The first four or five years everything was awesome … in the sense of being accepted. Avicii: True Stories, 2017
After that, I decided, fuck it, I quit. ibid.
I started coming up with unique stuff. ibid.
‘He is a warm family man. Hard working.’ ibid. record dude
2008-2012: Shows 550. ibid. caption
What I should have done obviously is to stop. ibid. Avicii
‘Dance music has always been about an escape, a letting go.’ What We Started, Netflix 2017
‘You just get lost in this aural sound escape.’ ibid.
Space Ibiza is the most awarded nightclub in history. 54-year-old Carl Cox has been the resident DJ at Space since 2001. 2016 is his final year. ibid. captions
‘Those primal beats returned in different forms.’ ibid.
‘We were more excited about change … We were obsessed about innovation.’ ibid. Pete Tong
‘We were underground. It wasn’t a commercial movement.’ ibid. Paul Oakenfold
‘Rave culture developed from acid house, outdoor parties held in fields.’ ibid.
‘It was the Year Zero. We were starting again.’ ibid. Pete Tong
‘The scale of it was just unreal.’ ibid.
‘The drugs play a big part in it too.’ ibid. Moby
Promotional shoot Fyre festival the Bahamas: The biggest event in a decade, I promise you. Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened, co-founder, Netflix 2019
Now the event’s co-founder is facing up to 20 years in prison. ibid. news
A small island in the Bahamas? It was probably the most difficult place you could do it. ibid. promotional associate
They booked the festival during the busiest weekend in the year. ibid. dude
Billy McFarland was sentenced to six years in federal prison and agreed to a lifetime ban on serving as a corporate officer or director. ibid.
So when an opportunity presents itself to get out of your parents’ basement and go be part of something that’s culturally relevant, you’re going to absolutely jump at that. Fyre Fraud, opening scene, Hulu 2019
The whole thing is wrapped in sex appeal. ibid. dude
It’s an absolute circus. I don’t know what’s going on. ibid. lass
People like to see rich millennials get scammed. ibid. sceptic
So Billy goes island shopping. ibid. dude
An impossible thing to do. ibid. sensible dude
Those villas to not exist. ibid. observant dude
Over the past thirty years ecstasy has become one of the most notorious drugs. No other illegal substance has had such an effect on fashion, music and how we party. Twenty years on from its acid house hey-day E and its crystal form MDMA still rank in the top three most popular illegal drugs in the UK. But for some people ecstasy has caused agony. How Drugs Work: Ecstasy, BBC 2008
Every year in the UK over half a million people use ecstasy. It’s become a big feature of British club culture ... Many users have swapped pills for the crystal form of the drug – named after its main active ingredient MDMA. ibid.
At the brain the molecules are carried through tiny capillaries whose walls are thick enough to protect the brain from most impurities. ibid.
MDMA, the main active ingredient in ecstasy, was first synthesised in Germany in 1912 and was originally intended to be used as a blood-clotting agent. ibid.
Tests have shown a huge variation in their quality. ibid.
At the 2009 Glastonbury festival John Ramsey’s test on confiscated pills showed that just 8% had MDMA. ibid.
Where one nerve meets another there are tiny gaps. Here the messages are relayed by the release of chemicals ... It releases the chemical Serotonin which affects our mood. Serotonin latches on to receptors on the neighbouring nerve cell starting a chain-reaction of feel-good messages. Normally excess Serotonin is reabsorbed into the nerve cell that released it but MDMA stops this process. ibid.
Results so far suggest ecstasy actually decreases the user’s ability to read negative emotions in others. ibid.
In this network a chemical messenger called dopamine transmits messages that control movement. It all results in a burst of physical energy. ibid.
No-one knows for sure if it causes significant long-term damage. ibid.
Ecstasy triggers a hormone that can make it difficult to urinate. So they can conserve more water than usual. Also people on ecstasy may drink more because they are dancing all night in hot sweaty nightclubs. This can raise the water levels in the body even further. High levels of water in the blood can cause massive problems when the blood reaches the brain – the cells swell with water causing the brain to crush against the skull. In catastrophic cases the swollen brain pushes down on the spinal column. ibid.
Getting too hot is another possible physical effect of ecstasy. ibid.
Experts think the big release of Serotonin in this part of the brain could be enough to stop the body’s thermostat working properly. ibid.
Many ecstasy users try to keep up until morning by taking more of the drug – but often the loved-up feelings elude them. That’s because there’s a limited supply of Serotonin available, and the massive release earlier has left the supplies depleted. The draining effects of the comedown don’t just last until after use. ibid.
The short-term depressive effects of ecstasy are well-known. But there are some that believe that far from causing depression, ecstasy can be used to treat it. ibid.
This year a major trial will begin testing MDMA in therapy for the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. ibid.
MDMA therapy remains controversial though. ibid.
It was the drug that took the nineties’ club scene by storm. For many users ecstasy remains the ultimate love drug. Yet organised drug gangs would kill for it. Drugs Inc s2e3: Ecstasy, National Geographic 2012
The active ingredient in ecstasy is MDMA. ibid.
Many users say the high starts with rushes of exhilaration and tingling sensations like butterflies. ibid.
Dehydration and overheating – the main cause of ecstasy casualties. ibid.
Ecstasy is also known as the love drug. ibid.
Days after taking the drug users can still suffer from mild exhaustion and Serotonin depletion. ibid.
Criminals will kill for a slice of the love drug market established to be worth more than $65 billion a year. ibid.
Mixing drugs at raves is common. ibid.
Ecstasy is making a comeback. ibid.
A popular club drug Molly. Drugs Inc s5e7: Molly Madness, 2014
Molly is powdered MDMA ... The buzz can last up to six hours. ibid.
A quarter of a million UK clubbers visit Ibiza every year. Since 1999 drug-taking in this group has trebled. Dealers call this island White Paradise. Drugland III: Ibiza, BBC 2004
Since the major English nightclubs opened for business in Ibiza in the late ’80s the White Island has become a dream destination for Britain’s young clubbing fraternity. ibid.
MDMA crystals are a powerful form of ecstasy that’s sold in small bags of white powder. ibid.
For the past thirty years ecstasy has become one of America’s top club drugs. It’s had a major effect on fashion, music and how we party. Drugged s1e3: High on Ecstasy, 2011
The crystal form of the drug … MDMA. ibid.
Temperature can rise rapidly without them noticing. ibid.
‘You never get all your stores back up to the way they were before you took MDMA.’ ibid. user
’89 is a key year for Liverpool … After Hillsborough so many people and so many things changed … And then this drug popped up, a small tablet that created happiness. Liverpool Narcos II: Ecstasy, Sky Documentaries 2021, Emile Coleman
Best buzz you’ll ever get. It’s a love drug. ibid. user
In a sense there was something evangelical about selling ecstasy. You were doing a good thing for people … Demand outstripped supply in terms of quality. ibid. Counsellor
The rave scene was descending more and more into the underworld. Britain’s Underworld: Essex Bad Boys, National Geographic 2011
With raves came drugs, and with drugs came a bloody gang warfare. ibid.
The Essex’ drugs market was rife. ibid.