BETWEEN THE COVERS RARE BOOKS

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Los Angeles Rave Flyers
Los Angeles: [1990s-2000s] $1000
An assemblage of 153 Los Angeles area rave flyers from the mid 1990s until the mid 2000s. All items are about fine with very slight edgewear
on some. An extensive collection of vibrant art, including some die-cut pieces, and business cards advertising clubs and warehouse parties in Los
Angeles featuring MC Supernatural, DJ Doc Martin, and Cut Chemist, among others.
The 1990s opened up a new door for music, grunge was taking over the radio but the youth night life culture needed something to accompany
the late night parties and new drugs. In a 2001 article in “Spin” David J. Prince and Todd C. Roberts explain, “a strange combination of
post-punks, goths, homeboys, visiting Brits, and art school refugees started gathering in the wasteland of downtown L.A. throwing late night
warehouse parties centering around British “acid house,” a hodgepodge of rock, Northern Soul, and American dance music. LSD, Ecstasy, and
kids in goofy Dr. Suess hats were suddenly everywhere, and America’s first rave scene was born.”
Included among the flyers some of the biggest festivals and names of the scene are exhibited. Electric Daisy Carnival, represented here by a flyer
huge die-cut daisies for the 2001 fest, was created by Insomniac promotions and continues to be one of the biggest electronic music festivals in
the United States, second in size only to those in Europe. Also represented are djs Doc Martin, the Baka Boyz, and DJ Quest. Parties advertise
“free popsicles,” themes such as reggae or hip hop nights, and “Bondage a Go Go,” promoting a night of “extreme circus art, human pincushion,
and sword swallowing” all to a rave soundtrack.
The flyers show the evolution from early illegal house parties in Los Angeles to the institution of professional promotion by organizations such
as Ignite. In Prince’s article he claims, “in just a few years, DIY “break-in” parties with a few hundred revelers would give way to mass spectacles
with crowds as large as 30,000 people. The early rave movement was not exclusive to Los Angeles, but the city’s penchant for larger than life
theatrics and the sheer number of bored suburban teens desperate for a good time put L.A. on hyperdrive, inspiring like-minded scenes across the
country.”
An excellent representation of West Coast rave culture and house music using typical imagery of scantily clad women, brightly colored flowers,
and cartoon characters. [BTC#390476]