Raindance are British

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

event organisers. They were one of the best known rave names on the

scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The start

The first event was held at a circus tent on 16 September 1989 at Jenkins Lane,

Beckton Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Bark ...

in east

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. This was Britain's first legal all night rave. DJs such as

Carl Cox Carl Andrew Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, radio DJ, motorsport team owner and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has perfor ...

, Dave Angel, LTJ Bukem, Mr C,

DJ Rap Charissa Saverio (born 7 December 1968), and better known as DJ Rap, is a British drum and bass, house and progressive electronic music producer and DJ. While the majority of her work is in the jungle style, her more successful work is in ...

John Digweed Thomas John Digweed (born April 1967) is a British DJ and record producer. As well as achieving success as a solo act, he has collaborated with Sasha as Sasha & John Digweed, and with Nick Muir as Bedrock. Digweed was voted as No. 1 DJ in DJ ...

, DJ Face, Kevin "Reece" Saunderson, Slipmatt, Fabio and

Grooverider Raymond Bingham (born 16 April 1967 in Streatham, London, England), better known as Grooverider, is a British drum and bass DJ. He and DJ partner Fabio are regarded as "originators" of the scene.

started out at Raindance. Live acts such as Shades of Rhythm,

N-Joi N-Joi are an English production duo from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, consisting of Nigel Champion and Mark Franklin, (who met at Alleyn Court Prep School) with vocalist/ front person Saffron. Champion went to Framlingham College and Fran ...

and

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

have all played at Raindance. Raindance MA2

From 1989 to 1993, Raindance went on to hold large-scale events across

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

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and even Spain. The venues Raindance used held up to 10,000 ravers. DJ Slipmatt's brother, Paul Nelson, was one of the original promoters. The original idea to hold a rave came from Slipmatt himself. But, by 1993, with pressure from the authorities (

Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights, clamping down on unlicensed ...

) and the

rave music A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

scene splintering into different dance genres, Raindance took a break from holding mass events. Between 1993 and 1998 there were one-off events, then the promoters returned hosting regular indoor events in clubs around North and East London.

SeOne

In 1999, Raindance started hosting raves at The Drome, an unused car park underneath

London Bridge railway station London Bridge is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Southwark, south-east London. It occupies a large area on three levels immediately south-east of London Bridge, from which it takes its name. The m ...

. They would get regular attendances of over 2,000 people at this venue. In 2002, The Drome was renovated and seOne was born. Over the next eight years, SeOne would be Raindance's home and with a 3,000 capacity with seven different arenas (Jenkins Lane 89-90, Old Skool 91-93, Jungle/Drum & Bass 93-10, Hardcore 95-10, Hard House, Breakbeat, House & Trance). Raindance continues to put parties on all over the UK.

References

External links

Raindance - Old Skool/Rave - Fantazia.org.ukRaindance 1990 Part 7 Old Skool Rave - YouTube
{{Electronic music festival Music festivals established in 1989 Dance organisations in the United Kingdom Music promoters Event management companies of the United Kingdom Rave culture in the United Kingdom Electronic music festivals in the United Kingdom Electronic music event management companies 1989 establishments in the United Kingdom

The start

SeOne

See also

References

External links