New wave of raves

Most any Austin-area DJ or dance promoter will say it: The day is coming when turntablists join guitar players, songwriters and indie rockers in the Live Music Capital's creative pantheon.

No one is sure when that moment of mass acceptance will come, but an ongoing resurgence of electronic dance music in clubs, theaters and underground locations all over Travis County and beyond suggests it's not far off.

"Places that would normally have live bands instead of DJs are opening up more and more to that type of music, and there's been a lot more action for DJs in the last couple years," said Bryan Olivas of Austin, who spins records as DJ Supafly at regular gigs at Red Fez, Plush and the Side Bar on top of one-off shows and parties. "DJs were kind of relegated to the smaller spots in town for a long time, but that's changed as DJs in general have become more visible and clubs have been willing to take a chance."

A look at recent and future music listings in Austin bears this out, with bar- and club-level weekly events sharing time with large events featuring DJs from all over the world. Clubs such as Karma Lounge, Lanai, Plush, Barcelona, Elysium, Beauty Bar and the relatively new Republic Live have created an undergrowth of regular weekly and monthly bookings and generated interest that make possible high-profile events such as Dutch superstar DJ Tiësto playing Friday night at Austin Music Hall, or the multi-DJ Spring Love event taking over the Travis County Expo Center on Saturday.

Together those shows are expected to draw around 10,000 combined attendees from Austin and beyond during two days, which would add to the string of successes by out-of-town promoters who have moved in to capitalize on a growing interest in electronic dance music locally.

"My partner moved here from Sacramento two years ago and saw there was a demand but no one was doing anything on a really big scale," said Jimmy Mondragan, co-owner of California's Massive Intent, which is organizing Saturday's Spring Love concert and has promoted nearly a dozen events at the expo center that have drawn more than 5,000 people each time.

"We've helped spark the interest of big promoters from other states, and it's to the point now where DJs from all over the world want to come here. It's a cool place for them to hang out, and times are changing in the level of professionalism of people putting on events," Mondragan said.

Inside Mondragan's events and others, crowds of teens through thirtysomethings (and beyond) move in near unison around stages piled high with speakers, lasers, video projections, dancers in Day-Glo costumes and superstar DJs such as Mark Farina and Dieselboy spinning and switching between vinyl platters and laptops with beat-making software. The events often feature all the trappings of rave culture that have permeated popular culture — pacifiers, glow sticks, outre costumes and an overall touchy-feely vibe created, in part, by an easy availability of Ecstasy and other drugs (including several offerings made to this reporter at various events).

Promoters of large shows such as Mondragan's employ law enforcement for security, with several on-site officers pointing to overall safety as their main concern though drug busts do happen when connected to incidents such as a fight or an overdose.

The cooperation with law enforcement and use of large-scale advertising are developments that have helped sustain Austin's recent electronic dance music resurgence. Veterans of the scene say its last upswing in 2000 through mid-2002 featured numerous underground rave events almost every week in empty warehouses, fields, clubs and pretty much anywhere that could hold a sound system and the several thousand regulars who learned of events through hand-to-hand fliers, pager recordings and other clandestine means.

"In those days you could have any kind of show and get 1,000 to 2,000 people, minimum," said Steven Voldase, a promoter with Austin's Area512 Entertainment, who organizes electronic dance music events all over Austin, including a supporting role in Friday's Tiësto concert. "Things were going on everywhere and it was beyond crazy for a while. Thankfully, it's starting to come back around again and you have good club shows in between the bigger things like what Massive (Intent) are doing."