Vaporrave Virus

How the fragmented specter of rave spreads through the digital network

Rave has been declared dead several times. There is hope. In this new decade, the spectre of rave manifests itself online and spreads through the digital network like a virus. “Hard to Say” by Djrum leads the way.

The moment the beat comes in is pure bliss. The tension disappears and gives way to the euphoria of anticipation: you are not there yet, but you are confident that you will arrive. Where? On the dance floor. The epicenter of the rave. For now, there is another door between you and heaven, but you can hear them. Those beats. Gently, yes. They drip through the door, just as inevitably as water finally squeezes through everything.

Everyone who has visited a rave knows the feeling: you are approaching the rave, you feel the tension building up in your body until you hear the first beats almost inaudibly in the background. Hello euphoria. Media theorist Marshall McLuhan would describe that feeling as the completeness with which the medium encloses you and creates an alternative reality. According to McLuhan, that is the essential difference between linear media that are visually focused (“I believe I have reached the rave when I see the dance floor”) and ear-oriented non-linear media (“I hear, so I believe”). [1]