Party Vibe

I think a lot of youths are going through this at the moment, also in East Anglia

one new phenomenon and a bit of a paradox I’ve noticed is that parents (many of whom are my age or younger!) are more liberal – a lot of them no longer mind their teenage children attending raves or even using drugs or alcohol, particularly as they either once did so themselves or still do so (I’ve met entire families at Norfolk raves!)

This may not be such a bad thing as often families regulate themselves well and it removes many of the bitter arguments my generation had with our parents about our lifestyle choices – but it does also remove a great deal the “rebellion” aspect from attending raves (licensed or illegal).

So they become like any other activity young people are involved in, and its often easy to get bored especially when the honeymoon period wears off.

I’ve got loads of friends in their early 20s, and they are all slowing down already, many will attend university, get jobs or start families and not come back to the party scene..

parenthood will (and should!) definitely change peoples attitudes – it makes you take less risks with your life and money as there is a new life to provide for – indeed this change of behaviour happens in other animals too

I find that “party scene parents” do stay involved to an extent but they’re obviously not going to risk thousands on rigs for illegal parties what could get confiscated when that money could be spent on a kid, nor risk going HMP and losing access to their kid and/or fucking up their career prospects.

So many tend to concentrate on doing legal events or festivals – particularly those where they can take their children along to enjoy the fun – and why not!

But its more time and effort at the same time as raising a child, and of course that child comes first. My own parents gave up their involvement in the hippie folk music scene of SE London to bring me up in the 1970s!

The uni/career lot tend to be more of a loss to the scene as many of them leave East Anglia permanently – or if they get a “high flying job” they end up doing long hours…