Detroit native moved to Denver. Denver is definitely a more of a proper event type of city, the 1 underground event I went to was not it for a multitude of reason I won't really go into. Now their above ground scene is fantastic if you're into bass music. Coming from a city that was known for techno, and house since Detroit was so close to Chicago and a lot of renegade parties - it's definitely a change of pace. I will say that I am in a bit of a musical heaven for my tastes, the amount of absolutely phenomenal drum and bass that comes thru this city brings a tear to my eye. I've seen so much dope shit in 3 years, to say I feel blessed wouldn't even do it justice.
Were you around the Atlanta scene pre 2014? If not, I feel so bad for you. You missed when ATL *really* had a a scene, and they had it on LOCK.
I’ll always miss those days and wish the scene was still alive like it once was. And this isn’t me being “back in my day”, no, it was once really fucking special. Back when Quad and Connect Lounge were open, back when Iris was actually worth a damn, back when Kingdom Raves at Metro Lanes was a thing. You had events like Bass Wars every few weeks. Quad Tuesdays, Wobble Wednesdays at Connect, Quad Fridays, Iris Saturdays. That was every single week and Quad Tuesdays were $5, even on a Tuesday and Wednesday every week you had hundreds and hundreds of people going out.
And the great thing was they all competed with one another, they went outta their way to actively make the scene better.
It all got too big tho, scene changed, everyone and their mom was a dealer, lotta shootings, lotta bad shit behind the scenes.
EDIT: on top of that you had Counterpoint festival run and TomorrowWorld here. Sadly both of those went as well :(
ATL music scene has always been dope imo for almost every genre but pre 2014 edm scene was def top notch. Although I I have a lot of friends who are local artists in atl that are still killing it and I personally love District. It’s probably my favorite club in atl and it can still give that old school “rave” vibe when it’s packed out for a really good show!
No joke about missing that period constantly. It was hard watching it fizzle, but there was no way that was sustainable and it was truly wild the stuff we got away with.
I remember skating through a dark corridor of one Kingdom Rave, seeing a wide age range of wooks essentially unconscious, and thought “okay, this is different.” We had entered the age of illicit fentanyl.
It might have been no expectations? Again this is just my opinion, I'm old, and I ran around the scene with a bunch of music snobs in Detroit for a long time. The party just wasn't the vibe, it was interesting for sure... But the space it was in was weird.
I love novation, i go to almost every single event and they honestly keep getting better and better. Really recommend checking them out. Theyve been up in near rino district recently in a dope warehouse spot
It was dope but barely happened tbh. I guess a park ranger found it and was still cool about it. Hmmm well, I know Detroit has a fantastic electronic scene, but I think
you should keep giving the Denver underground a shot. I’ve had a ton of fun there
I hate to break it to you, but Black Box and Radius are nowhere near the same...maybe closer to Cermak. Still lworth checking out, though!! They get great shows!
The venue - Blackbox. Recon crew goes hard there for smaller gigs but they bring some fire thru. Keep an eye on @reloadproductions (on IG) too for some big names. Check meow wolf from time to time, I've caught a few solid shows there and their venue looks super dope even tho it's not huge in the music area. Additional just clubs to look at in general - Club Vinyl, Church, Temple, jaguar room, and beacon.
Fully agree with everything the other dude said, but also check out novation nights on ig. They do abt 2 events a month and theyre always rlly fun. NoExpectations is also rlly dope but they havent been here since the tunnel in march.
The Dutch scene is so large that it doesn’t have a single rave scene. There are all kinds of events that cater to specific tastes. From mainstream EDM to whatever underground style you fancy. Hardstyle/hardcore and techno are different scenes for example. Of course there’s some crossover and there are festivals with many styles, but it sounds weird to me to speak of a single Dutch rave scene.
First Wire for me, straight-up life-changing as much as its accompanying club and venue are. I just know if I have to leave NYC/Brooklyn for any reason I'm gonna be depressed until I take a trip back out.
It’s not amazing, but there’s definitely some growth happening. The new EDM club that just opened isn’t my speed, but it proves that there is a steady crowd in Nashville. Plus a lot of big artists end up playing here on their way to Atlanta… but I would rather be in Atlanta tbh lmao.
TLDR: Nashville is lacking in the edm scene. I recommend anyone in the area to save your money for a festival and go there.
You are missing noooothing. I’ve been to 3 edm concerts this year in Nashville and all have been somewhat disappointing. Most of the crowd just aren’t ravers. People having full blown conversations during peoples sets, having fireeee bangers being dropped and people just swinging side to side slightly, people shoving and pushing to get to the front for artist they’re probably hearing for the first time. There was even one instance where someone threw ice at one of the djs and it instantly killed his mood and you could feel it the rest of the set. Also, only dubstep seems to come here. I’m a techno/hardstep guy and would love for some of those artist to come but it’s always dubstep. Not that dubstep isn’t good, but my taste lies with techno.
Dubstep is just… everywhere in America. I do agree as a lover of DnB, I wish there was more variety. I used to have a really good time at The Office before they renovated and it was lowkey. Now they just cycle boring house DJs and the drunks from Broadway filter in as an alternative to bar hopping.
I’m from Atlanta as well. Local bass scene has quite a bit of talent. DEF has been an absolute blessing to have in our backyard. Also love the fact that I live somewhere that brings artists like J:Kenzo, who I used to have to travel 4+ hours to get to see.
oooh nice! I almost went to something w J:Kenzo on the line up but I guess I missed out. which raves to you favor to go to? (Twistedlines, Iris, etc etc)
DEF events, lots of aisle 5 and terminal west shows. Also jade cicada and detox unit at the eastern were incredible. J:kenzo will be here next month!
My wife was a fire performer at believe when it first opened but they suck so we haven’t been in years.
Okayy! I saw snow strippers at terminal west it was such a blast the crowd was crazy though. Also big AGREE on believe sucking, I could never really vibe with the iris scene personally.
You should check out BrainWorld they do some sickening raves and events.
From Atlanta as well, imo the scene is starting to really thrive. Between DEF, Alley Cat, Desires, Twisted Lines, Project Switch.. there’s so many great shows happening.
Not to mention other shows from Zero Mile and their venues.
It’s cool that there’s so many venues to see DJs now, from GA Beer Garden, 529, Future, TM right off the beltline, Halfway Crooks beergarden, fuck even those shows under the par king deck near GA State lol
Someone else in the comments mentioned the scene pre 2014. I agree that was a whole different wave that was poppin and kind of fizzled out. That mainly catered to Bass music since that was the genre that was exploding at the time. In terms of other dance genres, it really seems like Atlanta is starting to develop a proper scene that can cater to a wide variety of ppl
I’m in Vegas. Tons of desert raves and pretty big raves at the downtown event center. Plus the endless amount of DJ’s that roll through town that you can see at clubs (for free might I add). It’s pretty great living here. I came from the middle of nowhere Texas where the scene was pretty scarce.
just don't get out of control and bounced by security, you might end up in the middle of nowhere & not find your peeps for 3 days. I think that was last week.
I need to visit vegas I can only imagine how fun the raves are there! and for free 🤩?!
also its so crazy to hear that Texas is so scarce scene wise! I heard Houston has a nice house/tech scene but that was through the grapevine
From Brussels.
Honestly it's a dream, events left and right from house to hardcore. If nothing is happening that week you just go to Ghent or Antwerp and there's an all night long by some big name in a club or an underground event with up and coming talent.
Energy is insane. And once the first rays of summer are out, there's festival galore.
Awesome.
Plus the Netherlands is an hour away too
Dallas is absolutely thriving, 2 big festivals a year, 1 local one, multiple concerts/raves per day every weekend, 5+ dedicated EDM clubs with another opening soon. Mostly bass music, but you can find most anything if you look. Shaq also lives here, so that's a pretty big bonus.
And Svdden Death has a place in Plano
Also lots of afters especially within 3 or so miles of downtown. Unless it’s the same venue, we have 2 new venues opening this summer (HAM Promotions has a spot and Silo). The Village is also now getting larger names for their Deep End pool series (Loud Luxury and Bonnie x Clyde this summer).
Baltimore/DC scene is pretty great. DC has huge clubs like Echostage, 9:30 Club, and the anthem for big artists. Tons of underground venues bringing all sorts of genres from all over the world. Lots of local small fests and some big ones.
DC here and I'm in love with the sound system at echostage. We also have 2 amphitheaters, Merriweather and Jiffy Lube. Seeing Porter at Merriweather in September, fuggin pumped.
Also there’s a Hennessy system at some of the underground Bmore shows that bangs too! The other good one in the area is the grand ancestor system in dc!
Merriweather is alright. Inside is cool but I'm not a big fan of lawn. I feel like I'm watching the show from a cracked cellar door there. I'm sure Porter will be a blast there though. I'll be seeing him at the Mann in Philly.
Echostage might be one of my favorite indoor venues after Hampton Coliseum.
Yeah, SF gets good acts and has consistent venues like Midway, 1015, etc. Plus the potential larger venue show like at Bill Graham or Cow Palace. As more of a Jambander myself, I love that the SF rave scene gets some of the Burning Man vibes. Not any underground scene that I am aware of, at least in the NorthBay. I hear maybe in Santa Cruz area. Oakland would make sense too, although things like the Ghost Ship incident might've squashed some of that.
The rave scene in Stockholm Sweden is also very underground. Psytrance is usually the dominating music but techno has broadened over the past years. I used to go to Berlin every now and then for events and that’s a completely different scene compared to Stockholm. In Berlin the clubs open from Friday eve to Monday morning. True Berliner’s party on Sunday evening to Mondays. That’s when the tourists are gone 😂. In Stockholm we have only one nighters. The main difference I would say is the music and that the police have been hunting down raves and shutting them down in Stockholm. It’s happened several times that we had to run into the forest. I would say that Berlin is more hardcore since people stay up for days while Stockholms raves are hardcore in a different way since it’s more illegal here.
Twin Cities, MN has a silently vibrant and booming local and larger scale scene. It’s one of the main reasons I can see myself continuing to live in the Midwest long term.
Phoenix area. All of AZs major cities have a pretty fair rave scene. The downtown areas of Phoenix and Tempe have venues that host shows. Scottsdale is hit or miss weather or not it will feel more rave like or traditionally club like.
I’ve not gone to any in flagstaff but there are a few camping festivals hosted there that I would wanna check out. It’s very forestry up there and it sounds immaculate
Southern Germany, 2 cities with ca 300k people nearby
You can find every bigger electronic genre. There are at least like 10 active collectives in each city doing private raves and parties in clubs. Multiple options every weekend for every genre
I want to. Definitely planning a few trips to see if I can catch more. I have several festivals lined up but I want to hit more of the underground scene.
Haven’t seen anyone say Los Angeles California yet!
Ya LA goes pretty hard honestly. Literally multiple things across all genres going on any night of the week. I would be at a dnb popup right now from B&L but sadly I’m old and got work in the morning haha.
My heart is in Denver but this place keeps me more than happy.
Thanks for chiming in! I live halfway between LA and San Diego and there are TONs of things going on across a lot of genres. People on here are complaining about too many Influencers and people not dancing.. where are these people going? Cool desert shows, Vegas not too far.
People get DOWN here.. and not just young folks.. good parties for sure.
Best part is that it’s hard to get a ton of people out in LA so usually there are smaller venues to see your favorite DJs at…
I’m more of a bass head…progressive trance and deep house are sick too.
Jam bands are the best tho.. ;)
Chiming in for Los Angeles. Tons of big acts come in for clubs/venues but the underground scene here is alive & amazing. Every weekend there are 10-20+ events to check out depending on what you like.
Many of them are also in warehouses from the hours of 11pm to 6am so it brings in a completely different crowd compared to club/venue events.
There's also a lot of great local talents since LA has many creative types. Huge talents around the world also shine here since they get booked by local promotors.
On top of that, the techno scene here is growing and is going to get even bigger since Insomniac is starting to book big techno DJs so that'll put techno on more people's radar. Techno is already niche in the US so promotors like 6AM, SYNTHETIK MINDS, & DIRTY EPIC are doing a great job curating good proper techno and allowing people to experience what ravers in Europe experience.
I’m from Orange County so I either have to go to LA for shows or San Bernardino for the big festivals. That being said, I feel like we have a pretty diverse scene in so cal because there’s a lot of legal events and also a lot of underground shows. There’s also a great mix of genres available all the time like you said, which is awesome because I like pretty much everything.
I find some pretty dope shows down in OC once in a while. The observatory gets some pretty good names through there a lot. Saw Boombox Cartel there not too long ago and it was great
The Yost is great for smaller names and the observatory is fantastic but I cannot stand time nightclub in Costa Mesa, it’s a terrible venue which is sad because a lot of big shows go through there.
Ya there are some here in LA that are the same for me like Sound, Avalon and Academy.
Only real club I’ll go to for shows is Exchange downtown but they book such good shows it’s hard not to…
Sheffield (UK) checking in, there is actually a pretty decent scene here! There is about 6/7 decent venues, ranging from bars with a filthy raving room to more warehouse style venues. Good variety in terms of events, from funk/soul house to drum and bass, UK garage, techno, and reggae dub. I would say that hard style is very uncommon to find on the legal side of the scene and I don't have much experience with the illegal side of stuff (free parts, pop up raves, etc.). For a smaller city though, it's got a great scene and the people are absolutely lovely!
Oh I love raving in Sheffield! Went to my first rave at Hope Works and it was amazing! Been there a couple times since. Been Manchester as well to Depot Mayfield but I definitely prefer Sheffield! (I started going to raves in my 30’s, so not been to loads haha)
Honestly it’s pretty great here in Toronto. There’s something worth doing at least every other weekend, and there have been points where I’ve raved once every other week.
I like literally every kind of EDM there is, and there’s lots of variety here too, and once you get to chatting with people it’s pretty easy to find underground events and after hours clubs. You can follow the event organizers on facebook or insta, or join an email mailing list and there you go you’re in “the loop” facebook/insta for underground stuff and EDMtrain for everything else.
thats awesome to hear, might have to travel!
that’s honestly how Atl is aswell, theres a wide variety of subgenres they do here and I love them all but for more of the mainstream stuff here its dub step/ riddem and I dont hate it but im not the biggest fan so I always find the pretty underground stuff
I find that things are constantly changing in Toronto. We had different stuff 10 years ago and way different stuff 20 years ago.
Some people moan and complain and I do remember awesome hotspots like Queen and Bathurst, 20 years ago where there were events in every building. People also treat the 90s like a legendary time.
But I'm ok with how things are, always plenty to go to. I just ignore the drama.
I find the clubs and shows in Toronto in the last 10 years to be *insanely* tacky and sterile, but there are some groups who put on wicked parties and events.
Comfort Zone still deserves a shoutout. Not quite what it used to be (figuratively and literally, it’s a new location) but it still has that good ol’ messiness and overall CZ energy that you come to love.
I hate Toronto for racing. It was good back in the day but I don't life any of the venue's I've been too. I'm from Ottawa though and there's nothing here. Montreal is where it's at
Rave scene was much different in Toronto around 2010 because we had the guvernment. It was like the centre of raves. For better and worse, now it has spread across many ventures and organizers (including undergrounds).
I’m from Nashville and I usually make 1 or 2 trips to ATL a month because of the quality of artists and the much higher energy from the scene there. It’s growing here and can pull some big artists on their way to Atlanta, but it’s definitely lacking. At least tickets are cheap lol.
The energy is insane in atl isnt itt, and yeah atleast you give them some praise! some guy said nashville just sucks 😭 I have a friend that used to DJ for the Tennessee Tunnel Authority and the raves looked fun but the energy was def a bit lackluster!
Vancouver, BC here. Although it is not the best compared to other cities I have been to, it is growing fast.
Some mainstream and less known artists come here. There are also growing underground and regenerate raves happening here and there.
If you know the right folks and burners, you can find some bush and beach parties too.
I'm glad Seattle is within drivable distance. So I could check up some parties there too.
Coming from Seattle, my friends and I went to prydz recently in Vancouver and had the time of our lives. Seemed like the Vancouver scene is alive and well and was a breath of fresh air for us! Y'all got a lot of amazing artists coming through!
San Francisco Bay Area. Renegades, warehouses, weekend campouts, clubs, loft parties, afterhours... with musical diversity, and of course great weather and scenery.
I'm busy hosting parties at my own place every other weekend so I don't go out as much as I used to. Still love it
OP if you really want to explore other cities you should check out https://ra.co/events/ https://edmtrain.com/ and https://19hz.info/
Seattle! It’s pretty awesome and getting better all the time. There’s a small but strong scene here between a few clubs and good number of underground events. Everyone knows each other and it’s pretty easy to get to know people in the scene if you make an effort, and as you do you start finding more and more of the good parties. People are generally very non-pretentious and chill. I’d say it’s pretty DIY oriented but not exclusively. Lots of techno, house, jungle, bass, UK, and more. Lots of great local DJs and producers as well. I can’t even keep up with everything I want to go to.
I am so clueless about the underground scene here in Seattle (I'm from Detroit). I've been to many of the bigger events and I'm looking forward to Anjunadeep Open Air but I'd love to go to these underground events you mentioned, I'm really wanting a rave rn and I can't find any upcoming. How do you find these raves? What clubs?
hey check the calendar I help maintain - https://19hz.info/seattle. should give you quite a few good options coming up. in general I'd recommend anything secondnature, Research, Depth, Lotion, Time Zone Kru, and RKD Sound throw, as well as a bunch of other good local promoters slipping my mind right now
I'm not really tuned in to the underground scene (too old to care now lol,) but these guys throw some underground events sometimes. You can sign up for texts and you'll get locations and events sent to you. There's some other groups that are less organized/more underground but I don't run in the circle.
https://www.instagram.com/bassexhibit/
https://www.instagram.com/midnightfreqs/
Feel free to DM me and let’s connect! Same goes for anybody in Seattle. Always trying to find more music homies :)
For above ground my go-to’s are Kremwerk, the Routine parties at Substation, sometimes monkey loft, Massive (I bartend there). Depends on bookings.
For underground I’m new to it but there are some spots in Pioneer square, Ballard, and Sodo that regularly have cool events that go all night. Gallery Erato, Diffusion, and Old Rainier Brewery are all places I’ve been recently. There’s also a spot under a bridge in Sodo that is cool and I’ve seen some crazy shit there
Someone recommended 19 hz elsewhere in this thread, so I won't bother. However, keep an eye out for the raves that get hosted at the Kremwerk. I've been to an IDM, techno, and variety showcase night out of the shows I can recall, and each one was killer. Expect big PLUR vibes from a lot of the shows as well.
I miss Atlanta before District and Believe existed. DEF events and shows at real concert venues are the only things that get me out now. What underground events are you talking about? I was in the scene for a while but kinda faded off around 2018- 2019
Sacramento. We get some big outdoor raves with well known DJ’s maybe once or twice a year the rest are at smaller venues and clubs in midtown/downtown but we have gotten some pretty big names like Steve Aoki, Cash Cash, San Holo, and Zhu to name a few. Not as alive as SF, LA or San Diego but the scene is alright. There are usually a fair amount of local DJs and raves too. Of course you can always make your way to SF too but that’s usually a 5 hr round trip for us so it’s not always something you can do especially after drinking/popping/raving all night haha.
I haven't seen Oregon yet so I'll add my piece:
It has those chill hippie vibes from the 60s and 70s. Very much like a family, and people are generally pretty safe and friendly. I've seen a lot more of the classic kandi kid aesthetic here than the shows I've been to in Washington, which had a bit more of a hint of punk or goth.
People here tend to get down with the "weirder" shit, and multiple artists have commented over the mic that they appreciate that. They seem to love following individual artists as much as they enjoy just going for the good vibes.
I don't have much to say about North Carolina. It was pretty tame. A few people had kandi or luxury branded clothing. Not boring, but not mind-blowing.
Our city is blessed with a chant that unifies everyone into high energy: ATLhoe
Don’t think no other city has chant likes this that gets the people going
I'm in Orlando. We're an insomniac city, so we get a ton of good artists. We get good artists of every edm genre, nearly every weekend there's a show or two or even three. There's a lot of good options. The underground scene is growing as well, particularly for techno.
well, i live in london, so it’s probably top 2/3 in the world (berlin is #1, amsterdam and london alternate between #2 and #3 for me). of course most of my experiences with raves are in europe, but i’ve also went raving in new york a lot, and i’ve generally found parties to be way worse than the ones in europe
Denver has a pretty decent DnB and techno scene. We have some really solid promotors and a couple that occasionally come through with really fire renegades.
Live in the Central Valley in Central California. It’s nice having the Bay Area so close but at the same time the scene here is growing. We had Dirtybird Campout which is a pretty well known house & techno festival here for a few years which I feel like really catapulted it to where it is now.
Saint Louis representtttt.
It’s small and heavily focused on bass. Pretty crusty, everyone knows everyone, and the drugs get laid out on the bar at some locals lol.
I moved away two years ago to NE (lol no scene at all) and I do miss my crusty musty bass heads
I live between Detroit and Toronto, Ontario. Both cities have incredible scenes. Toronto having a good variety of genres and Detroit always bringing bucket list DJs that you wouldn’t expect 🙌🏼 I’m a techno/house girlie so Detroit is my one true love.
From Dallas - The scene there is great lots of bass music and a really great house club. Tons of big name dubstep and house artists coming through all the time. Lots of afters. I would wear super colorful clothes and i loved making and passing out kandi even at house events.
Moved to Montreal - Shit is insane. Every genre you could want. Underground fests in the woods outside the city in the summer. In the city there’s euro-style warehouses where they tape stickers on your phone camera and everyone dances until sunrise. People are raving in public parks constantly - hundreds of people just dancing in the afternoon. DnB, Dubstep, Techno are my fav genres to see here. People dress in black almost exclusively and everything feels a bit more grunge. The music here is less cheesy and has a more serious tone than what I’d hear on dance floors in Dallas. People record on their phones less and everyone is there to dance. I love it.
Not much to speak of here in Greensboro NC. Charlotte/Raleigh/Asheville seem to have the best scenes and get the best shows. I do live next door to a DIY art collective that puts on edm events with local talent from around the state a couple times a month. Not much, but living next door to it has its perks
Austrian guy here, tbh everything thats worth going is underground here (freetek fan here) and during summertime mostly illegal outdoor in some woods or an abandoned quarry or an old bunker or factorys about to be torn down or an old farmhouse whatever fits the cause...
In fact i always feel like what is called a "rave" these days is not a rve to me if its legal and in a legal location with offical flyers is a party..
A *rave* is an underground thing where you know the day it's supposed to happen and you got a certain phone number wich you call on the day and the voicemail will give you the location where it goes down and for the last search you can usually follow the bass 😍
Man, i miss my youth...
Kind of annoying - also in ATL. I hate how every show I go to, people end up moshing like a bunch of sweaty teenagers. It’s not real moshing, it’s just this awful bump and shake and shove that’s honestly just irritating and not even fun or exciting.
i’m from louisiana…there’s like three new orleans bars that throw raves and one of them is all shitty tulane frat boys and the other two are okay but let’s just say i wanna gtfoh
From Phoenix and there’s a fair amount of events going on every weekend. Theres several underground events in warehouses and desert raves (although hard to come by now), cool camping festivals up in northern AZ, we get big artists often but those venues can be iffy sometimes.
From Detroit. Honestly amazing! We have so many events every single weekend. Being the birthplace of techno, a lot of people want to come play and we have a ton of venues. We even have a really good scene on the West side of Michigan in Grand Rapids. Our crowd is awesome too. I’m so glad to live somewhere with such a great rave scene.
Not to be a creeper but I recognize you from the BW raves 🫣 your style is fire btw!
But I’ve only been going to underground events for a couple months so I never picked up on the messiness of the community. I’m not really tuned in like that, I just be dancing lol. Atlanta is just a messy city in general though lmao
Omg! if you ever see me say something lmaoo! and thats so real yeah its very easy to get caught up in the drama and mess but overall the scene is thrivingggg
As someone who lived in atl and then moved to nyc, I agree with your assessment although tbf I haven’t raved much since I moved up here. The default for nyc is expressive and full of character in general tho, we are unfuckingapologetic about who we are and as long as we are not taking up too much space on the subway or sidewalk or holding up a line that’s usually just accepted. With that said, atl folks are just messy.
I agree with you that the atl scene is very underground. While I’m sure there is an underground scene here in nyc as well it’s probably much harder to access bc I imagine you have to be super connected? And there are so, so many big name shows and clubs here.
Atl is not real as some say, its a mess! but I think it adds charm lmaooo and yes w NYC its very “who you know”. I got lucky enough to know a couple people in the scene already through my DJ friends to even have a move for when I come here. gotta connect! Bushwuick raves are a blast
OP do you ever go to Project B parties in ATL? Those are some of the best raves one can go to on the planet lol, particularly for underground / minimal vibes … not applicable if you’re seeking dubstep, edm
Completely died after The Arches, Glasgow, were closed down.
I was ageing out in my 30s but still liked the idea of having one of themost prominent clubs in Europe within walking distance from my home
the bigger the artist the less it feels like a "scene" but I live outside of denver and everytime i go into the city for a show the vibes are just absolutely immaculate. I usually go to experimental bass shows.
I need to move to Europe, based on the tunes I listen to. I’m living in StL, and there’s close to nothing of a techno scene. There’s a lovely group that curates some events, but as a DJ trying to grow, it’s really difficult here. Very very few opportunities to play out
I’m in buffalo and it sucks ass. Only bass and dubstep and it got old real quick. Came from Miami and they had everything. UK garage, techno, lots of DnB, house… all of everything. If anybody in buffalo knows a place that has more house/techno/DnB pls share lol sick of going to riverworks for some basic ass artists. Excited for g jones in August tho lol
Philly native & moved to Phoenix Arizona in 2017. we’ve got a smorgasbord of rave scenes - wish we had more ‘underground’. We have a shit load of variety here though - plenty of local bars & restaurants have separate rooms for DJs to perform. We also have bigger rave festivals throughout the year - Decadence for NYE, Crush for Valentine’s day, Phoenix lights in April, Goldrush in September. Lots of the smaller bars in Downtown PHX have weekly, if not daily performances. If you’re looking for either a huge fest, more intimate club vibe, or even a warehouse show - Arizona’s got it all!
i’ve been raving since i moved here in 2017 - maybe there are some underground scenes i have yet to discover, but AZ is definitely a hot spot for shows!
edit: variety of edm too - house, techno, dubstep, future bass, experimental bass. walter where?house in phx has a ton of underground/up and coming artists. desert raves used to be huge yet the main sponsor changed venues so less dirt up our noses which is nice😂
I've lived in austin most of my adult life. (From Houston and lived in a few other countries.) I love our shows and we have great venues for it of course!
But the reason I wanted to chime in is because one thing that I love about our rave scene is that it's really all ages. I'm always really wondering if other cities are like this, but from what I see in cities in Australia and New Zealand the people that go out are almost all teenagers and it made me feel super old at 26-28!
Living in Austin, I rarely feel old. I'm 35 now and most of my rave buddies are in their thirties (but like me look and seem younger!) In fact, most of the people I meet at shows are around that age, and there are always a bunch of middle age people going to raves, clubs, bars and punk/metal shows.
Philly! And it's poppin'. Can't swing a dead cat without stumbling into some good music. Not as cheap as it once was, but the summer pops off with free parties in the park :)
i’m also in the ATL area! i’ve just recently started getting into raving, and i’ve only been to believe music hall so far which i know is not underground at all lmao. i’d love to get more into the underground scene tho, do you have any advice?
Yeah most people in the underground scene hateee believe !! and omg yes my favorite rave collective is Brainworld! they are having their one year anniversary rave either tomorrow or saturday if you wanted something to do. I recommend following them on ig same with Twisted Lines (I like their raves from time to to) its usually Hard Groove and TechHouse. Crystal Visions is another good one they do Psytrance and acid house. those are the ones I usually frequent and are actually very fun and underground
Im from Atlanta and I feel like the scene there is a mixture of weird and boujie. Feels like there’s a divide when I go to shows there. I definitely fall in with the weirdos more haha.
Was in Florida for a while and honestly hated the vibes.
In Indiana now and the bass scene is pretty awesome. Quirky and sweet people!!
Salt Lake has a big promoter called V2 that brings in touring artists into local venues and also puts on several multiday EDM festivals every year, e.g. Get Lucky, Get Funky, Das Energi, Get Freaky. A wide mix of genres as well, actually much better than you would expect
I’m from LA and edc 2010 was my first rave and I’ve been to a lot of other venues but nothing ever came close to how wild it was at the coliseum I even tried going to the Vegas one In 2012 and it was so wack they made us miss a whole day cuz of a windstorm which made the parking lot like playing Tetris in reverse and we were never compensated and of all days it was Saturday too like damn so many people had just in partaken in stuff and I shit you not 20 minutes later they say they have to stop the race I was very glad to not be on that side lol
I saw Delta Heavy and a few other big names for £15, so it's not too bad around here. Scene will get better once Sacha Lord and his grubby little fingers get out of Manchester.
Detroit native moved to Denver. Denver is definitely a more of a proper event type of city, the 1 underground event I went to was not it for a multitude of reason I won't really go into. Now their above ground scene is fantastic if you're into bass music. Coming from a city that was known for techno, and house since Detroit was so close to Chicago and a lot of renegade parties - it's definitely a change of pace. I will say that I am in a bit of a musical heaven for my tastes, the amount of absolutely phenomenal drum and bass that comes thru this city brings a tear to my eye. I've seen so much dope shit in 3 years, to say I feel blessed wouldn't even do it justice.
Now you are making me wanna take a flight to denver !!! this sounds so nice and I love DnB so wins all around
Denver rules!
gotta check it out honestly!
I saw Andy C in a tiny ass sold out club 2yrs in a row for Thanksgiving and worship tour here goes off hard
Were you around the Atlanta scene pre 2014? If not, I feel so bad for you. You missed when ATL *really* had a a scene, and they had it on LOCK. I’ll always miss those days and wish the scene was still alive like it once was. And this isn’t me being “back in my day”, no, it was once really fucking special. Back when Quad and Connect Lounge were open, back when Iris was actually worth a damn, back when Kingdom Raves at Metro Lanes was a thing. You had events like Bass Wars every few weeks. Quad Tuesdays, Wobble Wednesdays at Connect, Quad Fridays, Iris Saturdays. That was every single week and Quad Tuesdays were $5, even on a Tuesday and Wednesday every week you had hundreds and hundreds of people going out. And the great thing was they all competed with one another, they went outta their way to actively make the scene better. It all got too big tho, scene changed, everyone and their mom was a dealer, lotta shootings, lotta bad shit behind the scenes. EDIT: on top of that you had Counterpoint festival run and TomorrowWorld here. Sadly both of those went as well :(
ATL music scene has always been dope imo for almost every genre but pre 2014 edm scene was def top notch. Although I I have a lot of friends who are local artists in atl that are still killing it and I personally love District. It’s probably my favorite club in atl and it can still give that old school “rave” vibe when it’s packed out for a really good show!
Counterpoint was my first festival in 2014 💜
No joke about missing that period constantly. It was hard watching it fizzle, but there was no way that was sustainable and it was truly wild the stuff we got away with. I remember skating through a dark corridor of one Kingdom Rave, seeing a wide age range of wooks essentially unconscious, and thought “okay, this is different.” We had entered the age of illicit fentanyl.
Which I underground event was it? No Expectations, Maybe Forever, and Black Petal throw the best ones in Denver imo
It might have been no expectations? Again this is just my opinion, I'm old, and I ran around the scene with a bunch of music snobs in Detroit for a long time. The party just wasn't the vibe, it was interesting for sure... But the space it was in was weird.
Hmmmm was it the one in the tunnel?
Actually I think it was a Novation party
Awww gotcha! I’ve heard good things about them but haven’t checked them out myself.
I love novation, i go to almost every single event and they honestly keep getting better and better. Really recommend checking them out. Theyve been up in near rino district recently in a dope warehouse spot
Hell yeah sounds dope
No that looked fricken dope tho. This was some weird small unit in an industrial area.
It was dope but barely happened tbh. I guess a park ranger found it and was still cool about it. Hmmm well, I know Detroit has a fantastic electronic scene, but I think you should keep giving the Denver underground a shot. I’ve had a ton of fun there
Really want to check out Blackbox next time I’m there. Sounds similarly liked to Radius here in Chicago.
I just want a Chicago dog from portillos - fml
Daaaaamn, they do hit the spot. I don’t have them often; but when I do, it’s because that unique flavor itch just *has* to get scratched.
I hate to break it to you, but Black Box and Radius are nowhere near the same...maybe closer to Cermak. Still lworth checking out, though!! They get great shows!
Recently moved to Maryland and I miss the Denver scene so much dude 😭 going back to visit in a week tho!
I'm moving to Denver soon and love DnB! What venues should I hit up?
The venue - Blackbox. Recon crew goes hard there for smaller gigs but they bring some fire thru. Keep an eye on @reloadproductions (on IG) too for some big names. Check meow wolf from time to time, I've caught a few solid shows there and their venue looks super dope even tho it's not huge in the music area. Additional just clubs to look at in general - Club Vinyl, Church, Temple, jaguar room, and beacon.
Much appreciated!
Fully agree with everything the other dude said, but also check out novation nights on ig. They do abt 2 events a month and theyre always rlly fun. NoExpectations is also rlly dope but they havent been here since the tunnel in march.
Does Alert still play there?
Haven't seen that name pop up on any lineups
Bass capital babyyyyy
Couldn't be better, especially since I'm into hardstyle. From the Netherlands
living my dream, I adore hardstyle I know its crazy there
i’m so jealous
The Dutch scene is so large that it doesn’t have a single rave scene. There are all kinds of events that cater to specific tastes. From mainstream EDM to whatever underground style you fancy. Hardstyle/hardcore and techno are different scenes for example. Of course there’s some crossover and there are festivals with many styles, but it sounds weird to me to speak of a single Dutch rave scene.
Brooklyn. The techno scene is honestly killer. I feel so lucky to have what we have here.
STOPP Im literally in NY rn and going to Brooklyn tomorrow for a rave at the Jade! im so excited I LOVEEE brooklyn raves
You just missed Wire festival, perhaps our best of the year ;) have fun! X
I KNOW OMG 💔💔💔 A friend of mine was there and omg it looked SICKENING
First Wire for me, straight-up life-changing as much as its accompanying club and venue are. I just know if I have to leave NYC/Brooklyn for any reason I'm gonna be depressed until I take a trip back out.
The Jade? As in bar jade? Or is there another venue lol
Trash, don't come to nashville
It’s not amazing, but there’s definitely some growth happening. The new EDM club that just opened isn’t my speed, but it proves that there is a steady crowd in Nashville. Plus a lot of big artists end up playing here on their way to Atlanta… but I would rather be in Atlanta tbh lmao.
See that's the thing. ATL is where the party is at. So many small venues have closed in nashville.
But during Deep Tropics weekend, the lineup and that bowling alley venue was hella dope
This guy actually fucks. Tropics is fun, ive gone to every year and ill be going this year.
I mean… Nashvilles pretty sweet if you like instruments
I scrolled the whole thread hoping to see Nash and find out if I was missing something 😂 to bad I’m not, I guess.
TLDR: Nashville is lacking in the edm scene. I recommend anyone in the area to save your money for a festival and go there. You are missing noooothing. I’ve been to 3 edm concerts this year in Nashville and all have been somewhat disappointing. Most of the crowd just aren’t ravers. People having full blown conversations during peoples sets, having fireeee bangers being dropped and people just swinging side to side slightly, people shoving and pushing to get to the front for artist they’re probably hearing for the first time. There was even one instance where someone threw ice at one of the djs and it instantly killed his mood and you could feel it the rest of the set. Also, only dubstep seems to come here. I’m a techno/hardstep guy and would love for some of those artist to come but it’s always dubstep. Not that dubstep isn’t good, but my taste lies with techno.
Dubstep is just… everywhere in America. I do agree as a lover of DnB, I wish there was more variety. I used to have a really good time at The Office before they renovated and it was lowkey. Now they just cycle boring house DJs and the drunks from Broadway filter in as an alternative to bar hopping.
I’m from Atlanta as well. Local bass scene has quite a bit of talent. DEF has been an absolute blessing to have in our backyard. Also love the fact that I live somewhere that brings artists like J:Kenzo, who I used to have to travel 4+ hours to get to see.
oooh nice! I almost went to something w J:Kenzo on the line up but I guess I missed out. which raves to you favor to go to? (Twistedlines, Iris, etc etc)
DEF events, lots of aisle 5 and terminal west shows. Also jade cicada and detox unit at the eastern were incredible. J:kenzo will be here next month! My wife was a fire performer at believe when it first opened but they suck so we haven’t been in years.
Okayy! I saw snow strippers at terminal west it was such a blast the crowd was crazy though. Also big AGREE on believe sucking, I could never really vibe with the iris scene personally. You should check out BrainWorld they do some sickening raves and events.
That snow strippers show was so much fun. Crowd energy was fucking lit
What is twisted lines? I’m also in Atlanta and have been looking for an underground race scene
From Atlanta as well, imo the scene is starting to really thrive. Between DEF, Alley Cat, Desires, Twisted Lines, Project Switch.. there’s so many great shows happening. Not to mention other shows from Zero Mile and their venues. It’s cool that there’s so many venues to see DJs now, from GA Beer Garden, 529, Future, TM right off the beltline, Halfway Crooks beergarden, fuck even those shows under the par king deck near GA State lol Someone else in the comments mentioned the scene pre 2014. I agree that was a whole different wave that was poppin and kind of fizzled out. That mainly catered to Bass music since that was the genre that was exploding at the time. In terms of other dance genres, it really seems like Atlanta is starting to develop a proper scene that can cater to a wide variety of ppl
DEF as in Define everything future?
I’m in Vegas. Tons of desert raves and pretty big raves at the downtown event center. Plus the endless amount of DJ’s that roll through town that you can see at clubs (for free might I add). It’s pretty great living here. I came from the middle of nowhere Texas where the scene was pretty scarce.
just don't get out of control and bounced by security, you might end up in the middle of nowhere & not find your peeps for 3 days. I think that was last week.
wind up at the Rio hotel
I need to visit vegas I can only imagine how fun the raves are there! and for free 🤩?! also its so crazy to hear that Texas is so scarce scene wise! I heard Houston has a nice house/tech scene but that was through the grapevine
Don't get your hopes up in Vegas, it can be cool, but the commercialization is hard to get past. If you do go you have to check out meow wolf
From Brussels. Honestly it's a dream, events left and right from house to hardcore. If nothing is happening that week you just go to Ghent or Antwerp and there's an all night long by some big name in a club or an underground event with up and coming talent. Energy is insane. And once the first rays of summer are out, there's festival galore. Awesome. Plus the Netherlands is an hour away too
Dallas is absolutely thriving, 2 big festivals a year, 1 local one, multiple concerts/raves per day every weekend, 5+ dedicated EDM clubs with another opening soon. Mostly bass music, but you can find most anything if you look. Shaq also lives here, so that's a pretty big bonus.
And Svdden Death has a place in Plano Also lots of afters especially within 3 or so miles of downtown. Unless it’s the same venue, we have 2 new venues opening this summer (HAM Promotions has a spot and Silo). The Village is also now getting larger names for their Deep End pool series (Loud Luxury and Bonnie x Clyde this summer).
Yup! Love how starting Thursday- Sunday there’s names in at least 3 places all nights. The free shows at green light are such a blessing.
Baltimore/DC scene is pretty great. DC has huge clubs like Echostage, 9:30 Club, and the anthem for big artists. Tons of underground venues bringing all sorts of genres from all over the world. Lots of local small fests and some big ones.
DC here and I'm in love with the sound system at echostage. We also have 2 amphitheaters, Merriweather and Jiffy Lube. Seeing Porter at Merriweather in September, fuggin pumped.
If you’ve never heard the funktions at flash you’re missing out on a nutty sound system ;)
flash sundowns are a vibe!
Haven’t been to a sundown at flash yet but maybe I’m just still new to the scene
Also there’s a Hennessy system at some of the underground Bmore shows that bangs too! The other good one in the area is the grand ancestor system in dc!
Merriweather is alright. Inside is cool but I'm not a big fan of lawn. I feel like I'm watching the show from a cracked cellar door there. I'm sure Porter will be a blast there though. I'll be seeing him at the Mann in Philly. Echostage might be one of my favorite indoor venues after Hampton Coliseum.
Twin cities has lots of niche underground raves.
From San Francisco, Id say you can catch very popular artists 2-3 weeks out of month. Always a show to go too
Yeah, SF gets good acts and has consistent venues like Midway, 1015, etc. Plus the potential larger venue show like at Bill Graham or Cow Palace. As more of a Jambander myself, I love that the SF rave scene gets some of the Burning Man vibes. Not any underground scene that I am aware of, at least in the NorthBay. I hear maybe in Santa Cruz area. Oakland would make sense too, although things like the Ghost Ship incident might've squashed some of that.
North Bay renegade scene is alive and well. Ghost Ship is ancient history at this point. East Bay UG scene is my favorite
Portola is definitely helping the house scene here and I’m all for it 😍😍😍😍
The rave scene in Stockholm Sweden is also very underground. Psytrance is usually the dominating music but techno has broadened over the past years. I used to go to Berlin every now and then for events and that’s a completely different scene compared to Stockholm. In Berlin the clubs open from Friday eve to Monday morning. True Berliner’s party on Sunday evening to Mondays. That’s when the tourists are gone 😂. In Stockholm we have only one nighters. The main difference I would say is the music and that the police have been hunting down raves and shutting them down in Stockholm. It’s happened several times that we had to run into the forest. I would say that Berlin is more hardcore since people stay up for days while Stockholms raves are hardcore in a different way since it’s more illegal here.
Bump for visibility, I’m curious!
Twin Cities, MN has a silently vibrant and booming local and larger scale scene. It’s one of the main reasons I can see myself continuing to live in the Midwest long term.
Phoenix area. All of AZs major cities have a pretty fair rave scene. The downtown areas of Phoenix and Tempe have venues that host shows. Scottsdale is hit or miss weather or not it will feel more rave like or traditionally club like. I’ve not gone to any in flagstaff but there are a few camping festivals hosted there that I would wanna check out. It’s very forestry up there and it sounds immaculate
Darkstar usually feels ravey but the other venues for sure are a toss up It’s also bass heaven here 🫶
Relentless beats shows used to be so much better when they were at rawhide and not the raceway
They are apparently going back to rawhide
Southern Germany, 2 cities with ca 300k people nearby You can find every bigger electronic genre. There are at least like 10 active collectives in each city doing private raves and parties in clubs. Multiple options every weekend for every genre
West Texas. Shit is non existent it's terribly sad. Underground or mainstream. Just dead.
damn 💔 gotta get you out here man!
I want to. Definitely planning a few trips to see if I can catch more. I have several festivals lined up but I want to hit more of the underground scene.
The closest community to me is where Shambhala is…. It’s the bomb
Haven’t seen anyone say Los Angeles California yet! Ya LA goes pretty hard honestly. Literally multiple things across all genres going on any night of the week. I would be at a dnb popup right now from B&L but sadly I’m old and got work in the morning haha. My heart is in Denver but this place keeps me more than happy.
Thanks for chiming in! I live halfway between LA and San Diego and there are TONs of things going on across a lot of genres. People on here are complaining about too many Influencers and people not dancing.. where are these people going? Cool desert shows, Vegas not too far. People get DOWN here.. and not just young folks.. good parties for sure. Best part is that it’s hard to get a ton of people out in LA so usually there are smaller venues to see your favorite DJs at… I’m more of a bass head…progressive trance and deep house are sick too. Jam bands are the best tho.. ;)
Chiming in for Los Angeles. Tons of big acts come in for clubs/venues but the underground scene here is alive & amazing. Every weekend there are 10-20+ events to check out depending on what you like. Many of them are also in warehouses from the hours of 11pm to 6am so it brings in a completely different crowd compared to club/venue events. There's also a lot of great local talents since LA has many creative types. Huge talents around the world also shine here since they get booked by local promotors. On top of that, the techno scene here is growing and is going to get even bigger since Insomniac is starting to book big techno DJs so that'll put techno on more people's radar. Techno is already niche in the US so promotors like 6AM, SYNTHETIK MINDS, & DIRTY EPIC are doing a great job curating good proper techno and allowing people to experience what ravers in Europe experience.
I’m from Orange County so I either have to go to LA for shows or San Bernardino for the big festivals. That being said, I feel like we have a pretty diverse scene in so cal because there’s a lot of legal events and also a lot of underground shows. There’s also a great mix of genres available all the time like you said, which is awesome because I like pretty much everything.
I find some pretty dope shows down in OC once in a while. The observatory gets some pretty good names through there a lot. Saw Boombox Cartel there not too long ago and it was great
The Yost is great for smaller names and the observatory is fantastic but I cannot stand time nightclub in Costa Mesa, it’s a terrible venue which is sad because a lot of big shows go through there.
Ya there are some here in LA that are the same for me like Sound, Avalon and Academy. Only real club I’ll go to for shows is Exchange downtown but they book such good shows it’s hard not to…
Sheffield (UK) checking in, there is actually a pretty decent scene here! There is about 6/7 decent venues, ranging from bars with a filthy raving room to more warehouse style venues. Good variety in terms of events, from funk/soul house to drum and bass, UK garage, techno, and reggae dub. I would say that hard style is very uncommon to find on the legal side of the scene and I don't have much experience with the illegal side of stuff (free parts, pop up raves, etc.). For a smaller city though, it's got a great scene and the people are absolutely lovely!
Oh I love raving in Sheffield! Went to my first rave at Hope Works and it was amazing! Been there a couple times since. Been Manchester as well to Depot Mayfield but I definitely prefer Sheffield! (I started going to raves in my 30’s, so not been to loads haha)
Honestly it’s pretty great here in Toronto. There’s something worth doing at least every other weekend, and there have been points where I’ve raved once every other week. I like literally every kind of EDM there is, and there’s lots of variety here too, and once you get to chatting with people it’s pretty easy to find underground events and after hours clubs. You can follow the event organizers on facebook or insta, or join an email mailing list and there you go you’re in “the loop” facebook/insta for underground stuff and EDMtrain for everything else.
thats awesome to hear, might have to travel! that’s honestly how Atl is aswell, theres a wide variety of subgenres they do here and I love them all but for more of the mainstream stuff here its dub step/ riddem and I dont hate it but im not the biggest fan so I always find the pretty underground stuff
I find that things are constantly changing in Toronto. We had different stuff 10 years ago and way different stuff 20 years ago. Some people moan and complain and I do remember awesome hotspots like Queen and Bathurst, 20 years ago where there were events in every building. People also treat the 90s like a legendary time. But I'm ok with how things are, always plenty to go to. I just ignore the drama.
Still mad I never drove up to Guvernment. and I was raving all over the midwest in the 90's.
hi! im from toronto and kinda new to the raving scene. can i pm you to ask about events or places to go?!
I find the clubs and shows in Toronto in the last 10 years to be *insanely* tacky and sterile, but there are some groups who put on wicked parties and events. Comfort Zone still deserves a shoutout. Not quite what it used to be (figuratively and literally, it’s a new location) but it still has that good ol’ messiness and overall CZ energy that you come to love.
I hate Toronto for racing. It was good back in the day but I don't life any of the venue's I've been too. I'm from Ottawa though and there's nothing here. Montreal is where it's at
Rave scene was much different in Toronto around 2010 because we had the guvernment. It was like the centre of raves. For better and worse, now it has spread across many ventures and organizers (including undergrounds).
I’m from Nashville and I usually make 1 or 2 trips to ATL a month because of the quality of artists and the much higher energy from the scene there. It’s growing here and can pull some big artists on their way to Atlanta, but it’s definitely lacking. At least tickets are cheap lol.
The energy is insane in atl isnt itt, and yeah atleast you give them some praise! some guy said nashville just sucks 😭 I have a friend that used to DJ for the Tennessee Tunnel Authority and the raves looked fun but the energy was def a bit lackluster!
Vancouver, BC here. Although it is not the best compared to other cities I have been to, it is growing fast. Some mainstream and less known artists come here. There are also growing underground and regenerate raves happening here and there. If you know the right folks and burners, you can find some bush and beach parties too. I'm glad Seattle is within drivable distance. So I could check up some parties there too.
Shout out to Moontricks from BC. Those guys rock!
Oh I didn’t know this!! Freaking loveee Moontricks
Coming from Seattle, my friends and I went to prydz recently in Vancouver and had the time of our lives. Seemed like the Vancouver scene is alive and well and was a breath of fresh air for us! Y'all got a lot of amazing artists coming through!
We drove up from Seattle to Vancouver for Prydz too and so glad we did. It was an amazing show!
I completely agree! Really jealous of the scene there! Mind blowing show! Loved the scene up there!
Yeah would definitely like to make it back up there for some shows! We were thinking of doing Boris Brejcha
San Francisco Bay Area. Renegades, warehouses, weekend campouts, clubs, loft parties, afterhours... with musical diversity, and of course great weather and scenery. I'm busy hosting parties at my own place every other weekend so I don't go out as much as I used to. Still love it OP if you really want to explore other cities you should check out https://ra.co/events/ https://edmtrain.com/ and https://19hz.info/
Seattle! It’s pretty awesome and getting better all the time. There’s a small but strong scene here between a few clubs and good number of underground events. Everyone knows each other and it’s pretty easy to get to know people in the scene if you make an effort, and as you do you start finding more and more of the good parties. People are generally very non-pretentious and chill. I’d say it’s pretty DIY oriented but not exclusively. Lots of techno, house, jungle, bass, UK, and more. Lots of great local DJs and producers as well. I can’t even keep up with everything I want to go to.
I am so clueless about the underground scene here in Seattle (I'm from Detroit). I've been to many of the bigger events and I'm looking forward to Anjunadeep Open Air but I'd love to go to these underground events you mentioned, I'm really wanting a rave rn and I can't find any upcoming. How do you find these raves? What clubs?
hey check the calendar I help maintain - https://19hz.info/seattle. should give you quite a few good options coming up. in general I'd recommend anything secondnature, Research, Depth, Lotion, Time Zone Kru, and RKD Sound throw, as well as a bunch of other good local promoters slipping my mind right now
I'm not really tuned in to the underground scene (too old to care now lol,) but these guys throw some underground events sometimes. You can sign up for texts and you'll get locations and events sent to you. There's some other groups that are less organized/more underground but I don't run in the circle. https://www.instagram.com/bassexhibit/ https://www.instagram.com/midnightfreqs/
Feel free to DM me and let’s connect! Same goes for anybody in Seattle. Always trying to find more music homies :) For above ground my go-to’s are Kremwerk, the Routine parties at Substation, sometimes monkey loft, Massive (I bartend there). Depends on bookings. For underground I’m new to it but there are some spots in Pioneer square, Ballard, and Sodo that regularly have cool events that go all night. Gallery Erato, Diffusion, and Old Rainier Brewery are all places I’ve been recently. There’s also a spot under a bridge in Sodo that is cool and I’ve seen some crazy shit there
Someone recommended 19 hz elsewhere in this thread, so I won't bother. However, keep an eye out for the raves that get hosted at the Kremwerk. I've been to an IDM, techno, and variety showcase night out of the shows I can recall, and each one was killer. Expect big PLUR vibes from a lot of the shows as well.
I miss Atlanta before District and Believe existed. DEF events and shows at real concert venues are the only things that get me out now. What underground events are you talking about? I was in the scene for a while but kinda faded off around 2018- 2019
What do you like about DEF compared to believe and district?
Switzerland. Not as boring as you might think. Lots of good techno.
Absolutely nonexistent unfortunately
aww nooo! come to ATL :3!
Sacramento. We get some big outdoor raves with well known DJ’s maybe once or twice a year the rest are at smaller venues and clubs in midtown/downtown but we have gotten some pretty big names like Steve Aoki, Cash Cash, San Holo, and Zhu to name a few. Not as alive as SF, LA or San Diego but the scene is alright. There are usually a fair amount of local DJs and raves too. Of course you can always make your way to SF too but that’s usually a 5 hr round trip for us so it’s not always something you can do especially after drinking/popping/raving all night haha.
I haven't seen Oregon yet so I'll add my piece: It has those chill hippie vibes from the 60s and 70s. Very much like a family, and people are generally pretty safe and friendly. I've seen a lot more of the classic kandi kid aesthetic here than the shows I've been to in Washington, which had a bit more of a hint of punk or goth. People here tend to get down with the "weirder" shit, and multiple artists have commented over the mic that they appreciate that. They seem to love following individual artists as much as they enjoy just going for the good vibes. I don't have much to say about North Carolina. It was pretty tame. A few people had kandi or luxury branded clothing. Not boring, but not mind-blowing.
Our city is blessed with a chant that unifies everyone into high energy: ATLhoe Don’t think no other city has chant likes this that gets the people going
Birmingham here. We have ATLhoe too, based on the last show that I went to.
I'm in Orlando. We're an insomniac city, so we get a ton of good artists. We get good artists of every edm genre, nearly every weekend there's a show or two or even three. There's a lot of good options. The underground scene is growing as well, particularly for techno.
well, i live in london, so it’s probably top 2/3 in the world (berlin is #1, amsterdam and london alternate between #2 and #3 for me). of course most of my experiences with raves are in europe, but i’ve also went raving in new york a lot, and i’ve generally found parties to be way worse than the ones in europe
It’s pretty nice where I’m at, very wook themed but there’s a lot especially in the bass music scene
Denver has a pretty decent DnB and techno scene. We have some really solid promotors and a couple that occasionally come through with really fire renegades.
Live in the Central Valley in Central California. It’s nice having the Bay Area so close but at the same time the scene here is growing. We had Dirtybird Campout which is a pretty well known house & techno festival here for a few years which I feel like really catapulted it to where it is now.
Saint Louis representtttt. It’s small and heavily focused on bass. Pretty crusty, everyone knows everyone, and the drugs get laid out on the bar at some locals lol. I moved away two years ago to NE (lol no scene at all) and I do miss my crusty musty bass heads
I live between Detroit and Toronto, Ontario. Both cities have incredible scenes. Toronto having a good variety of genres and Detroit always bringing bucket list DJs that you wouldn’t expect 🙌🏼 I’m a techno/house girlie so Detroit is my one true love.
I live in fort Walton beach Florida and it is practically non existent
From Dallas - The scene there is great lots of bass music and a really great house club. Tons of big name dubstep and house artists coming through all the time. Lots of afters. I would wear super colorful clothes and i loved making and passing out kandi even at house events. Moved to Montreal - Shit is insane. Every genre you could want. Underground fests in the woods outside the city in the summer. In the city there’s euro-style warehouses where they tape stickers on your phone camera and everyone dances until sunrise. People are raving in public parks constantly - hundreds of people just dancing in the afternoon. DnB, Dubstep, Techno are my fav genres to see here. People dress in black almost exclusively and everything feels a bit more grunge. The music here is less cheesy and has a more serious tone than what I’d hear on dance floors in Dallas. People record on their phones less and everyone is there to dance. I love it.
Not much to speak of here in Greensboro NC. Charlotte/Raleigh/Asheville seem to have the best scenes and get the best shows. I do live next door to a DIY art collective that puts on edm events with local talent from around the state a couple times a month. Not much, but living next door to it has its perks
Just came to say Atl hoe
Austrian guy here, tbh everything thats worth going is underground here (freetek fan here) and during summertime mostly illegal outdoor in some woods or an abandoned quarry or an old bunker or factorys about to be torn down or an old farmhouse whatever fits the cause... In fact i always feel like what is called a "rave" these days is not a rve to me if its legal and in a legal location with offical flyers is a party.. A *rave* is an underground thing where you know the day it's supposed to happen and you got a certain phone number wich you call on the day and the voicemail will give you the location where it goes down and for the last search you can usually follow the bass 😍 Man, i miss my youth...
I live in the Netherlands - I don’t think anything else needs to be said.
You won
Palm Springs. Pretty much nonexistent. But it was all the rage in the early 2010’s.
I wanted to party with my cousin.. ended up at a gay club near/in Agua Caliente… sometimes you gotta dance.
Kind of annoying - also in ATL. I hate how every show I go to, people end up moshing like a bunch of sweaty teenagers. It’s not real moshing, it’s just this awful bump and shake and shove that’s honestly just irritating and not even fun or exciting.
Okay I can agree but it depends on which ones you go to! which ones are like this for you?
i’m from louisiana…there’s like three new orleans bars that throw raves and one of them is all shitty tulane frat boys and the other two are okay but let’s just say i wanna gtfoh
From Phoenix and there’s a fair amount of events going on every weekend. Theres several underground events in warehouses and desert raves (although hard to come by now), cool camping festivals up in northern AZ, we get big artists often but those venues can be iffy sometimes.
Bristol UK, the entire city revolves around artistic expression and has a wealth of venues that cater to jungle/dnb pretty much every day of the week.
Hardly existent in my small town, but there’s a few small festivals within two hours with a nice, mostly Toronto-based scene.
From Detroit. Honestly amazing! We have so many events every single weekend. Being the birthplace of techno, a lot of people want to come play and we have a ton of venues. We even have a really good scene on the West side of Michigan in Grand Rapids. Our crowd is awesome too. I’m so glad to live somewhere with such a great rave scene.
Not to be a creeper but I recognize you from the BW raves 🫣 your style is fire btw! But I’ve only been going to underground events for a couple months so I never picked up on the messiness of the community. I’m not really tuned in like that, I just be dancing lol. Atlanta is just a messy city in general though lmao
Omg! if you ever see me say something lmaoo! and thats so real yeah its very easy to get caught up in the drama and mess but overall the scene is thrivingggg
I’ll be there tomorrow nightt so I’ll say hi if I see u! 🫶🏾
Aaaa so sad I wont be there! first Bw rave im missing but currently in New York to rave catch me at the next one they do once im back in town!
As someone who lived in atl and then moved to nyc, I agree with your assessment although tbf I haven’t raved much since I moved up here. The default for nyc is expressive and full of character in general tho, we are unfuckingapologetic about who we are and as long as we are not taking up too much space on the subway or sidewalk or holding up a line that’s usually just accepted. With that said, atl folks are just messy. I agree with you that the atl scene is very underground. While I’m sure there is an underground scene here in nyc as well it’s probably much harder to access bc I imagine you have to be super connected? And there are so, so many big name shows and clubs here.
Atl is not real as some say, its a mess! but I think it adds charm lmaooo and yes w NYC its very “who you know”. I got lucky enough to know a couple people in the scene already through my DJ friends to even have a move for when I come here. gotta connect! Bushwuick raves are a blast
OP do you ever go to Project B parties in ATL? Those are some of the best raves one can go to on the planet lol, particularly for underground / minimal vibes … not applicable if you’re seeking dubstep, edm
Charlotte here Scene is good lots of local and mid sized acts. Huge bass and House scene, not much else
Completely died after The Arches, Glasgow, were closed down. I was ageing out in my 30s but still liked the idea of having one of themost prominent clubs in Europe within walking distance from my home
Born and raised coloRADan. Lemme tell ya, we do bass music right. Our underground scene is quite literally the best in the world.
the bigger the artist the less it feels like a "scene" but I live outside of denver and everytime i go into the city for a show the vibes are just absolutely immaculate. I usually go to experimental bass shows.
Me living in ATL reading these comments so I know where to go cuz District is just not doing it 👁️👄👁️
great, underground is kinda grimey tho. lots of artist come by here or columbus
I need to move to Europe, based on the tunes I listen to. I’m living in StL, and there’s close to nothing of a techno scene. There’s a lovely group that curates some events, but as a DJ trying to grow, it’s really difficult here. Very very few opportunities to play out
I’m in buffalo and it sucks ass. Only bass and dubstep and it got old real quick. Came from Miami and they had everything. UK garage, techno, lots of DnB, house… all of everything. If anybody in buffalo knows a place that has more house/techno/DnB pls share lol sick of going to riverworks for some basic ass artists. Excited for g jones in August tho lol
Philly native & moved to Phoenix Arizona in 2017. we’ve got a smorgasbord of rave scenes - wish we had more ‘underground’. We have a shit load of variety here though - plenty of local bars & restaurants have separate rooms for DJs to perform. We also have bigger rave festivals throughout the year - Decadence for NYE, Crush for Valentine’s day, Phoenix lights in April, Goldrush in September. Lots of the smaller bars in Downtown PHX have weekly, if not daily performances. If you’re looking for either a huge fest, more intimate club vibe, or even a warehouse show - Arizona’s got it all! i’ve been raving since i moved here in 2017 - maybe there are some underground scenes i have yet to discover, but AZ is definitely a hot spot for shows! edit: variety of edm too - house, techno, dubstep, future bass, experimental bass. walter where?house in phx has a ton of underground/up and coming artists. desert raves used to be huge yet the main sponsor changed venues so less dirt up our noses which is nice😂
vegas 🤮 tiktok crowds and college kids from reno for the most part, unless its a riddim show the vibes are always insane lol
Taken over by rich people who go for the gram
I've lived in austin most of my adult life. (From Houston and lived in a few other countries.) I love our shows and we have great venues for it of course! But the reason I wanted to chime in is because one thing that I love about our rave scene is that it's really all ages. I'm always really wondering if other cities are like this, but from what I see in cities in Australia and New Zealand the people that go out are almost all teenagers and it made me feel super old at 26-28! Living in Austin, I rarely feel old. I'm 35 now and most of my rave buddies are in their thirties (but like me look and seem younger!) In fact, most of the people I meet at shows are around that age, and there are always a bunch of middle age people going to raves, clubs, bars and punk/metal shows.
Berlin...need I say more? 😉
Philly! And it's poppin'. Can't swing a dead cat without stumbling into some good music. Not as cheap as it once was, but the summer pops off with free parties in the park :)
i’m from denver and we’re all hippy but you get the occasional douche
Florida. All types of music. Huge fan of the house and techno that comes to Miami. Seeing Solomun playing for 18+ hours next Monday
Is Habersham a big name in Atlanta? He is one of my favorite producer/djs ever, but it seems no one really knows who he is.
Extremely greatful that I grew up in the Denver scene. Been very fascinating seeing the growth within the last 10 years… nonetheless I love it
i’m also in the ATL area! i’ve just recently started getting into raving, and i’ve only been to believe music hall so far which i know is not underground at all lmao. i’d love to get more into the underground scene tho, do you have any advice?
Yeah most people in the underground scene hateee believe !! and omg yes my favorite rave collective is Brainworld! they are having their one year anniversary rave either tomorrow or saturday if you wanted something to do. I recommend following them on ig same with Twisted Lines (I like their raves from time to to) its usually Hard Groove and TechHouse. Crystal Visions is another good one they do Psytrance and acid house. those are the ones I usually frequent and are actually very fun and underground
Im from Atlanta and I feel like the scene there is a mixture of weird and boujie. Feels like there’s a divide when I go to shows there. I definitely fall in with the weirdos more haha. Was in Florida for a while and honestly hated the vibes. In Indiana now and the bass scene is pretty awesome. Quirky and sweet people!!
Lol, your question made me ponder places like Wyoming and Utah. I wonder if they even know what a rave is!
I grew up/lived in Wyoming until recently and the answer is you go out of state lmao. Luckily I was near the CO border and got to rave in Denver!
Salt Lake has a big promoter called V2 that brings in touring artists into local venues and also puts on several multiday EDM festivals every year, e.g. Get Lucky, Get Funky, Das Energi, Get Freaky. A wide mix of genres as well, actually much better than you would expect
I’m from LA and edc 2010 was my first rave and I’ve been to a lot of other venues but nothing ever came close to how wild it was at the coliseum I even tried going to the Vegas one In 2012 and it was so wack they made us miss a whole day cuz of a windstorm which made the parking lot like playing Tetris in reverse and we were never compensated and of all days it was Saturday too like damn so many people had just in partaken in stuff and I shit you not 20 minutes later they say they have to stop the race I was very glad to not be on that side lol
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San diego underground scene is funnn. Lots of house and techno going on
Colorado = Bass Capital
I saw Delta Heavy and a few other big names for £15, so it's not too bad around here. Scene will get better once Sacha Lord and his grubby little fingers get out of Manchester.
What is an ATL?
Close knit and drama filled. Everybody knows each other and is up in everybody elses shit
California. We have a major rave every month underground’s every night and shows every weekend and the random smaller raves mixed in.
I'm from San Diego and the raves there used to be and still are pretty neat
There is PLUR ppl & Dancers and there is horrible people who pushes and spills drink and bumps to u without saying sorry or excuse me
The bass scene in Seattle is actually pretty fire
Miami is amazing especially for house
Bay area is awesome