What can I tell you about the New Moon rave? Well..it started up in '92 one misty night when some friends dragged a sound system down a cliff at Greyhound Rock.
Scott Hardkiss showed up with his pal Mona. Scottie played his music and the New Moon Rave began.
The night was dark, and the moon was nowhere to be seen. When the sun came up over the cliffs, the friends all agreed they must do this again someday.
The next New Moon was in a houseboat. I wasn't there, but I heard it was cosy. Mona and friends made that one happen.
In the spring of '93 we threw parties at Point Reyes, at North Beach. Gaven Hardkiss played, and so did Charles Uzzel-Edwards, DRC, Galen (his first gig!), Dante, Graham (Darkhorse), and many others.
The idea was to throw small, intimate parties outdoors, to counteract the notion that a rave has to be in a warehouse, and that the music has to be HARD.
When you play the music outside, it mingles with natural sounds. Nothing sounds better than some slow, easy-going beats floating through the sounds of the ocean, or the wind in the trees.
Says Mona: "in a nightclub you're in a box and the music is just kind of bangin' around in there. But outdoors the music goes on forever."
In the summer of '94 we took the New Moon up to Goat Rock Beach, in Sonoma, where we celebrated the wedding of Glen and Heather. We liked it there so much that we went back again in '95 and '96.
We've also held events at indoor spots in SF, Albany, Inverness, Bolinas and Berkeley. And we've collaborated with other groups -> Friends and Family, Ameba, Gateway, and Pacific. One of our favorite group efforts was the Begin Again New Year's Eve party held at the now-defunct Cyberlab 7 warehouse. What a night!
Who's played the New Moon: Scott and Gavin Hardkiss, Galen of Pacific, Ronan, Cyril, DRC, Charles Uzzel-Edwards, Darkhorse, Nick Philip, Bryce Ryan, Jim Huckin, Billie Hestor, Scottie and Whitsit of MESS, Joe Rice, BioJeff, Pollywog, the Baroness (Charlotte), Kenneth Paul, Phred, Bryce, Kelly, BioJeff, M Normal, MoonPup, Felix the Dogge, Tracy and Mark Ameba, Clair (of Gateway), Jim Cyr, Dante, Harlan, Bonny, and others.
Each New Moon party features professional dj's who "play out" a lot as well as those that mostly play at "renegade" or underground raves. The biggest thrill of all is when someone "unknown" to the SF nightlife treats us to an awesome set.
Check back here for info about upcoming events!
-Ann
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