ‘gigs’ several years back. The most memorable was a Barmitzvah where I recall having to play a large amount of Ricky Martin and some Blue…hence why I wouldn’t consider myself a real DJ! The real reward for me from having decks is that it allows any friends who DJ, to entertain us with actual talent on a regular basis. I would definitely include some of these sets in my top musical experiences from 2010!

I have decided not to try and list my favourite DJs and musical influences in this introduction…not just yet anyway. I feel like the list would be too long and I would still miss out too many. I have also probably rambled on for long enough so I will leave you with a thank you for giving this a read, and I hope you enjoy at least some of what is to come. Of course feel free to add any comments or whatever you like. I plan to write my first proper entry about the first of the Around the World in 30 Raves event from last week as soon as I get a chance. Until then, see you on the dancefloor.

4 Comments to “Welcome Ravers”

  • Things Rob Katz is:
    1. Gentleman
    2. Scholar
    3. A damn good writer
    4. A raver

    Things Rob Katz is not:
    1. Afraid

    • Ha. Cheers dude.

  • Glad you enojoyed it. Feel free to get in contact any time rob@liveravereview.com to discuss featured posts or anything else. Rob

  • we are a long way from kansas