CREATING THE PERFECT HUMAN CONNECTION - FRANTIC / MY HOUSE / PEACH 31st Birthday (My Rave Journey Part 2)

This is the second part of my continued blog about how getting out and raving again really was a complete life saver for me. (to understand the full context of this read my blog entry about my Severe PTSD diagnosis & Going back to Raving part one below this one)

It's already September of 2024 and I swear it was April only two weeks ago! Our summer has come and gone and we're reluctantly being pulled kicking & screaming into the Autumn. The next thing you know shops will be putting up the Christmas decorations in October. We live in really strange and divided times - when I turn on the news, the lead stories are often worse and more horrific than the ones from the day before. All I want to do is switch it off. That's the outside bubble of our lives. The news from around the world might often be grim, but unless it effects you directly, they're generally outside the bubble of your immediate life. (apart from British Gas trying to shaft me sideways with their latest utility bill! Something most of us have in common.)

The inside bubble of your life are the things that impact you on a daily basis - be they your family (or lack of one) your partner (or lack of one) your friends (or lack of them) your job (or lack of one) and on top of all that you might be dealing with any number of other financial concerns and personal issues.

At Peach 31st Birthday Party, Koko Camden with some of my regular Rave Family - I cannot even properly express how grateful I am that we have all found each other.

Most of us strive to keep that immediate bubble of our own lives as positive and as balanced possible. Not always an easy thing to achieve, depending on how many balls you have to juggle in any given week. So how and where we spend whatever free time we have, and who we spend it with, is probably more important for us to get right than ever before. You're basically investing in your own well being - recently it feels like I've invested very wisely with my choices which began with my decision to get back on the dance floor on New Years Eve of 2022 - a place I had missed so, so badly.

You'll often hear people use that phrase 'It's my happy place...'

It frequently refers to a thing, or place they go to that allows them to put all life issues on pause and just enjoy the moment. Reaching ones happy place normally requires taking action of some sort. An action we deliberately take in life to give ourselves a chance to breathe, to stop, to recuperate, to heal, to move forward, to make ourselves smile, to make ourselves laugh. No matter what you're dealing with in life it's so important to make the time to do something that makes you happy. This has been a massive part of my healing process, you've no idea how truly grateful I am to all those who are still and have been part of it.

I absolutely love dancing with this crew - always by my side, in this life & the next - Peach / KoKo

You see Raving is my happy place - in the last year and a half it has got me through and out the other side of the worst years of my life. (see the blogs below this one for more details) One thing I realised from meeting and talking to many of my fellow ravers is that many of us have travelled quite a difficult road in recent years. We're all just barely getting by somehow. Some have shared deeply personal stories with me which made me realise clearly how much we can all struggle some times.

Like Kevin Bacon in Footloose, dancing is the one thing that really makes me happy. After getting back out there for a year, at the beginning of this year I joined the Old School Solo Ravers Facebook Group, founded by Samantha Bliss. It has to be said I hate going out on my own to pretty much anything. Why? Because firstly I am prone to panic attacks and secondly I've always been a people person. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my own company sometimes, but most of the time I prefer the company of other people. Most of my friends hung up their dancing shoes along time ago, but fortunately joining the Solo Ravers meant I always had people to go somewhere with and not feel like 'Billy no mates' on the dance floor. So over the summer the rebirth of my clubbing journey continued and what a summer it has been. After the epic event that was the Orange reunion in June (see my other blog) I had booked for three more. First up was Frantic at Ministry of Sound. Despite being a little more on the hardcore side for my preferences it was a great event. I made new friends, danced away and later on it was attended by of one of my dearest friends - Asha, who hadn't been out in ages. Solo Ravers turned up in force, and with everyone wanting a breather outside, we all had the knack for congregating at our designated table at the same time where Kenny would hold court on a variety of unique topics.

The Frantic Solo Raver table with Kenny in full standup mode.

With one of my best friends Asha of 20 years, now a member of The Solo Ravers at Frantic

I hadn't been to Ministry of Sound since the 1990s and it has the benefit of multiple rooms so I was able to shift gears so to speak from one set to the next quite easily, the addition of the food court was most welcome. It also has the trippiest mirrors you've ever seen in a club, which can prove entertaining in the latter part of the day when patrons are attempting to find their way out and get disorientated in the toilets.

My House set list - first class DJs all round

Two weeks ago was my first 'My House' event at the Steel Yard, (to be clear, not literally the first house event I've been to) run by two of the loveliest people on the scene Mr & Mrs House, who are also blinding DJ's. They had a cracking line up and one my faves Tall Paul was on. This event came on the last Bank Holiday weekend of August which meant competition was fierce. You're going up against Nottinghill Carnival for one thing, plus a ton of other events and lots of people are away on holiday. Several of the Solos had gone down to another event in Brighton (and opened their own Night Club in a train carriage on the way back to London apparently!) but I wanted to stay closer to home. When I booked my ticket I got word that the organisers of My House were worried their numbers would be low, so I hit my social media and drummed up what extra sales I could for them.

Sam also asked me if I would organise the Solos pre-meet for this event, which I was happy to do, only for us to pick a pub which was full of Millwall supporters hard on the sniff. That proved hugely entertaining. Along with rave dancing pal Nikki we got in to My House 30 minutes after doors open just in time to catch the end of the first DJ set. It's always a good sign when the first DJs on the set list are shit hot. It was everything I wanted from an event - good music, good people, danced my arse off and made some new pals. (A big shout out to Liz, Tashy Toes and Emu in that regard)

An amazing set from Tall Paul - my first time attending a My House event at The Steel Yard - loved it - Big shout out to Mr & Mrs House!

Fellow Raver Nikki & I at MyHouse- the perfect raving buddy we first met at the Orange Reunion

Since I joined the Solo Rave group I've attended an event at least once every three weeks. Peach 31st Birthday Party everyone had told me was going to be a little bit special - I wasn't sure being more of an old school early dance fan and later house guy, that trance would be my bag, but almost everyone I knew from the scene was going. So I took a punt not knowing what to expect. I had an early doors ticket and to be honest I find that time goes by too fast as it is as these events, so I like to get in early. After having everything short of an anal cavity search on the door by security I was back at KoKo, having been here for the epic Orange Reunion party in June.

Any fears that the line up at Peach would not be to my tastes were quickly unfounded. It was hands down one of the best clubbing experiences of my life - on par with Orange (Plus sexy dancing angels which means Peach scores one more point). I was always into the very early 1990s dance music - by the time we were into the 'Human Traffic' soundtrack era of 1996/97 I'd stopped going to Raves - you know - life happened.

Peach 31st Birthday line up. Each of them smashing it out the park. There was also a second line up in the room upstairs, which I got up to twice, had a bop there, came back down again.

Consequently back in the day I missed out on getting to dance to some of my favourite tracks of that era at a proper rave event, and hadn't thought that I'd get the chance to do so again, as no one ever seemed that keen to play them anymore. They sneakily did so at Peach, seamlessly mixed in to modern trance beats, giving the perfect drop moments and as its an older crowd everybody knew them. This is what happens when you get the influence of a father son team like the quality of Graham & Ben Gold. It was like someone had read my mind and left me the perfect present under the Christmas Tree - the set at the Peach 31st Birthday Party at Koko in Camden.

Ben Gold dropping the riff from No Good Start The Dance into the track literally made me cream my pantaloons! So glad he followed in his fathers footsteps. My video of this can be found in the Peach facebook group.

There is an incredible sense of human unity that comes with participating in the perfectly orchestrated music experience. With or without whatever enhancements you may partake in, I would strongly argue the most vital ingredient is the actual people taking part in it. The music is the blood that pumps the heart of a venue, but the people are the heart of this experience - that incredible feeling when a DJ drops a dance track of old mixed in with the new and everyone roars up in joy knowing what's coming next. This is a shared feeling that we all love and recognise, and God in times like these don't we all need it.

If you ever watch my YouTube channel livestreams (The Outcasts Creative - we interview creative people, my big guest this month is film Producer Gale Anne Hurd who made Terminator & Aliens among other things) you'll notice I sign off most of them with the words: 'Don't forget to call the people that you care about and tell them that you love them...'

One of the things I've realised of late is that advanced technology makes a direct human connection to people a more remote possibility somehow, and that is what we have all been missing out on - Human connection. People don't call, they text. People don't speak, they voice note.

THIS EVENT WAS ONE OF THE BEST HUMAN CONNECTIONS EVER

Creating the perfect Music & Dance event where that all comes together as any Club Promoter will tell you can be a logistical nightmare. Make no mistake, this of itself is a creative art form. You're working with a team trying to ensure the blend of the ingredients is the perfect cocktail of music, DJ's, sound, lighting and atmosphere that is in tune with the people coming through the doors.

According to unconfirmed but reliable sources my soulmate is somewhere in this picture...

If in doubt always add sexy angels to the stage - thats what I say. They were superb.

The benefit of going to events organised by established veteran brands like Peach, Orange, MyHouse, Rave Days, Frantic and Labyrinth to name but a few, are that they've had years to perfect this formula across all the genres of House, Techo, Trance, Dance and Hardcore.

Peach were on their absolute A game, and boy was Saturday perfect in every way.

Firstly, thanks to Solo Ravers I was there with are just the best people. I won't start naming them all because I am bound to forget someone, but they know who they are. Many of them are in these pictures. There is nothing more enjoyable in my life right now than dancing away with friends on either side of me, sharing the experience together, finding that organic moment to put our arms around each other as another epic favourite moment in a track drops. This has been the biggest and most unexpected bonus of this journey for me - the new and very genuine friends I have been making along the way. I'm not talking about transient chats outside the toilets where you compare notes on Cyberdog t-shirts with a stranger you met 5 minutes ago, as fun as those are. These are tangible, and far more permanent friendships, (as I have been firmly informed Ben & Michelle that I am not getting rid of them any time soon!) Maybe its because we're older and we value good people when we find them. I really value these guys. I've even cooked dinner for some of them at home.

It is a matter of my rave policy that I must always get a photo with the lady with the biggest smile on the planet, or in the club at least. The lovely Sofia at Peach, along with my good buddy Gareth.

Secondly Peach you brought it all together for me on this one. KoKo is the perfect venue for an event which feels epic, but not so big that you might not be able to find your mates again. The staff are all courteous and polite and events here always feel well organised. So while I very much enjoy the smaller venues, there is something almost majestical about the walk down that corridor into the main auditorium.

The infamous KoKo tunnel

The thumping music and the vibrant colours of the screens hit you full force and wash over you. I always feel I've come home when I go back to KoKo.

Since getting back to raving I genuinely haven't gone to an event where the music has been subpar. We all have our personal tastes, and having read this you'll know some of mine. But at Peach & My House the DJ's connection with the clubbers went to the next level, it all felt so naturally authentic. Sound, music, lighting, graphics, set and line up were all spot on. Additionally you had lovely moments where the likes of Edele Andaya and Chris Bayne all came down to the front and did selfies with anyone who wanted one. (A similar thing happened at My House) A small touch, but one that everyone talked about and appreciated.

These are absolutely definitely probably the glasses I was wearing in this picture.

(I completely unknowingly photobombed a group picture with Edele & Chris earlier on the dance floor, so now I have two pictures with Edele & Chris)

I said this after Orange, and I will say it again. Honestly, to all the organisers, staff and DJ's of these events, you are a core ingredient in bringing something back into my life that had been missing for so long - Joy. For that I sincerely thank you. Lastly, the most important thank you of all to the others who were there, from the randoms I talked to on the stairs to bloke who begged me to find him toilet roll from under the cubicle, to Steven who got the dance floor going with me at the very beginning, to Sofia who came and joined me at the front at the end, to anyone I took a picture with - without you this experience would be empty. People make it special. One nation. One love. One race on this planet - the human race.

Several of my closest Rave Family are in this picture.

This journey of getting back to the dance floor couldn't have happened soon enough for me. I go as often as I can afford to, and after this experience of the last two weekends I really understood why we all need this so badly. I'm booked for at least five more events between now and Xmas. If you see me at one feel free to come and say hello, (hugs optional) chances are I will be somewhere dancing down the front. Thank you so much for reading my ramblings. I am a full time writer, authour, playwright and YouTuber, so if you wish to show some support please do subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/THEOUTCASTSCREATIVE