Ask me about illegal warehouse parties - The Something Awful Forums

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Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

I've been going to underground parties in the san francisco bay area for about 2 years now, and I've been involved with throwing a few of them. I've honestly had so much fun dancing until 6 AM in badly-ventilated, dirty warehouses that the concept of a dance club just boggles me.

Q: Why are these parties illegal?
A: There are a few reasons. Mostly, it boils down to:

The buildings used to throw them are not built for it--usually what gets you legally is some combination of insufficient ventilation, not enough fire exits, and lack of fire sprinklers.
Most cities in which you would find these buildings have passed laws requiring that events close at 2 AM or 4 AM, that off-duty police officers be hired as security, or that such events be restricted to the over-18 or over-21 crowd. People who throw warehouse parties are not in agreement with such laws.
On top of these requirements, there are so-called "crackhouse laws": people do drugs at these parties, and the people throwing them usually either look the other way or actively encourage drug.
Finally, even if your event is technically legal, that won't be proven until after the police already shut it down, at which point you have basically no recourse if you haven't been cited

Q: What happens if the police find out about these events?
A: Around here, depending on a lot of factors, anything from no action at all (the cops walk through the party, shrug their shoulders and leave), to the party getting shut down and the owner of the venue receiving a citation. Arrests are rarely made. Usually, the police will only show up if there is a noise complaint or something else that leads them to a party, but if you throw too many parties in one city, the city government will get annoyed and create a task force, at which point you might as well just give up on throwing parties in that city until it dies down

Q: Why do people go to illegal parties instead of clubs or legal massives?
A: Mostly, because legal events tend to be more restrictive in a few different respects. It's hard to find a large rave or concert where you can come inside with fire dancing equipment or bring in your own booze. Clubs are even worse: they often have dress codes and dickish security who will kick you out for any reason or no reason at all. Illegal parties are also cheaper in the long run (though the cover cost might be more, you will definitely save money on alcohol)

Socket Ryanist fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 19:41

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:25

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# ? Nov 21, 2009 21:53

Tex Murdock DDS: Apr 06, 2006; I HAVE EVERY STI AVAILABLE.

What exactly makes your illegal parties different from the other illegal parties that everyone has thrown at some point in their life between the ages of 13 and 18/21?

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:36

Dramatika: Aug 01, 2002; ninja please

Do these parties get big-name or at least somewhat popular DJs, or are the underground illegal party DJ's completely seperate than the ones who will play weeklies at legit clubs?

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:38

TWiNKiE: Nov 18, 2002; Daah, I heard that!

I'm sort of confused. Am I correct in reading that you have the building owner's consent, when you're having these parties?

This used to happen almost weekly in Detroit back in the '90's, but the locales were almost always abandoned. That seemed to be part of the allure, outside of techno and candy flipping en masse.

On the rare chance that the police showed up, everyone who didn't run away was given a ticket for trespassing (assuming there wasn't a more interesting / easier to prove crime to charge you with).

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:39

Adar: Jul 27, 2001; William "J." Fillmaff in training

I get why you'd want to go to one of these, but why would you throw one knowing it's illegal so you're going through all the trouble just to possibly get cited?

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:41

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

Dramatika posted:

Do these parties get big-name or at least somewhat popular DJs, or are the underground illegal party DJ's completely seperate than the ones who will play weeklies at legit clubs?

It's common for DJs to quit illegal parties once they get popular enough that they can play clubs every weekend. It's not worth it to chance the very very small risk that you'll get arrested/get your records and equipment confiscated.

On the other hand, I saw Robert Hood at an illegal warehouse party recently, and he's pretty drat well-known.

Adar posted:

I get why you'd want to go to one of these, but why would you throw one knowing it's illegal so you're going through all the trouble just to possibly get cited?

Because they're so much more fun than legal parties.

Tex Murdock DDS posted:

What exactly makes your illegal parties different from the other illegal parties that everyone has thrown at some point in their life between the ages of 13 and 18/21?

I wasn't aware that everyone threw illegal parties with out-of-state DJs, multi-thousand-watt soundsystems, lasers, projection screens, fire dancing...

TWiNKiE posted:

I'm sort of confused. Am I correct in reading that you have the building owner's consent, when you're having these parties?

Maybe not the owner (as in the landlord), but the current occupant, yes.

Socket Ryanist fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 18:46

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:42

BlazinChronic: Jul 31, 2009

Why are there none of these where I live?

drat the midwest

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:49

Tex Murdock DDS: Apr 06, 2006; I HAVE EVERY STI AVAILABLE.

Substitute corn field for warehouse, haven't you seen Freddy vs. Jason?

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:50

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

BlazinChronic posted:

Why are there none of these where I live?

How do you know there aren't? wink wink

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:52

BlazinChronic: Jul 31, 2009

New question: How do I find illegal warehouse / corn field parties?

I promise they don't exist here. I want to throw one.

New question: How do I promote an illegal warehouse / corn field party? I can DJ it

I just can't promote.

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:53

Dr_Amazing: Apr 15, 2006; It's a long story

So you're saying all those vodka cooler ads are actually true?

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:56

Tex Murdock DDS: Apr 06, 2006; I HAVE EVERY STI AVAILABLE.

BlazinChronic posted:

New question: How do I find illegal warehouse / corn field parties?

I promise they don't exist here. I want to throw one.

New question: How do I promote an illegal warehouse / corn field party? I can DJ it I just can't promote.

Just tell all of your friends and have them tell all of their friends? How hard is it to find kids wanting to party?

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:57

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

BlazinChronic posted:

New question: How do I promote an illegal warehouse / corn field party? I can DJ it I just can't promote.

The best rule to follow is: don't be too eager. It's better for your first party to lose money and have only a few people show up than for you to sell your venue out and get your party shut down because a bunch of idiots showed up and overdosed/started fights/were followed there by the cops.

Plan your party months in advance, and have little paper fliers, but only give them to people you actually want to show up, and not everyone and their mother.

Once you've got a following, have a place at your party for people to write down their email address to put on a mailing list, and only promote future parties that way.

# ? Nov 03, 2009 18:57

TWiNKiE: Nov 18, 2002; Daah, I heard that!

Socket Ryanist posted:

Maybe not the owner (as in the landlord), but the current occupant, yes.

So is the occupant usually renting the space for a party?

How many people do you usually get in attendance?

Are you going as far as obtaining permits / licenses / etc.?

If you object to 18+/21+ laws, at what point would you turn a kid away?

Roughly speaking, what's your ratio of people under 21 to over 21?

BlazinChronic posted:

Why are there none of these where I live?

drat the midwest

Uh...

TWiNKiE posted:

This used to happen almost weekly in Detroit back in the '90's

Last I checked, Michigan was part of the Midwest. And Detroit is (arguably) where this whole concept started out in the US.

Edit:

I don't mean to hijack, but as an attendee rather than host, these seem easy to field:

BlazinChronic posted:

New question: How do I find illegal warehouse / corn field parties?

I'm sure today, it's probably a matter of knowing people on Facebook.

Before social networking, you'd usually know a friend-of-a-friend who had something to do with it, hear about it at a used CD store, find out from someone at a bar or club that there's an "after party", call a hotline, stuff like that.

quote:

New question: How do I promote an illegal warehouse / corn field party? I can DJ it I just can't promote.

Without the slightest bit of sarcasm: if you're asking, and you've never been to one, you probably shouldn't do it.

TWiNKiE fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 20:16

# ? Nov 03, 2009 20:10

Korak: Nov 29, 2007; This is not a good way to die.

Can you give us some photographic examples of what you mean? I've seen several rave sites but never seen anything like you suggest.

# ? Nov 03, 2009 20:14

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

TWiNKiE posted:

So is the occupant usually renting the space for a party?

Usually the warehouses that parties get thrown in are lived in, used as art galleries, recording studios, dance studios, yoga classes et cetera

quote:

How many people do you usually get in attendance?

It varies. A small loft party might only get 30-50 people, whereas a big enough warehouse can get as many as 500.

quote:

Are you going as far as obtaining permits / licenses / etc.?

Permits and licenses are, for all practical purposes, unobtainable. There would first have to be many thousands of dollars worth of renovation done to the building, and even then the application for a permit/license would probably be rejected based on neighborhood zoning or lack of sufficient parking.

quote:

If you object to 18+/21+ laws, at what point would you turn a kid away?

Depends on who's throwing the party. Most of the parties I go to will let you in if you aren't obviously underage at first glance--i.e. if you're underage, that's fine, as long as nobody knows that you're underage (and your parents don't call the cops on us).

quote:

Roughly speaking, what's your ratio of people under 21 to over 21?
Uh...

I go to a variety of different parties, some are almost all over 25, some are almost all under 18.

# ? Nov 03, 2009 20:16

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

Korak posted:

Can you give us some photographic examples of what you mean? I've seen several rave sites but never seen anything like you suggest.

I'll do you one better and give you a timelapse video!

http://www.oontz.org/me/content/view/48/40/

# ? Nov 03, 2009 20:18

Mr. Spooky: Jul 01, 2003; I was allowed this account on the condition that I never post.

Socket Ryanist posted:

I'll do you one better and give you a timelapse video!

http://www.oontz.org/me/content/view/48/40/

That's awesome. Now I just need to get myself out to SF and check one out IRL.

# ? Nov 03, 2009 20:31

Grigori Rasputin: Aug 21, 2000; WE DON'T NEED ROME TELLING US WHAT TO DO

Did you go to Otherworld this past weekend? I never really got the appeal of this sort of thing when I was younger, but I looooove it now. Not really involved, but a couple of these sorts of parties a year really livens things up.

What would you say the defining subcultural aspects of it are beyond music, dancing and drugs? I think what I like about them are being surrounded by weirdos and being totally free to do your own thing, which usually involves expelling a ton of pent up energy. I think that's called fun.

# ? Nov 03, 2009 21:20

qirex: Feb 15, 2001

I'm surprised there's even any warehouses left to dance in in the Bay Area. All the spots we used to hit when I was a young'un in SOMA, Dogpatch and Bayview are all condos or office buildings now.

# ? Nov 03, 2009 21:36

Winna: Oct 10, 2004; _)_)====|D ~o ~o ~o

How cool does this make you feel?

# ? Nov 03, 2009 21:45

Waltzing Along: Jun 14, 2008

I remember when raves were all warehouse parties. This was in 1990, mind you. I had a friend that was telling me about them. Years later I put two and two together and realized he had been going to early US raves.

I didn't even know that they still had underground parties. I thought it was all legit.

How much do these things cost? How wide is the age range? How do people dress? How widespread is the drug use? My friend who used to go said it was beyond easy to get things. He said people just wandered around openly either giving away or selling things, depending on what they were.

# ? Nov 03, 2009 21:51

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

Grigori Rasputin posted:

Did you go to Otherworld this past weekend? I never really got the appeal of this sort of thing when I was younger, but I looooove it now. Not really involved, but a couple of these sorts of parties a year really livens things up.

gently caress yeah I went to otherworld this past weekend. It was the poo poo.

quote:

What would you say the defining subcultural aspects of it are beyond music, dancing and drugs? I think what I like about them are being surrounded by weirdos and being totally free to do your own thing, which usually involves expelling a ton of pent up energy. I think that's called fun.

I agree, but the parties that I really love, I love because everyone knows and trusts each other, there's rarely any worry of stuff getting stolen or fights breaking out, and it just generally feels like you're among family. That's usually out in the mountains, though, where there's less of an issue of random people wandering in, but if you're good at it you can come close in a warehouse.

qirex posted:

I'm surprised there's even any warehouses left to dance in in the Bay Area. All the spots we used to hit when I was a young'un in SOMA, Dogpatch and Bayview are all condos or office buildings now.

All the old spots (85th & baldwin, home base, 18th and harrison?) were a lot bigger than the spots that were open now. Two relatively old spots (army & connecticut in the city and 832 east 11th st in oakland) just recently stopped having parties (although I've heard a rumor the former might be slowly coming back to life, and the guy who used to run the latter found a new place).

Socket Ryanist fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 22:13

# ? Nov 03, 2009 21:59

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

Waltzing Along posted:

How much do these things cost? How wide is the age range? How do people dress? How widespread is the drug use? My friend who used to go said it was beyond easy to get things. He said people just wandered around openly either giving away or selling things, depending on what they were.

The answer to these questions all vary. Underground parties are not a single unified scene like they were during the height of SF's rave scene in the late 90s early 2000s--there are little fragments that throw relatively small parties.

The one thing that comes closest to uniting a lot of them is Burning Man--most of the small little scenes are involved in it somehow and so a few things are somewhat universal.

To more directly answer your questions:

Cost and age range -- From $5 for low-budget candyraves targeted towards 16 year olds, to $30 for psytrance parties with ridiculously awesome sound and a 25-40 crowd.

How do people dress? -- For the most part, relatively normally. A bit more casual than at a club, and a bit weirder. Full-on kandikid getups are kind of looked down upon because they're cop magnets.

At an otherworld party you'll probably see about 60% people dressed in slacks and a teeshirt (probably with the logo of a no-longer-active club, rave crew, or record label on it), 20% gangsters trying to sell pills (and nobody buying them because they don't want to support gangsters--hence, they get frustrated and leave), and 20% burners in playa gear.

At a burningman fundraiser, almost everyone wears playa gear (you might even have to pay extra if you're not dressed up).

At a drum n bass party, it's all thugwear (but the people are nicer than you'd expect).

As for drugs, that also depends on who's throwing the party and (mainly) how big and how well-publicized it is. I've been to undergrounds where I was searched at the door and the rules about bringing in drugs and/or alcohol were stricter than legit venues. I've also been to undergrounds where the door price included LSD.

Socket Ryanist fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 22:10

# ? Nov 03, 2009 22:04

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

This will give you an idea of what dress at a burningman party looks like (the party in question happened on easter, and so there was a pervading theme of dressing as a bunny rabbit. Try and guess which two people in this photo set are furries!)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/furtog...57616781237052/

# ? Nov 03, 2009 22:20

Beaters: Jun 28, 2004; Don't follow leaders
Watch the parkin' meters!

This reminds me a lot of what I read about the original acid tests, except that the scene has been going longer and the technology has developed dramatically. I worked doing a light show once back in the old days and we had nothing to compare with the stuff shown or linked in this thread.

# ? Nov 03, 2009 23:33

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

Beaters posted:

This reminds me a lot of what I read about the original acid tests, except that the scene has been going longer and the technology has developed dramatically. I worked doing a light show once back in the old days and we had nothing to compare with the stuff shown or linked in this thread.

A lot of parties have the "acid test" feel to them for sure... although I never know which parties they are until I get there

Acid parties are fun, because even if the cops show up, they won't find the acid or prove that anyone has taken any, and they know it, so they don't bother

Socket Ryanist fucked around with this message at Nov 03, 2009 around 23:40

# ? Nov 03, 2009 23:36

The Beavis: Sep 11, 2008

Socket Ryanist posted:

Clubs are even worse: they often have dress codes and dickish security who will kick you out for any reason or no reason at all.

So how does security get handled? Is it just a group thing where if sufficient people have had enough of some trouble maker that they gang up on him and force him out?

# ? Nov 04, 2009 00:43

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

The Beavis posted:

So how does security get handled? Is it just a group thing where if sufficient people have had enough of some trouble maker that they gang up on him and force him out?

It often seems like this is the case, but any smart party-thrower makes sure to invite some very large, but still fun-loving people. They might not be dressed in all black and wearing earpieces, but you can tell just from looking at them that, if someone were to try and cause trouble, they would be more than happy to introduce the troublemaker's face to their fist.

As an example: I went to someone's birthday party in a loft that I used to frequent, and some dude who not many people knew started throwing punches (at women, nonetheless). He was basically punched down the stairs by a bucket-brigade of large burly men, and then finally knocked the gently caress out as he exited the front door. They had to end the party, though, since the cops and the ambulance were coming. What a shame

# ? Nov 04, 2009 01:01

spocks taint: May 15, 2009; 420 vulcan mind meld every day

So y'all have illegal parties with fire dancing in warehouses that have poor ventilation and not enough fire exits or sprinklers huh?

# ? Nov 04, 2009 01:15

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

spocks taint posted:

So y'all have illegal parties with fire dancing in warehouses that have poor ventilation and not enough fire exits or sprinklers huh?

The vast majority of times I've seen fire dancing it's been outdoors, and the one time I can think of that it was indoors, there were people with extinguishers standing by. Still wasn't a good idea.

# ? Nov 04, 2009 02:09

CHRISTS FOR SALE: Jan 14, 2005; jazz cat in a hat

spocks taint posted:

So y'all have illegal parties with fire dancing in warehouses that have poor ventilation and not enough fire exits or sprinklers huh?

Many groups who throw these parties require that the fire performers have insurance. This is for two reasons, one is in order for the performers' own safety, and two because fire performers willing to purchase insurance are usually more responsible and professional than the amateur "hobbyist" performers. I've never witnessed a fire accident that wasn't more than a tool hitting the floor and not catching fire to anything. If there's no wood or kindling around, there's nothing to catch fire. In addition, if proper fire safety rules (such as keeping fuel dumps a certain distance from performance, enough safeties with fire extinguishers and duvatine towels, etc.) are followed, there is almost 0% chance of a fire accident.

Warehouse parties were never designed to be 100% safe...but I wouldn't call it stupid to attend one just because of a very slim chance of accidental fire (which could really happen more places than you think).

# ? Nov 04, 2009 02:27

qirex: Feb 15, 2001

Socket Ryanist posted:

All the old spots (85th & baldwin, home base, 18th and harrison?) were a lot bigger than the spots that were open now. Two relatively old spots (army & connecticut in the city and 832 east 11th st in oakland) just recently stopped having parties (although I've heard a rumor the former might be slowly coming back to life, and the guy who used to run the latter found a new place).

How long did home base last? The last really big party I went to was there on Halloween '94. The music was incredible but the scene was pretty sketchy like a lot of massives.

# ? Nov 04, 2009 02:41

Blazing Ownager: Jun 02, 2007

Two questions: Have you ever been close to fired for one of these / got caught throwing one by the owners of the warehouse? I assume you've thrown one, not just been to them?

And.. how close are you to this guy? Do the kids call you Papa Smurf?

# ? Nov 04, 2009 02:50

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

Blazing Ownager posted:

Two questions: Have you ever been close to fired for one of these / got caught throwing one by the owners of the warehouse? I assume you've thrown one, not just been to them?

I've assisted in throwing them, but not actually thrown them myself. The closest I've come to actually throwing them myself was manning the map point or shuttlepoint.

The most busted I've ever seen a party get was this one rather large (at least 300 person I think?) party that was thrown in a condemned train station. The cops made them turn the music off, but since everyone was shuttled there, the party kind of lasted for a while (sans music) before everyone was out. I don't know if they got cited or not but I know no one got arrested.

Rather tragic, that was a GREAT loving party spot--funny enough, a previous party there actually survived the cops showing up (the guy in charge made up some story about them shooting a film and the cops shrugged and drove off).

Outdoor parties tend to be a little bit more sketchy as people usually just throw them on whatever land without anyone's permission (a park, national forest, BLM campsite, PG&E property, land owned by a logging company, et cetera). I've been to a party on top of mount tamalpais where a water district employee showed up and told us the Marin County sherriff would be there in 30 minutes. 30 minutes later, there was not a single trace that the party had ever happened.

# ? Nov 04, 2009 02:58

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

qirex posted:

How long did home base last? The last really big party I went to was there on Halloween '94. The music was incredible but the scene was pretty sketchy like a lot of massives.

It got shut down legally in... 98? 99? People broke in and threw unauthorized parties there until it burned down in 04

# ? Nov 04, 2009 03:01

Spor: Aug 20, 2009

quote:

I've been to a party on top of mount tamalpais where a water district employee showed up and told us the Marin County sherriff would be there in 30 minutes. 30 minutes later, there was not a single trace that the party had ever happened.

Why was I not informed about this

I used to go to parties a lot after I graduated high school, but the scene died down a lot since then, and now it's pretty much word of mouth stuff and small small loft/crazy weird illegal warehouse living space parties. I like that stuff better anyway. If a party isn't sketch as gently caress, it's not fun.

Is it true that some promoters let in specific dealers just so they don't have to deal with small time ones trying to get in? Do you use the usual websites to advertise? And, heard of the Dubstep Pirates?

# ? Nov 04, 2009 05:27

Socket Ryanist: Aug 30, 2004

Spor posted:

Is it true that some promoters let in specific dealers just so they don't have to deal with small time ones trying to get in?

I'm sure it happens occasionally, but I'm also sure this isn't limited to illegal parties.

quote:

Do you use the usual websites to advertise? And, heard of the Dubstep Pirates?

Depends on what "the usual websites" are. And I've heard of the dub pirates

# ? Nov 04, 2009 05:38

Spor: Aug 20, 2009

Socket Ryanist posted:

I'm sure it happens occasionally, but I'm also sure this isn't limited to illegal parties.
Depends on what "the usual websites" are. And I've heard of the dub pirates

Galaxy and I guess ravelinks, which has pretty much died. That's all I know, so unless there are others.. The Dubstep Pirates are a few friends of mine, so that's legit. I don't really have any more questions, I'll just give you props for doing this stuff.

# ? Nov 04, 2009 05:51

frags10: Sep 24, 2006

I attend these type of events in the northeast US (Both legal and illegal ones). The underground events are especially fun, because the people who are there are usually all on the same page.

The legal ones are a lot of fun too, though....especially outdoor festivals.

To the TC: have you ever been to events in the northeast? Im curious how the scene differs between east coast/west coast.

frags10 fucked around with this message at Nov 04, 2009 around 05:57

# ? Nov 04, 2009 05:53

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