Adieu Rave

On the 26 June, Brisbane’s best street press Rave Magazine abruptly ceased publication after 21 years and 1047 print editions. I had been contributing to the magazine for almost two years, signing on as an indie reviewer in August 2009.

This started off a long, meandering piece lamenting the magazine’s death, but after reading Justin Edward’s great tribute, I’ll simply say that I was always very proud of having the opportunity to contribute to the publication.

Despite not being able to be as prolific as many other contributors, I wrote nearly 100 record reviews, 9 video game reviews, conducted 22 interviews, and helped put together two special features, and was an occasional guest on the magazines weekly podcast, Rave On. The editorial team at Rave always made my contributions feel valued and graciously put up with my inclination to the occasional grammatical error. I often felt guilty and overwhelmed by the fact that my work appeared alongside so many other talented writers and photographers.

I owe Rave quite a bit actually. The magazine greatly expanded my knowledge of music and allowed me to talk to some of my heroes. I got to interview Andy Falkous of Future Of The Left twice. I even talked to Australian icons like comedian Glenn Robbins and children’s singer Peter Combe.

Most importantly, it allowed me to fully engage my passion for supporting local groups who traditionally miss out on coverage in mainstream publications and other forms of media. Fittingly, my first and last pieces for the magazine were records by local artists – the first being The Mercy Beat’s How To Shampoo A Yak and the last was ex-Not From There frontman Heinz Riegler’s solo record, Survey #2 (One Thousand Dreams I Never Had). Through the magazine, I discovered a world of music previously hidden from me – bands like Kitchen’s Floor, No Anchor, and a large variety of great music from local talents that has further enriched my life.

Adieu Rave. You’ll be missed.