When ravers get older, they don't go to retirement homes. They either quit the scene or go to clubs. It's not the same as being 30 and going out to raves, that's for sure. Clubs are usually for older crowds. Now raves are a teen phenomenon, and in this sense, they begin to feel exclusive to a lot of elders, thus cutting the market for the music in half.
Clubs generally provide a more secure environment for people to enjoy electronic music.
And these elements, while popular with high schoolers, are definitely not going to help the scene grow in America. The Guinness Book of World Records ' most popular DJ, Brit Paul Oakenfold, of all people, has been trying to explain this postrave future to the American dance press for a few years now. The way forward, at least for Oakenfold, involves plenty of cheesy Eurotrance, a girl on each arm, and a sense of label-conscious consumerism that many scenesters thought we left behind in the '80s. But we definitely don't need British designer DJs telling us how to do things, especially since modern DJ culture has distinctly American roots. During his recent DJ tour of the States, which wrapped up last month, industry heads in a few major cities reported poor treatment backstage by Oakenfold's entourage.