from San Francisco Examiner Image - 2/16/92

The Ecstatic Cybernetic Amino Acid Test
By Cynthia Robins



Some people voice doubt as to whether a genuine youth movement can grow out of these profitable high-tech parties. ToonTown's New Year's Eve gate was reported to be $175,000; a recent Saturday night rave called the Gathering packed more than 700 people into the Stone at $15 a pop. The commercial nature of the rave scene makes some observers skeptical. Adam Block, rock critic for _The Advocate_ and an astute observer of the local scene, says "The ToonTown monstrosity on New Year's Eve struck me as a pretentious, silly rip-off. These kids have stumbled into a social and cultural void that entreprenuers are exploiting. The raves have been appropriated from their underground roots and sold with all kinds of cyberpunk double-talk as ecstatic communalism. I'd say it's an awfully yuppie form of Dionysian celebration." Older scenester- hipsters like Rob "Rob Chop" Vance look around at the sonic youth and snort, "This scene's in tatters. It's teentown."