Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat. Episode I: The Difference Between Raving & Clubbing (in Singapore)

Hi.

Ever get major withdrawals after something exciting and fun has happened in your life? I do. I recently received an email from Livescape Group advertising Armin's upcoming concert in April, which reminded me of ZoukOut last year, and how in the weeks post-event, I was writhing with withdrawal in the aftermath of the mind-blowing 2 night affair (...I'm talking about ZoukOut k. Don't get any ideas).

Needless to say, that was my inspiration for this next series of posts.

Episode I: The Difference Between Raving & Clubbing in Singapore

Disclaimer: I have opinions, and as you are entitled to yours, I'm entitled to mine. Cheers.

For those who aren't in the know, raves (or at least, my definition of a rave) are music festivals specifically featuring EDM, which stands for Electronic Dance Music (no, not electronic direct mailer). Typically, raving is often confused or categorised with clubbing. Personally, I think there's a world of difference between the two.

Here are some key comparisons in the context of Singapore:

LOCATION

Clubbing is an activity held indoors, in clubs, where space is very limited; hence the number of people at a club would pale in comparison to that of a rave. The only way to get out of a writhing mass of intoxicated bodies would be to exit the club, but that obviously defeats the purpose of the activity.

Raves are held both indoors and outdoors, but at much larger venues such as warehouses, convention halls, beaches, vast open fields, and the like. In areas where the crowds are concentrated, space is also limited, but people have the luxury of heading out of those areas and into more open space, and still be able to enjoy the atmosphere and music.

MUSIC

Clubs in Singapore are often home to 'DJs' that loop playlists of tracks made by other people. The music there is only as good as the original artistes, unless the DJ is really horrible, and even without creating their own music and sounds, they still fail at transitioning from song to song (if so, I really don't even know why the hell they're called DJs). Adding to that, apparently it's becoming a trend for some clubs to hire pretty faces to dress skimpily and play fiddlesticks or idk what over decks and trying to market them as resident DJs...

"PUT YO' HANDS UP IN THE AIR ERRBADI, IT'S DJ Bunnyluvzxz IN DA HOUSE."

... Go away please.

DJ-ing is no doubt hard work, and it takes a lot of dedication, love, sacrifice and talent. Of course, aside from no-talent phonies/marketing campaign faces, there ARE some residents that actually have the aforementioned qualities, and are truly making waves and going places (Lincey, Ginette Chittick, and by my personal bias, the Poptart duo, for example) but I honestly feel like they come few and far between.

An EDM festival or rave on the other hand, would be home to the best of the best. Even up-and-coming DJs would have to be better than most others in their class. In a sense, making it as a live DJ at a festival would be a trophy and proof of that DJ's aptitude, and that's why raves are so expensive. Despite that, you'd even hear of people travelling cross-country (cross-continent also have ok) for a rave; people are coming forth and paying for actual talent.

AUDIENCE & MOTIVE

Here's a handy chart I did up for easy reference:

As far as I’m concerned, clubbing in Singapore is largely a singles activity fuelled by alcohol and sexual tension and—like I've mentioned—mostly supported by bad, over-the-counter laptop DJ-ing. The sheer number of people who club with licentious inspiration is staggering and very few people actually care about the true quality of music, aside from how well it does to set the mood for grinding and groping and sexy moves for people to ogle at. I don't often hear of people going clubbing solely because DJ XYZ was playing (unless it's Poptart, cause Poptart is awesome and still considered a niche music event even though it's held in a club—people are there for the music).

Raves tend to attract a different sort of crowd, owing to the fact that the main point of a rave is the music. True ravers are EDM-lovers who attend the event to immerse in the music and show support for their favourite DJs. I suppose you'd also be more likely to find dance enthusiasts and—by extension—better dancers, as opposed to grinding enthusiasts at a rave...

CULTURE

Going by my comparison of the audience and motives behind clubbing vs raving, club culture is generally tied to hook-up culture, and I would agree, since there isn't much of an alternative culture to clubbing here that I have experienced. Naturally there are certainly still people who wouldn't be going to a club just to ogle or 'fish' for men and women, but the numbers are scarce.

As for rave culture, it is globally stigmatised by drug abuse and escapism, but from my experience, the true rave culture is actually about collectivism and unity. PLURR is an acronym which stands for Peace, Love, Unity, Respect and Responsibility, and these words form the credo of the true rave culture, and spurs rave goers to be loving, understanding, friendly, and protective of one another.

Unfortunately, SG raves haven't been faring so well on the PLURR front, and people at raves here seem to be getting from bad to worse... :(

ALCOHOL

Clubbers include a choice few people who tend to imbibe copious amounts of alcohol with abandon to loosen out the awkwardness and to help them find the courage to dance with and/or approach people when they normally would not. The desertion of control eventually leads to embarrassing behaviour, passing out, and the spontaneous expulsion of half-digested food. Yuck.

True ravers, however, understand the importance of STAMINA. You only drink enough to get you excited, but nothing more, because surviving a rave is like running a marathon. Do you go get drunk before you run StanChart? No. Same principle. Getting drunk is so not the point, and feeling sick is just going to fuck up your experience AND the experience of others at the rave. Sometimes, if the music is good enough, you don't even need alcohol.

You do NOT want to be him.

DRUGS

Touchy topic, but still necessary to touch (GEDDIT GEDDIT—ok no don't kill me) on.

A club is a more controlled setting with lesser people, so security checks tend to be more thorough, and if someone was drugged out, it'd be pretty obvious there. Locals who frequent clubs are aware of the extremely hefty penalty on drug consumption and trafficking, so you'd rarely see anyone with the balls to get high—much less sell substances—in the middle of a club.

As mentioned above, raves are notorious for the abundance of drugs. For some, music and elaborate visuals and laser light shows aren't quite enough to rhapsodise over, and they turn to drugs to heighten their senses to elevate their rave experience. Such festivals are HUGE, with thousands upon thousands of people in attendance. Therefore it is no wonder that within the heart of dense crowds in an area that often spans in the hundreds of metres, getting by selling, purchasing and taking drugs is by far easier than when you are in the limited confined space of a club. Again, locally, what with the implications of such frivolity with narcotics, you'd be relatively hard pressed (ok, not really if you know where to look and how to identify symptoms) to encounter such instances here in Singapore, but I'd say you'd have a higher chance spotting a crack head at a rave than at the club.

So there you have it, the main differences between clubbing and raving in Singapore. Whatever your poison, and whatever reason you choose to club or rave, stay safe, be responsible, and don't be an asshole/embarrassment! BTW, props to you if you club/rave and the negatives above don't apply to you. You are a rare snowflake.

As for me, I used to club a lot when I was single, and while I liked it enough back then to keep going back, it was mostly because of the company I had. I hate Top 40s music, I didn't drink a lot, and for the most part, I was REALLY unfriendly towards random guys that would come cosying up to me :D (BUT YEAH, I had no obligations to anyone at that point and I guess you could deduce that I liked the attention that I was nevertheless still going to invalidate, okay, BITE ME). Also, ever since I started raving, clubs became an outright nope for me. The difference in experience is like comparing eating caviar to eating toenails. Why would you go back to eating toenails after eating caviar????

P.S.: With regards to music and motive and drugs, clubs overseas may fare very differently, but I have very limited experience with clubs overseas, so it's not really my place to comment. I hear from friends that the experience in clubs overseas is loads better than in SG though.