LA Club Activists Stage Anti-R.A.V.E. Act Rave

Leading figures from Los Angeles club scene will be attending a protest rally/ rave on Saturday May 31, which aims to mobilise protesters against the anti-nightlife laws recently passed under the RAVE Act.

"We aim to educate and mobilize a community united through electronic dance music, and to broaden and deepen the political awareness of a new generation," event organisers DANCEmusic said in a mission statement issued this week.

"We will rally in defence of our culture."

The protest takes place on the afternoon of Saturday May 31st on the lawn of the Federal Building (11000 Wilshire Boulevard) and will feature speeches and DJ sets from Richard 'Humpty' Vision, Deepsky and DJ Motiv8. Still unconfirmed is West Coast legend Doc Martin who performed at the group's first Freedom to Dance event in September, though was disappointed by the lack of industry support.

"The protests were put together at the last minute but there should still have been more people there," Doc told Skrufff this week.

"If you can get 2,000 people paying to go to a cheesy club on a Saturday night, you should be able to get more on the protest."

He also lambasted the inertia of the vast numbers of DJs and record companies still failing to stand up against the draconian bill threatening their futures.

"Lots of music companies in America are talking about the RAVE Act and what they're going to do but in reality they're not doing anything, I didn't see anybody from these companies at any of the protests," he complained.

"I flew back from New York, cross country, to play for free at the LA protest, to make sure there was some awareness. But lots of industry people still seem more worried about the financial backlash towards their labels- 'if there's not a club scene, how are we going to sell records-' And that's a really sad thing."

Simultaneous demonstrations are planned for New York City, Washington DC and Seattle.

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