Groove

Movies that changed me

Released in the year 2000, when I was sixteen years old and already a raver for at least a year and a half, Groove follows the story of multiple people attending the same underground warehouse rave in San Francisco.

All of them there for different reasons, and all of them having different experiences in that one same night.

From the opening credits the constant influx of sounds, images, and vibrations are a wonderful introduction into the true life of a raver at the time.

Consumed by the dancefloor by night and the message boards by day, we’d scour every inch for hints of the next rave in both the real and cyber world, all ending up and also starting with what we used to lovingly call, the map point.

At the map point is where the main characters are introduced, and although there are many stories going on, I’d like to mainly focus on one, the journey of the educated introvert, David, as he attends a rave for the first time, a storyline I suppose we can all relate too in one way or the other. And what a night for him it would truly end up being.

Tagging along with his brother, he is as wide eyed as they come even though he is obviously already a full grown man. What this does is it instils the idea, that when entering this world, we are all completely naïve and unaware at the beginning, no matter where or when we started.

I can remember this feeling so well. The unknown of the warehouse that awaited my entrance. The look on the eyes of the people who have already been. Their commitment to the point of devotion.

All strangers in the sunlight but something so much more in the darkness of night.

This is what the rave asked of us. I don’t feel much has changed.

As they finally arrive at the rave, the storyline begins to correlate with the DJ’s playing, and how they change and progress as the night goes on. Which I love since it represents a DJ set itself.

Starting at one place and ending with something completely different, and if done properly, a representation of not just the person playing, but the entire night.

First is a small time local DJ named Snaz, just happy to be there, just happy to be a part of the crew, even if its only to have music when the doors are opened.

Such importance to that roll, though. Such responsibility in starting the night and creating the first vibe. For many people the opener’s music is going to be the first music they hear that night, and for David it’s the first sound he hears as he walks in the door.

Which is also right around the time he takes his first hit of ecstasy, an equally life changing experience as the first time at a rave, so when experienced together it becomes a legendary opportunity, for David at least.

But were any of us so different? As time goes on we pretend to be the jaded know it all, but deep down, we know the reason why we still go every night is because we want that feeling again.

That explosion in our brain that changed everything. That high we still chase to this day.

I know it. You know it.

After the opener comes Polywog, a character all on her own, and yet just as equal a part of the experience.

There are two moments that stand out about Polywog’s place in this story, and the first is the moment she lays her track over the opener’s.

The minute it drops the power goes up and so does the energy and I can tell you without thinking this moment happens at nearly every stop I make. The moment the gathering becomes a party, and people don’t just dance, they also let go.

The second moment involving Polywog, is when David has somehow wandered the Rave long enough to find Leyla, a bit of a rave angel, who doesn’t just save him from having a bad trip, but she also leads him onto the dancefloor just as Polywog is in the middle of mixing two records.

This moment shows the power a DJ who is skilled at their craft can have over not just the sounds, but also our own feelings. They can control the vibrations and frequencies in such a way that either madness or pleasure can happen. Sometimes both. But not most times.

What David is experiencing is again, a rite of passage we all must pass through in order to let it change you, and yet as he is experiencing this, we must also acknowledge, there are others at the Rave that this epiphany just doesn’t happen to. And we can try and show them the way, and offer them peace, but still it may fall on deaf ears.

That is the way of the Raver. We can share our joy with the entire world and still they may never even stop to notice us dancing in the darkness they created. I don’t feel that detail will ever change.

From here comes a moment that truly represented the time and state of mind of the Rave during the turn of the century, with first a Techno DJ, and then after that, Drum and Bass taking over the sound system. Such contrasting sounds from Polywog before them and even Snaz before that, but that was the point.

Nowadays we all have our own cliques, and our own shows to promote, and our friends to rally behind, but back then we didn’t have that luxury, and I suppose we didn’t need it. All sounds and styles were represented on the dancefloor and everybody was treated equally.

The Trance kids danced with the Jungle Crew, just like the Techno fam bounced with the House heads, and there was always, I mean always, a break dance circle at some point throughout the night.

There was no separation of sounds, and because of that, no separation of our culture. What is now considered a gimmick with one stage, we once knew as the standard and only way. What it did is it broke down those barriers we made around ourselves and between each other. The barriers I can feel that are going up again, especially here in the 505.

With all its dramatics, and cheesy lines, and goofiness, Groove is an attempt to represent a moment in our lives we knew so well. The moment where the impossible seemed real and when magic stopped being something we just saw in the movies. It was now something we were a part of.

From there comes another moment we all experienced just like all the rest. The moment the Rave gets busted.

As David is falling in love, with both a woman, and the rave itself, a police officer is wandering the warehouse looking for an excuse to shut it down.

Played by Nick Offerman, who would later go on to play one of my favorite characters of all time, Ron Swanson from the show Parks and Rec, the officer agrees to let them keep going as long as they kept it down and safe.

A moment that happened often back then.

At any moment a cop may be standing there ready to arrest you if you gave him a reason, and the fact that most of us were underage and on drugs wasn’t helping our cause. It’s so funny to think how dangerous it actually was, but lets be honest, that was part of the fun, right?

But with great fun comes the constant counter. Often times the cop wasn’t so nice and he’d come back to shut the whole thing down, which is exactly what this officer does later in the night as people from another rave crowd around the outside.

What was once a small gathering was now a busted event, with the headliner never even having the chance to show up.

For everyone involved it’s a disaster and major letdown, with David himself losing Leyla in the crowd, and eventually finding his brother again as he wandered the street in the night. Typical way a broken up rave usually ends.

But this is where a bit of Hollywood comes in with even a movie like Groove. Just as the people filed out and the warehouse is quiet again, the headliner shows up ready to play his set, and who is the headliner for this one?

None other, than legendary DJ John Digweed, who at the time was already a massively respected and admired DJ by all corners of the Rave World, and not much has changed to this day.

With Digweed’s presence and enthusiasm now included, the four people throwing the rave decide to find a generator, invite everybody back, and finish the rave in the proper way, with Digweed spinning the last track.

As we see Raver’s slam red bulls or even dose back up, we cut right into a wonderful return to the dancefloor as Digweed is already well into it and playing an absolutely epic song that I’d find years later, called Virtua Trancer.

Even the head of the crew decides to relinquish his authority to spend the rest of the night dancing, enjoying it with the rest of the people brave and devoted enough to come back.

And it’s at this moment, that the magic truly happens not just for everybody on the dancefloor, but also for myself as well, and I’d like to finally tell you why.

Right around the time Groove came out, I had gone to my first outdoor rave, a two day one called Rumors that they had somewhere out near three sided hole in Rio Rancho or something.

Rumors was a part of a wonderful moment for the New Mexico rave scene, and for myself as well. So much of my past connects to that weekend, and in this case, the music is the perfect example.

Somewhere during the weekend, I heard a song, and I loved it without question as soon as I heard it. And not only that, but the crowd loved it as well. Everybody everywhere on that dancefloor was just getting down, and going crazy, and enjoying every moment.

That song lit up the dancefloor unlike any song I have heard since, and I wondered for a long time what that song was. Would I ever hear it again? Did it even have a name?

For the longest time we’d just call it ‘The Rumors song’. I mean, it’s not like we could go on the internet and search it out. Spotify, Apple Music, all that stuff were at least a decade away, and unless we stood over the DJ as they played their track, we had no way of knowing what it really was.

It took me a long time to hear that song again, and I didn’t actually hear it anywhere. That is, until Digweed mixed in his final track.

I remember that day so well, we were at Sonya and Serge’s house over on Broadway, and there must have been at least 10 of us that day. All young with nothing better to do.

So we’d just hang and smoke and watch vhs tapes until the people with cars showed back up.

So I’m sitting there and sure enough, he mixes, and boom, it’s the Rumors song, and not all of us were at Rumors, so not all of us noticed. I suppose they think of it as the Groove song, but I suppose that’s part of the point.

Any song at any moment can mean anything to anybody, and yet sometimes a song doesn’t just do that, but it finds a way to unite us all. To bring forth from our memories that moment and feeling where we knew this movement would change the world.

But Rumors, just like the rave in Groove, eventually came to an end, and with that came the sunrise and the realization that life goes on and so does the beat. For that wonderful moment I felt out there in the desert, I now knew I had something to come back to as a way of remembering what it meant to me, which I suppose was the point of the movie as well.

The actors weren’t the best, the storyline had some holes and obvious stereotypes. The plotlines were simple, but then again they just didn’t have to be so complicated. Wasn’t that what we loved about the rave in the first place?

In closing, there is one thing I’d like to reference before I say my last words about groove, and although there are many parts and storylines In this one night that deserve mention, I feel the final one is perhaps the cheesiest.

The nod.

It’s mentioned before Digweed goes on, and it’s shown at the end of the night as David thanks Ernie for the show.

“I really needed this.” And he nods.

I understand how foolish and over the top this really is, but I can also assure you it is a very real thing, whether we want to admit it or not.

The people on the dancefloor need this. We need it to get through, we need it to help us stop and enjoy or lives, but most of all, we need it to find each other.

Where would we be if the music didn’t lead us into each other’s lives? Who would we be?

The music may be the excuse for being there, but never the reason. Groove knows that and so do I.

So, as the movie comes to an end, and everybody goes their separate ways, ready to return to their normal lives for just a little bit more, at least until the next one; the idea and message is clear.

If we don’t stop every now and then, and notice the beauty that surrounds us, both in the Rave and in each other, it may very well one day just pass us by.

Say thank you for the moment, and for the music, and even those awkward moments we won’t have back. Even if you don’t realize it, the promoter may need that thanks the same way you needed the dancefloor.

I know how cheesy that sounds. But so does a movie based on a rave. Which is why we love it. And all I hope for you, if you’re reading these words, is that one day, you’ll have a Rumors moment of your own, and that while you’re having it, you’re surrounded by the people you love.

Come find me on the dancefloor some time. I’ll be trying to find my Groove.

See what I did there?