RETURN OF THE LOCKDOWN: YOUR HOME RAVE GUIDE

| RAVE | Plus, a very #rare Richie Hawtin documentary

Womp womp I guess America is going back into lockdown again; out here in California, Governor Newsom just announced a sweeping new round of stay-at-home orders that kicks off this weekend, while a slew of restrictions are sweeping across the nation. So ya’ll know what that means!!! Time to cancel plans with your rando Tinder trade, pop a shroom choc, and fire up the projector for a long weekend of dancing at home alone while sobbing at memories of raves past.

(Personally, I was gonna go to a psychedelic party where all these Silicon Valley elites were going to pop 2C-B, but the party was semi-cancelled last minute… fucking COVID!)

So while I nurse the gaping wound in my heart where the 2C-B orgy would have been, here are my top picks for this weekend’s best virtual parties—ranging from glitchcore Zoom rave to a Latinx bass music festival, a virtual reality cannabis conference, and beyond.

PS: Usually this kind of ~premium content~ goes out to my loyal paid subscribers only, but I’m locking it for everyone this week, because we all need good reasons to stay in right now, ya know? Upgrade to a paid tier if you want to keep receiving these lists, plus other exclusive posts I’ll cook up this month! Thank you for supporting fam <3

1. PLASTIKMAN - R E W I N D (DEC 4)

OK this one isn’t strictly a cyber party, but I’m including it because 1) it’s relevant to ravers, and 2) doing a bunch of ketamine while watching a movie kinda counts as a rave these days to me. Tonight, Beatport is premiering a #rare Richie Hawtin documentary called PLASTIKMAN - REWIND. Described as “a lost film by David Terranova” (who I guess runs the agency that reps playa house DJs like Damien Lazarus and Bedouin?), the movie hasn’t offered many other clues regarding what it’s actually about—except for this choice quote from Richie Hawtin:

“Imagine waking up from an acid trip and trying to put all the pieces back together… ten years later.”

LMAO welcome to my life, Richie! Anyway, you can tune in at 12AM EST on Beatport’s Twitch.

2. RAVE THE VOTE: GEORGIA RUN-OFF SPECIAL (DEC 4)

My buddies at Soul Clap (who are also loyal Rave New World subs—hi Eli!) have been doing this dope livestream called Rave the Vote, raising funds for the Movement for Black Lives and helping people register to vote in key battleground states—alongside killer DJ sets, obvi. Tonight’s stream focuses on the Georgia runoffs, and features Kai Alce, Byron the Aquarius, and Vicki Powell. (Shit, I just realized the stream might be ending lol, maybe I should have sent out this newsletter earlier but I was busy making shroom honey for my hangover…. regardless—you should follow Rave The Vote for more, soon!)

3. SUBCULTURE (DEC 6)

subcultureparty

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I’ve been snoozing on the cyber rave scene a little lately so I discovered SUBCULTURE through my friend Sean Monahan’s trendy new Substack newsletter, 8ball (which is unfortunately not about cocaine but is still excellent btw, you should def sub). Sean describes the e-rave as one of the “glitchcore Zoom parties of Alt TikTok,” and if you have no idea what that means, don’t worry about it, but if you do, then you know this shit is unhinged—it’s the kind of place where you might behold a drag queen dressed like a furry elf named Elona Musk while dancing to a 100 Gecs x Dorian Electra mashup… OK, now do you get the vibe??

4. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE BASS (DEC 4-19)

R*d B*ll is behind this three-week livestream “festival” of Latinx bass music from moombahton to reggaeton and beyond. I know, I know, you’re rolling your eyes at R*d B*ll, which somehow went from the cool corporate rave patron to evil corporate rave patron in the span of the last few months?! (If someone knows more of this industry tea, HMU) But you still cannot deny this lineup: Tomasa Del Real, Kali Uchis, Mia Carucci, Riobamba, and Miami’s most fab queer party crew Internet Friends are all on the bill, so you know this shit is gonna slap.

5. EMERGE CANNA (DEC 15-17)

My shroom mom tipped me off about this virtual cannabis conference, and while I would usually hesitate to recommend a more business-focused event, I am S C R E A M I N G at the format: you pick a digital avatar and roam around the virtual reality world of winding conference halls while interacting with weed brands and speakers like Julian Marley (scion of Bob) and David Crosby. (If you’ve ever gone to a digital avatar cyber rave on IMVU, it’s kind of like that, but with less dungeon techno and more venture capital bros.)

That’s it folks! If you attend any of these, let me know how it goes—you can reply to me here, or on Twitter and Instagram if that’s your thing.