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Book Review: Requiem For My Rave

Requiem For My Rave Documents the Peace, Love, Unity and Respect of Toronto’s Rave Scene
Book Review by Ryan Clark – May 12, 2020

Chris Frolic Group Inc, 2019, ISBN – 978-1999208301, 492 pages, $22.97
(also available in Kindle version)

“I just know that something good is going to happen,” Kate Bush sings in the classic rave anthem by The Utah Saints. This was the anticipation experienced on the eve of a Hullabaloo Party. The hype was real.

“Something Good” was also the title of the inaugural Hullabaloo Party back in 1997. All of these parties were documented with great peace, love, unity and respect in the book “Requiem for my Rave: The Story of Anabolic Frolic, Happy Hardcore, and Hullabaloo!”

The book’s author Chris Frolic is the misunderstood mastermind behind these parties. The dj and promoter is a Canadian rave legend.

It’s all here: the good, the bad and the sketchy. Hulla parties were an exciting and risky destination for the underground kandy kids of Toronto; Fun fur, friendship bracelets, designer drugs and death.

We may never see events like that again. Chris recalls the impact the COVID-19 cousin, SARS, had on tourism in Toronto at the time. “We would throw five more successful parties at the Opera House in 2003, with the only hiccup being the SARS outbreak during that summer.”

If that was a hiccup, COVID-19 is a convulsion.

The majority of the Hulla parties took place in the famous Opera House, a venue that once hosted Nirvana. Although vastly different musically (those cheesy happy hardcore lyrics are a guilty pleasure), there are similarities between HH and grunge. Both came of age in the nineties and while HH was comparatively… happier, it shared the same teen spirit. Requiem for My Rave contains several heartfelt emails, like Fatty Matty’s experience transitioning from goth to the kandy raver subculture. “That party was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was within days of suicide, and I can honestly tell you love changed me.” Like mosh pits, those raves were a place of release.

Hulla performer Nat Pizzonia aka “MC Flipside” was a guest speaker at the Requiem for My Rave book release party last year at the Opera House. “This is a very big achievement,” he said. “Bigger than winning a Grammy.” For Chris, the piercing scream of whistles is the ultimate accolade. They echo through the dance halls of time and the raves de jour. 

Requiem for my Rave is a nostalgic stomp down memory lane, best enjoyed with Chris’ Happy 2B Hardcore mixes.

Make some noise for Toronto’s Rave Saint, the cherubic Anabolic Frolic!

Book Review Bonus:
See the book release interview with Chris and Nat at youtube.com/djrc420.


About the Reviewer – Ryan Clark

Ryan Clark is the General Manager of Dreamers Creative Writing. He holds an Advertising and Communications diploma from Mohawk College. As an event coordinator and board member of Open Minds Respect Events, Ryan assists with poetry events. He is the former Editor at Big B Publishing, a construction trade magazine in Southern Ontario and works as a Sound Engineer and Instructor at an electronic music studio in Oakville called Musicboxx. Ryan is also multimedia DJ and producer of 3D music videos and virtual reality content.


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