How big is the rave culture at Duke? Do people really dress up in neon and fist pump all night?
Judging by the number of Duke students on Facebook “attending” Oct. 7 DayGlow Raleigh, the answer is… sort of.
DayGlow was a paint party with strong house music adding to the overall vibe. Tiësto and Skrillex, two big name DJs in the rave scene, each separately came to Raleigh recently to deliver hits like "Carpe Noctum," "Scary Monsters," and "Nice Sprites" to large crowds of people anxiously awaiting that special moment in a song when the beat climbs and then drops so hard that the whole crowd resembles a sea of moving hands to the beat. And, although N.C. is not known for its strong rave scene, Tiësto and Skrillex are just two examples of DJs that give Duke students a feel for the music that’s growing in popularity with college-aged kids across the country.
"Rave culture at Duke is definitely on the rise,” said DJ Ted Rprime.
He also provided the music last year for Duke's fraternity Phi Delta Theta rave themed party with glow sticks, neon glasses and Red Bull.
“[It] was amazing! One of the best parties I went to freshman year,” noted sophomore Andrew Koff.
So maybe the problem isn’t that people lack interest in the rave scene, but rather that Durham doesn’t provide enough resources to facilitate this interest.
“I have met individuals at Duke who are fans, but there aren't a lot of places in Durham for us,” said sophomore Lauren Gonzalez.
Instead, places like Miami provide more options for people to experience the rave scene with blowout music festivals for rave fans like Ultra. The rave culture, however, especially at large concerts like Ultra, comes with a cost for some. Molly is common among many in the rave scene.
Gonzalez said that although the presence of Molly is not very large at Duke, she knew of one student who was willing to put aside $200 for the drug in preparation for Ultra later this year.
Although overall the rave scene lacks among the masses here at Duke, if you want to find people who also share the philosophy of Beats, Love, Unity—the theme of this year’s DayGlow—you may not have to look much farther than your own dorm because chances are there is someone listening to Pretty Lights down the hall.
So, I guess the only thing for rave fans to do is wait until Duke gets deadmau5 for LDOC. We can only hope.
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