apparently its now due to gangsters from London attracted by the UK Garage being played in the clubs…

one of the senior detectives was speaking to the media today; he had been in the force 28 years and never heard of a firearm being discharged to settle a dispute at a social occasion (and this is in a semi-rural area where guns aren’t exactly uncommon)

but stupid fights over regional rivalries are unacceptable whatever weapons are used or even if they are just using fists and feet…

everyone loses from them in the end, as even if the cops don’t get involved the NHS staff who patch up the injured often tell the cops that they have treated people with serious injuries due to gang fights (they don’t pass on names though)

so the venues get a bad name and get closure orders put on them

and society says “young people can’t control themselves late at night, so just shut down the late night venues and restrict their freedom”

hmm – and what kicked it all off? The 1995 clampdown on recreational drug use in the East of England (thus encouraging more drinking of alcohol), and the rise of UK Garage as “grown up clubbing music” in the late 1990s and its acceptance by the mainstream despite the violence and hate in its lyrics

IMO some of the lyrics are as bad as those militant muslims or the BNP in glorifiying violence – and worst of all its the only music genre which chose to abandon the more positive musical forms (a friend of mine was a UKG producer and promoter but got out of the scene as he feared for his safety!)

Zest is on closure now anyway; it may not open over the festive season and I reckon that may bankrupt it…

if it ever opens again as a nightclub I hope the management learn from their mistakes…

yeah I would agree with that – if the authorities don’t do something about the culture of fighting round here (instead of just clamping down on people with a few pills or having a smoke) they are gonna have serious “public order issues” by next summer…

my new friends I have met here since moving here in March try to put on decent, friendly events in Ipswich and yet they get hassle from cops over “links to illegal raves” etc, also with people who are just aggressive when they do not need to be…

I know people in EA like to stick up for themselves and their views but there’s no need for aggression and tension at raves otherwise they are no different from any townie activity and without bouncers/cops someone could actually get hurt or killed (BTW when this happens as it has done in London cops sometimes seize your rig as part of a “crime scene!”)

A few years ago (before I lived here) I noticed that fighting and violence is destroying the parties in SE England and London, more so even than the hassles from the police… its not too bad here but there are still flashpoints and bits of tension at every rave and this shit really doesn’t need to happen at parties

its a good philosophy as well of just stopping the music at parties to shock people out of fighting, you may not be able to stop things before they happen but at least you can show its not acceptable..

Welcome to partyvibe BTW – good to see another Suffolk raver on here!