Culture
These Videos Spotlight South Africa's Amazing '90s Rave Scene
An intrepid journey to understand the meaning of rave in South Africa.
Beyond the music and culture itself, what makes old rave videos so entertaining to watch is the wide-eyed curiosity of older generations as they tried to come to terms with the phenomenon. Case in point is these videos taken from South Africa’s wild ’90s rave heyday. The fact that Pretoria is hardly what you would consider a dance music epicenter makes it even more mind-boggling to the reporter that 15,000 people would be flipping out in a cavernous warehouse.
In the first video below, “Beckett’s Trek Rave Crave”, an admittedly good-natured reporter goes searching for the meaning of rave, talking to enthusiastic revellers and trying to make sense of all the associated rave paraphernalia. It’s an amazing look into Pretoria’s high-intensity party scene.
Scroll down further to see glitter and technicolor in all its glory in a ten minute montage of some serious partying in the “Polaroid Dance Opera”. Finally, wind back the clock to 1997, when two of rave’s biggest figures, Sasha & John Digweed, threw down at the “Wipeout 2097” party in Capetown. Even Digweed is blown away by how insane the party gets.
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