You'd be suprised how many illegal raves there are... usually they're passed on by word of mouth (or sometimes facebook), but the location isn't given untill about midnight, then you phone the 'party line' which is an answer machine giving you directions to the location. This is because the police are pretty much powerless (and unwilling) to stop a rave once it is already in full swing, whereas if they find the location before hand they can take all the equipment and stop if before it even gets started. It's suprising how much work goes into organising them (gennies <3). In first year my whole flat were really into them, and the amount of raves we missed just because we didn't ask around was ridiculous.
I've been to a couple of warehouse ones but they're pretty seedy. I was at one in Brighton in a disused factory, and at about 7am it got raided by police with sniffer dogs because someone got bottled or something. Usually they just let them go on, but if it starts getting out of control they have to do something about it.
The best ones are the outdoor ones. I went to one in some forest near Cockfosters (I think Dave was actually living in Oakwood then too, which is like, 10 minutes away
). It was may 2009.
I'm not going into details about what I was doing there, but we were there for two days or so. It was without doubt the most ridiculously insane experience ever, and I wouldn't take it back for the world! There were some police, and a couple of choppers flying over, but I guess it's just easier for them to let the party die out.
Usually though, raves are pretty fun. They do one on the beach in Brighton after pride, but I think the police have really clamped down on it now (I didn't go last year). I'll always have the memory of going back to Nics house with richie in the morning, and Sue answering the door and saying something like 'did you go to that DODGEY rave?', haha <3. To be fair, I did think I was going to die at that point, so it's not all fun.
Everyone is just out to have a good time. Of course, you may see a bit of trouble, but it's usually just between the different gangs that are trying to sell their drugs. I can see how it's not everybody's cup of tea, and I probably wouldn't go to any now, but the ones I went to were great for that period of my teens. It's a bit of en eye opener to see just how many recreational drug users there are just in one area!