It's just seems less genuine, more formulic, the events are predictable. The drugs are boring. EDM / Techno is completely mainstream at this point, and the mainstream thing to do is act like it's underground and dress like your queer in the early 90s. The idea of mandating a dress code and having security that checks it really kinda sets it off.

Then how it's just like everyone constantly asking for drugs.

In my mind raves were actually illegal, like in a construction site, abandoned warehouses or trespassing in school gymnasiums and the people putting them on were actually the ones selling the drugs, and people asked if you wanted anything, not the other way around.

The states are different in some ways I'm sure, but the techno scene here sounds exactly like what he's describing, legal, sanctioned events mimicking the underground where the DJs and staff want to be known. And that's a very active and very fun scene and sometimes there are still "secret" events and clubs that don't open until 6 AM etc. It's still full of people asking for drugs and request for Ketamine are common which is like the antithesis of partying drug.

The people that introduced me to raves and thrive on underground have moved on, the underground stuff at least where I'm at is split into two types in my experience. It's a little bit edgier, but casual sex and drugs were edgy 30 years ago, now there's tinder and darknet markets. It's fun for sure, but if you're old enough to have been around when raves were underground you feel way too old to be at these events, except in my case many of the people I see involved in them I know for a fact are older than me.

Takeover events, that basically morph from street racing to partying in a random location, running from the cops in a group of 100+ cars, regrouping, partying again and repeating that over the course of an entire weekend. The main organizers are a mix of basically just the organizers and drug dealers often times there in stolen cars and pretty well armed. The police take a hands off approach generally. Partying in a random parking garage with 1000+ people while a police helicopter thumps in the background isn't uncommon. Weed has replaced cigarettes and cocaine is ubiquitous. Celebrities and wealthy foreigners will pop up from time to time.

The other is side by sides and there's a lot of overlap of the same people with takeovers having more black and asian and the sXs being white and hispanic. sXs is more music focused for sure with artists being the promotores and organizers. Sometimes they are at official parks and other times it's illegally on government or corporate land. Basically impromptu music festivals for one or two days and more often in the week than on the weekend. Drugs are everywhere but most people are either blackout drunk or openly smoking meth. Sometimes if the same spot is used over and over police will be active, most of the time if they show up, it's a couple in cruisers that can't do anything to 4000 rzrs and a host of atvs and dirtbikes. You can find out about the events from the companies that rent those toys. Wrecks, injuries and fights are typical, people will be listening to techno and random dj might do some sets at some point, but the main acts are the new combination country/rap artists with occasional big name rappers or country stars doing a feature.

Both of these events seemed to thrive and grow during the pandemic and haven't slowed down very much. The most shocking thing to me though is that the demographic diversity though, it's reminiscent of how the early raves were big way of bringing random people together.

A couple videos to show more.

takeovers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDooquh9P3o

idea of the side-by-side event and music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tPsQo4TIiU