This week I have a very special treat for you. This footage of a local dance rave from 1995, unearthed by Youtuber Angelo Caracausi, is a nearly half-hour time capsule showcasing a precise moment in 90s Dance culture through the lens of Staten Island.
There’s a lot going on here and the crowd seems to be way more diverse than some of you may have even imagined. For a place that has often been stereotyped for it’s one-note “Bro” archetype when it comes to a very broad sense of EDM culture, this footage is all over the place in the best of ways.
I don’t expect any of you to sit through the whole thing, but jumping around the footage you’ll see everything from traditional ravers bouncing around at a frenetic pace, flannel-clad teens smoking and hanging back, people dressed to the nines in sweaters and wool hats, and everything in-between.
It’s funny to be reminded of how broad of a crowd there can be for one specific type of music. Especially on Staten Island, sometimes we could use a good reminder that nothing is ever as locked in amber as we may think it is. We may each have our own perceptions of specific types of musical culture, but it only takes a video like this to dispel a lot of the rumors and showcase a whole swath of people coming together to have a little fun.
Vin Forte is a writer. He also hosts the ‘Any Time with Vin Forte’ podcast. He is currently working on an anthology of short stories due out later this year.
