Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Rave Wrecked

DJ/promoter James Reynolds thought he had found the perfect place to throw a rave. According to the drum-and-bass DJ who goes by the name DJ Rabid, his May 16 party called Shipwrecked “…was the most underground event that San Diego had had in a long time.… We found a beach a mile and a half south of Black’s.… [A] sign…said the beach is the property of UCSD, which uses it for research. It didn’t say anything about no dogs or no glass or that the beach closes at a certain time. It just said that UCSD can revoke the right to use it at any time.”

Reynolds says that over 400 people attended Shipwrecked, which featured seven DJs. A driveway enabled Reynolds and his crew to bring down speakers, turntables, and a generator. He says he recruited “heavy hitters” such as DJ Dirty, DJ Hard Luck, and DJ Raptor.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“We gave ourselves six weeks to promote it. We brought a small PA for the first [rave, in late March]. This time we brought a lot more sound and canopy lights.… By 10 we had 150 people; by 11 we had a good 350. When the headliners went on, there were over 400, and they were tearing down the house. Right around 1:40 we heard there were cops up top. We made an announcement that the cops were here but that everything was fine and we should be sure to not leave trash on the beach.…

“[Police] came down the road with their headlights on, but when they got down to us they turned on their colored lights. Everyone started getting the hell out of there. The cops said, ‘Whose event is this?’… They told me I was going to jail because I had two felonies against me: federal trespassing on a research beach and throwing an illegal rave.… They said, ‘I don’t know why you thought you could get away with this.… You have an hour and 20 minutes to get out, and whatever is not off the beach is ours.’

“I’ve dealt with police officers before. As long as you don’t contradict them, things go better. Eventually they said if we ever catch you in La Jolla again doing anything like this, without hesitation we’d go to jail. He asked me where I was from. I told him Oceanside. He was, like, ‘We don’t want your type here; keep your problems and your people up there.’ It was like the scene in The Big Lebowski where they were told to get the fuck out of Malibu.”

Reynolds says the rave/electronica scene is thriving in L.A. and San Bernardino but that he has found it impossible to throw parties in North County.

“I’ve called just about every place I could think of. I thought we had the Ups-N-Downs roller rink in Escondido, but at the last minute they said we had to stop at midnight. Me and my buddy Matt drove all over Escondido, San Marcos, Oceanside, and Poway. We looked at warehouses in the middle of nowhere. The [commercial real estate] brokers we talked to all said, ‘We don’t want to have anything to do with anything like that. Thank you very much and have a good day.’ I spoke to a lady who handles events for the City of Escondido, and I basically got laughed at. She said, ‘We don’t condone those types of music events. Good luck.’ ”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego beaches not that nice to dogs

Bacteria and seawater itself not that great

DJ/promoter James Reynolds thought he had found the perfect place to throw a rave. According to the drum-and-bass DJ who goes by the name DJ Rabid, his May 16 party called Shipwrecked “…was the most underground event that San Diego had had in a long time.… We found a beach a mile and a half south of Black’s.… [A] sign…said the beach is the property of UCSD, which uses it for research. It didn’t say anything about no dogs or no glass or that the beach closes at a certain time. It just said that UCSD can revoke the right to use it at any time.”

Reynolds says that over 400 people attended Shipwrecked, which featured seven DJs. A driveway enabled Reynolds and his crew to bring down speakers, turntables, and a generator. He says he recruited “heavy hitters” such as DJ Dirty, DJ Hard Luck, and DJ Raptor.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“We gave ourselves six weeks to promote it. We brought a small PA for the first [rave, in late March]. This time we brought a lot more sound and canopy lights.… By 10 we had 150 people; by 11 we had a good 350. When the headliners went on, there were over 400, and they were tearing down the house. Right around 1:40 we heard there were cops up top. We made an announcement that the cops were here but that everything was fine and we should be sure to not leave trash on the beach.…

“[Police] came down the road with their headlights on, but when they got down to us they turned on their colored lights. Everyone started getting the hell out of there. The cops said, ‘Whose event is this?’… They told me I was going to jail because I had two felonies against me: federal trespassing on a research beach and throwing an illegal rave.… They said, ‘I don’t know why you thought you could get away with this.… You have an hour and 20 minutes to get out, and whatever is not off the beach is ours.’

“I’ve dealt with police officers before. As long as you don’t contradict them, things go better. Eventually they said if we ever catch you in La Jolla again doing anything like this, without hesitation we’d go to jail. He asked me where I was from. I told him Oceanside. He was, like, ‘We don’t want your type here; keep your problems and your people up there.’ It was like the scene in The Big Lebowski where they were told to get the fuck out of Malibu.”

Reynolds says the rave/electronica scene is thriving in L.A. and San Bernardino but that he has found it impossible to throw parties in North County.

“I’ve called just about every place I could think of. I thought we had the Ups-N-Downs roller rink in Escondido, but at the last minute they said we had to stop at midnight. Me and my buddy Matt drove all over Escondido, San Marcos, Oceanside, and Poway. We looked at warehouses in the middle of nowhere. The [commercial real estate] brokers we talked to all said, ‘We don’t want to have anything to do with anything like that. Thank you very much and have a good day.’ I spoke to a lady who handles events for the City of Escondido, and I basically got laughed at. She said, ‘We don’t condone those types of music events. Good luck.’ ”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.
Next Article

Live Five: Rebecca Jade, Stoney B. Blues, Manzanita Blues, Blame Betty, Marujah

Holiday music, blues, rockabilly, and record releases in Carlsbad, San Carlos, Little Italy, downtown
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader