Contrary to reports in the tabloid rags it was heavy handed police that kicked off all the violence and eyewitnesses report seeing police beating and injuring dangerous threats such as young girls and people chilling on the floor. Out came the CS gas and many revellers’ Saturday night out ended with bruises after a battering, and a few severe bites from police dogs which had been let off their leads into the chaos.

A number of police and ravers were hospitalised and 34 arrests were made, but this was just the most brutal in a series of busts over the weekend. In Gloucester, cops used batons and CS gas to attack and shut down another small party in a business park. Farmland in Cornwall was sealed off as cops heard wild rumours that a vicious and deadly party was to be held there.

All this repression harks back to the (not so rose-tinted) cat-and-mouse days of the early 90s, when tens of thousands of ravers engaged in a weekly battle of wits with the authorities. The Criminal Justice Act was meant to be the final nail in the coffin of the rave culture but as last weekend’s events prove, outdoor partying ain’t going nowhere - despite the pub and clubs getting ever later licences. Free parties with loud music and ever-willing dancers are going on up and down the country every weekend. The mainstream media imagines, because the Old Bill have stepped up the baton practice and got more busts in lately (overtime drive anyone?), that this indicates some kind of ‘resurgence of rave’ – ‘rave’ meaning that tabloid catch-all middle England-threatening brainwashing-cult-stealing-our-kids invention all of its own.

In fact, shortly after the smiley-faced* Acid House craze, (way back in the last century) ‘rave’ mutated and eventually splintered in to many sub-genres, all with their own dress codes, drug choices and attitudes. The truly large scale parties of the early 90s might not have been repeated. However, large numbers of people who like a bit of uncomplicated partying to their preferred choice of repetitive beats have helped build up a regular rota of successful events all over the country, all year round. What has changed is the numbers of people these ‘raves’ now attract – smaller groups of mates with their own sound systems, sometimes teaming up with others here and there to provide their own entertainment outside of the corporate sector. As usual, it’s just taken a while for the media big boys to catch on.

Cue a headrush of editorials and feature pieces, as tired hacks (like us) attempt to reclaim their youth and analyse the current ‘scene’. The London Evening Standard even points the finger at your dear old SchNEWS, as one of the ‘radical orchestrators’ of the new rave movement – just ‘cos we had a listing for the Chesterford bash on our website (Cheers for the pukka plug, though).

Recent events would seem to suggest that the police may now be turning their attention back to the dangerous subversives who see dancing in a field as having a good time, rather than the dangerous, illegal and possibly terrorist activity it really is. And in keeping with their general ‘crackdown’ remit the cops are prepared to use whatever force they fancy to remain the country’s top party poopers (handy training for the riot boys dont’cha’know). It’s handy then, for the media to be full of the frightening rave resurgence stuff, helping build up another straw man which may legitimise an even heavier clampdown by police – well they’ve got to protect the terrified vulnerable public from this evil drug-fueled, rioting menace, haven’t they? For one forum site supporting DIY partying, see www.squatjuice.com

* Sign of the times: appropriating ol’ Smiley for surveillance-Britain’s ‘You are on CCTV’ signs – oh how they must’ve all had a such a laugh at that one.

Check out  http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news558.htm for the rest of this weeks issue including reports on climate chaos actions, Titnore woods protest camp and much more!