TRMW Archives

* FYI, this stuff is old. The current TRMW is here.

July 6, 2005

P*L*U*R 3: Life of Brian

Brian Foote:

hey dude,

read the linked story in your PLUR post.
thought you might get a kick out this.
i got arrested and jailed for the better part of 48 hours for that huge rave bust in milwaukee that matos mentions.
i was working the fucking ‘smart bar’ at the party!
had s.w.a.t. team dudes pointing shotguns at me!!
so ridiculous….

check it

Grave flyer (front)

Grave flyer (back)

Brian Foote:

matos article is def accurate enough. mostly mike vance’s testimonial seems a little exaggerated. [e.g.there definitely weren't 50-60 cops] as best i remember, the early parties were all about lsd with ecstasy playing a more supplementary roll [no pun intended] till a year or 2 later. this lent itself to some really long weird parties.

i understand the promoters trying to distance themselves from the whole drug lean of the article. since this sensationalism always overshadowed the positives of the scene they worked so hard to build/sustain. i’m not speaking of PLUR ala matos’ talks of something that would “come along and unite everything”. [tho i experienced the same naive sentiment] i’m talking about the very real aspect of 1000+ midwesterners getting together and partying all night with no fights breaking out week after week.

you have to remember how ‘red state’ that area is/was [ridiculously overt racism/homophobia before that whole 'PC' thing came along]. in retrospect, these parties really were the only cross-cultural youth events in the area.

that said,the drugs were a central part of it. while sitting there zip-cuffed, i noticed i was sitting next about a pound of lo grade weed. there were bunches of kids working to fish contraband out of there pockets and inch themselves away from it. i always chalked the lack of evidence filed up to dirty cops. who knows?

it was definitely weird sitting in a 5 times capacity holding cell ,the ends of which were lined with angry members of opposing gangs, with a huge amount of tripping ravers losing their minds. i thankfully wasnt gonna drop that night til i was done ‘working’ or the jail time would have been excruciating.

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June 30, 2005

P*L*U*R

Homeslice Michaelangelo Matos has a really wonderful post up today. Got me all nostalgic and teary-eyed for my brief, totally amazing rave-going experience. I’m gonna have to bust out those trance mixtapes soon… if I had a tape player.

Also, super nice guy and popfest volunteer Brent Bell just started up a blog. He’s off to a good start already, connecting dots between Chekhov (whoever that is) and proper non-diaristic blog practice.

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Blast from the present!