In England the term raver is used by a broad spectrum of society to describe the practice of dancing in a club/ware house all night .The word was borrowed from Jamaican slang meaning the same thing (Bob Marley Midnight Ravers). Originating from illegal parties that spread all over England like wild fire in 1988 (The second summer of love) millions of people would flock to a secret outdoor location or derelict building , Keeping details secret till the last minute and arrive in a convoy . The movement was responsible for breaking down social barriers including racism (Rave against racism).The music on offer was “Rave” , “Hardcore” , “Detroit Techno” and “Acid House”
Electronic dance music quickly evolved , and split into many different scenes with very different ethos and ideas attached to each scene. The scenes range from fluffy glow stick trance heads to weapon carrying garage/grime gangsters. In the 90s the scene was commercialised to the extent that raves where multimillion pound industries run by corporate companies and nearly every kid in the UK was a raver listening to “Happy Hardcore” a very cheesy form of dance music with a 4 to the floor kick drum and chip monk vocals (chart hits speeded up). This eventually made the term a dirty word.
Now days the term is becoming fashionable again and the majority of ravers are just normal English kids who love electronic music and dancing (normally involving taking drugs).The phrase rave or raver is mainly used now days by the drum and bass and garage scenes, but is now used more than ever to describe all night parties where electro house , tech house and minimal techno are played particularly in East London, a taste maker for a lot of English dance music
