By Munraj Chawla

I Found God in a Rave

I should preface this to say I’m not actually religious (even though I wear a turban and have a beard and look like I have my religious shit together) and this isn’t a preachy kind of SCAB  – I just really love people and life right now. 

In 2013, I was in my first year of university. I’ve recently challenged myself to not drink until the last day of the first term of SCA (December 20th if you were wondering – oh how my liver fears that rapidly approaching day). However, in 2013 I was the typical 18 year old party student, dominating in Beer Pong and cheating in Ring of Fire. But, then I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and my doctor advised that I stop drinking alcohol (which I actually listened to for a while). I didn’t want to stop my party lifestyle so I became the sober guy at the raves. I was scared of having a boring evening but I was scared of FOMO even more. Being sober at a rave gave me a change to step outside the experience and see it for what it was. 

The atmosphere of foam parties and UV paint raves don’t immediately scream ‘place of God,’ more like ‘place of hedonism.’ Yet, there are strong similarities between a rave and places of worship and meditation. Everyone there is on the same level, connected by the music they’re dancing along to and connected to the people they’re interacting with. Marc often describes what we do as advertisers as being the ‘umbilical cord’ between brand and human (not consumer, we don’t use that word). In a rave, I imagine a spiritual cord connecting everyone to the DJ or artist performing. Much like a priest, there’s an emotion being shared by everyone inside the venue guided by this figure. 

But, what if you’ve never been to a rave? What else can you expect from this unlikely place of worship? The key element would of course be the mosh pit; a crowd at the very edge of the stage, soaking up all the happiness being dealt out by the DJ. The preachers and judgemental religious people would be akin to the people in a mosh pit whose only intentions are to cause havoc and end up ruining somebody else’s experience. 

Outside of that, there are people throwing up in the smoking area and doing drugs in the bathroom. Definitely not place of worship material. 

Perhaps then the title of this SCAB should have been about finding God in a Crowd. I don’t mean all crowds. Crowds at a football match, for example, where there is competition between the groups attending wouldn’t be applicable. I’m referring to a crowd with the sole intention of sharing and enjoying the same experience, like a concert or festival. 

With that in mind, if I prescribe to the idea that we are all God, i.e. that we all have God inside us (which I do), then the beauty of that experience and the connection of something greater than ourselves inside us suggest to me that, in the atmosphere of crowd at least, God exists. 

Song of the SCAB: 

Blackbear – Hate My Guts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZxZd0me8fE