Letters

The Agony and the Ecstasy
I'm 21 years old and grew up in Plattsburg, Missouri, where I lived until I went off to college. I'm currently studying abroad in Maastricht, Netherlands, for five months. Because I'm heading back to KC for the summer, I figured I ought to catch up a bit with what was going down at home so I wouldn't be completely out of it when I get back, so I headed to www.pitch.com.

First, I found out that the Pitch was bought out by the New Times; saw that the page had a new look since I'd been there last; and then was happily surprised that the cover story (Andrew Miller's "Spin City," June 22) was about the Kansas City dance scene. After reading the article, however, I don't know what to think about coming home. I feel good, I guess, that KC got off one good party, but since I can go clubbing three nights a week to some of the best trance/techno DJs around -- even in this town of just 150,000 -- I'm more than a little discouraged by the state of KC's electronic scene. As some of the guys mentioned in Andrew Miller's article, Europe is well past the sort of repressive techniques that the officials use in the U.S. Here in Holland, there was a rave held the first of July for 30,000 people in a soccer stadium.

I'm a huge fan of Kansas City and hope that for me, and all the kids in the area, this summer will be full of great events, electronic or otherwise, that are about not "E" or anything else but having a good time. (Don't let) KC's scene go to shit because the people at the lame-ass Top 40 clubs can lean on the cops every time something decent goes down. I used to have a great time at ska/punk shows at the Daily Grind, but that was last summer, and KC seemed to lack that energy. We don't even get the Warped Tour anymore, which I thought went off really well all three times I went. We're certainly not helped by the fact that there is no single radio station anywhere near KC even worth turning on besides NPR. I still look at my Lazer/31l keychain, sigh, and remember the good ol' days.-- Rick Herron

Plattsburg, Missouri

I'm writing to offer my opinion on the rave scene and parts of "Spin City." It's difficult to put into words my strong feelings about this, but the quote he used from Karla Kerlin is absolutely true in my mind: "Raves have nothing to do with music; it's all about the drugs. The music is a facilitated sort of mind control. Under the influence of drugs, the music will affect you." Of course, she immediately loses her credibility with the next sentence: "Kerlin also admitted to the reporter that she had never attended a rave." Okay, well, I have, and that's why I'm writing.

I attended my first rave, titled Fuel, at a place near Swope Park called The Red Barn (or something of that nature). Raves ARE about drugs. At that party, I was tripping on acid for the first time. I went to the party after smoking some pot and thought maybe I'd try Ecstasy if it were cheap enough and available. On that night, it wasn't. But other drugs were. Everyone I met was on something, mostly acid. And most of these people, including myself, were hooked up with these drugs AT THE PARTY by drug dealers, despite the numerous patdowns and "No drugs or alcohol" signs clearly posted everywhere.

People take drugs for different reasons. For me, I had a fascination with these people who do what THEY want and don't care too much what other people think about them. I envied that. In the past, I have been a person who worried too much what other people think. And here's the good thing for me about drugs: Trying acid once helped me learn to be myself, and now I have no desire to use drugs again. The problem is that these people feel so good during a party that they do it over and over because it makes them feel better about themselves than they do in real life. That's how I felt. I've never felt so free to do what I want. Luckily for me, I am now able to carry that feeling to my real life, the one that doesn't need drugs.

Miller brought up a lot of issues that could only adequately be described in several books of writing. I think I know what he saw at the party he attended: He saw so many people just dancing and being friendly to each other and not being violent. That is the best part of raves because that's not what you see at your typical binge-drinking bar. However, I don't believe that the people who do that every weekend are truly happy with their lives. But drugs make them feel that way. -- Name withheld on request

Buckner, Missouri