Milwaukee media throws a rave, but was it really just a dance party?

When is a rave a rave and not just a regular ol’ party? If Milwaukee media knows the difference, they opted not to explain it this weekend when covering Saturday night’s bust-up of a late-night soiree held at North Avenue and Martin Luther King Dr. According to reports, more than 300 “juveniles” were at the party, and two security guards, the DJ, and the building owner were arrested. The Journal Sentinel, WTMJ, and Fox 6 described the party as a “rave,” but the media outlets were curiously lacking in rave-style details. As far as we can tell from the coverage, there weren’t any drugs found on the premises. Fox 6 did track down an eyewitness who claims party-goers “were climbing poles like Tarzan,” but it doesn’t appear that the revelry was causing a major disturbance. 

So what was going on? According to WTMJ, “a DJ was playing music and hundreds of young people were dancing.” The guards were arrested for carrying concealed weapons, and the DJ was taken into custody “as part of an unrelated homicide case.” The owner of the building “will be cited for numerous violations including no occupancy permit, and not having a dance license.” That’s it? You didn’t even dig up one glowstick?

“A DJ was playing music and hundreds of young people were dancing” accurately describes the scenes at dozens of bars and clubs in this town every weekend. Of course, Milwaukee media would never use a sensationalistic term like “rave” without knowing what it means, but we wish they would be a little more clear when trying to frighten us about where our kids are. Because "Police break up dance party" sort of has a different ring to it, no?