The term that refers to young people clad in
bright,
extravagant clothing who enjoy
electronic dance music and
designer drugs. Here is a list of
popular dress items and
accessories common to this group:
Well, what you're probably asking now is where do these crazy kiddies go once they're
all dressed up? Why, to
raves of course. If you're not familiar with these type of things, they consist of parties where a
pleasant, blissfully
drugged atmosphere is encouraged, and upbeat
dance music is supplied by DJs. There are many sub-categories of this type of
electronic music, including
breakbeat,
ambient,
hardcore (hehe, "hardcore techno"), and others.
Now, it's important to note that there is a
big difference between fans of this type of music and
candy kids. The
purists will tell you that candy kids are what have ruined this scene. Their complaints have a lot of merit: the most important things about candy kids is the word candy, which refers to
drugs. Apparently, it is
impossible to enjoy the music, dancing, and friendly atmosphere of a rave unless you are
high off your ass on any number of
illegal substances. There are several that are common; perennial favorites are
ecstasy (also known by many other aliases such as
X,
E,
XTC, etc.) and
K, which is a form of
animal tranquilizer. These drugs can and will be found at any rave - they are to raves what
pot is to a
Phish concert, guys with
mohawks are to a punk show, or
shirtless violence and misogyny were to
Woodstock 99.
Now, on a personal note: I hardbor an
intense dislike for this whole "scene." I've tried to provide an informative, somewhat
humorous writeup without too much bias, but allow me to say that, (a) I can't stand techno music, and (b), the idea that you need to be on drugs to enjoy music makes me want to
vomit.
Music can be a drug itself, a sort of
opiate for the soul. You shouldn't have to alter your
frame of mind to be able to have fun or enjoy listening to it, or dancing to it, or whatever. On a side note, maybe the reason I don't like techno is because it's too
cold and
emotionless, at least from my perspective. I know that
acolytes of the genre could argue for years about this with me - that's cool. I can respect their opinion. But it seems to me that all that matters is that you can dance to it. Music that makes you wanna move is great - but that shouldn't be
all there is to it. This might also be why I find
emo ridiculous - it's the opposite end of the spectrum. But that's a subject for another
node.
And that's all I have to say about that.