Rave

France's parliament adopted a measure that will give authorities more control over raves--all-night techno dance parties that sometimes draw thousands of young people. The measure, which requires rave organizers to give local authorities advance notice of parties, was part of a broad package on security passed in the National Assembly. Deaths during rave parties in France--including several drug overdoses--have fueled a political battle.

And the beat went on . . . and on . . . and on. When Primal Scream finished its Hollywood Palladium set at 1:20 a.m. on Sunday, it seemed the party was just beginning for about half of the 2,000-plus people in the ballroom. At the end of the band's second encore, hardly a pulsating electronic beat was missed before lights were flashing throughout the hall, a large rubber platform for people to bounce on was being inflated and the remaining fans were dancing in one mass.

A decade ago, Tom Stephenson opened a 16-screen theater in Montgomery, Ala., with a brash plan: build a national chain from scratch, one that would siphon business from the major circuits by offering the latest amenities in stadium seating, digital sound, silver-screen-size broadcasts of sporting events and opera. Stephenson recently took a big step toward reaching his goal when his Dallas-based Rave Cinemas emerged as the unlikely buyer of as many as 35 theaters owned by National Amusements Inc., the theater circuit owned by media mogul Sumner Redstone's family.

The Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act, previously called the RAVE Act, cleared Congress last week, setting the stage for rave promoters to be prosecuted if there is drug use at rave sites. The act, sponsored by Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), tweaks a 17-year-old federal drug law, originally crafted to prosecute owners of crack houses, by expanding its definition of a site devoted to drug enterprise to include onetime events and outdoor gatherings.

A 24-year-old man died and 18 others were transported to emergency rooms after taking Ecstasy at an all night New Year's Eve rave at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, according to a report released Thursday. The report, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, comes after the death of two men who had attended a Cow Palace rave over the Memorial Day weekend south of San Francisco. The cases raised questions about whether publicly owned venues like the Sports Arena should host such events.

Thousands of revelers heading to Europe's biggest rave party created a six-mile traffic jam and turned the event on an isolated part of the French-Italian border into a safety risk, French authorities said. As many as 18,000 people had shown up for the unauthorized Teknival party in the Larche pass just inside Italy's border by Saturday, and 12,000 more were expected today.

About 900,000 ravers thronged Zurich, Switzerland, dancing in sweltering heat at summer's biggest techno-music street party. Street Parade organizers said the size of the crowd topped Berlin's Love Parade, which drew about half a million in July.

For all the reasons outlined in your July 29 commentary, "Ill-Informed Bill to Counter Ecstasy Use in Clubs Is Nothing to Rave About," the U.S. Senate deserves our utmost support for proposing the Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's probably time to call the game warden. The proposed RAVE Act would hold landlords liable for allowing housing to be used for drug transactions that create long-term community problems.

Ten years on, the shadowy underground world of rave culture has entered the light with a vengeance, what with Jaguar now hawking its cars to a "trance" remix of Sting's "Desert Rose," not to mention the recent release of three rave-oriented movies, including the documentary "Better Living Through Circuitry," which focuses on the Los Angeles scene. Like most dance music fans, veteran DJ and producer Christopher Lawrence is not surprised by such commercialization. An L.A.

Dawn was approaching when the underground wizard stepped center stage at the State Palace Theatre to survey his electronic wonderland. Laser lights strafed the grand old chandeliers overhead, and deafening machine music rattled the opera boxes. The floor was packed with young, sweaty dancers. "Great crowd," J. Donnie Estopinal said. And then, with a boyish smile, he added: "I wonder which ones are the cops."