If you’ve been to an anime convention then you’ve seen seen the kinds of dances that they have Friday / Saturday night. Fans arrive dressed up like ravers with bright clothing and glowsticks and the party goes on well into the night. DJs play music like happy hardcore, drum n’ bass, chiptunes, dubstep, house, trance, eurobeat, etc. I’ve had some amazing memories attending con raves, and I’ve been a long-time fan of dance artists like Daft Punk and Basshunter. The LeetStreet Boys song “Comiket” was my first foray into writing songs trying to combine rock and anime rave music.

Just like with clubbing, there is also a social and sometimes sexual element to dance parties. It’s not uncommon to hear tales of couples meeting at dances or hookups on the dance floor. But there are also stories about people attempting to meet someone at a dance and giving unwanted attention. Dancing a little too close by, or at times even more unsavory types. This song was inspired by one of those personal experience stories.

I was attending a con and sharing the hotel room with a friend, and also with several other people whom I did not know previously. It was Saturday night, and my companions were “pregame” drinking before the dance. The guys made a drunken vow that they were all going to “get laid at the rave” which presumably means they would all find girls at the dance and have sex with them. They were very zealous about their pact, swearing that they would not return to the hotel room until they had met their goal. It was like something out of the American Pie movies.

Hours later that night, they came back to the room (still drunk) and it was clear that in spite of their boasting, none of them were successful in getting laid. As they stumbled inside, they started freaking out that they were sharing a hotel room with me, the “famous” singer of LeetStreet Boys! Neither my friend or I had mentioned that previously, and it was clearly something they were excited by much to my amusement. So the story ended well even though their aspirations of sexual conquest that night had gone unfulfilled. I wrote “OtakuRave” imagining the story of this group of guys attending the dance and what might have happened. Stepping into the club like VIPs, charming attractive women on the dance floor, and then partying so hard that passed out.

If you go to a con rave, have a great time dancing to the music and being in the crowd, but make sure to be safe. Don’t drink heavily or take any kind of drugs. If you happen to meet someone and there’s mutual attraction then that’s great, but don’t go to the dance with the expectation of “getting laid at the rave.” You’re likely to creep someone out or you could even get thrown out of the event if you do something predatory and dangerous. Likewise, if somebody is making you feel uncomfortable then move to another part of the floor, or if they’re persistent then contact a staff member.

I also wanna give a shout out to some of my favorite DJs on the convention circuit: Initial P of Disko Warp Music, Katsuhiko Jinnai, DJ Fender, “The Internet” and “Glenntai” from Nerdfit Network. Late night experiences at anime cons can be the stuff of l3g3nds. Until next time, see you on the dance floor!