Flavor of English-Style ‘Rave’

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.

It may not have technically been a “rave”--the underground, often semi-legal-at-best parties that originated in England--but it had the flavor of one. Primal Scream’s appearance was just a part of the entertainment; deejays started spinning records for the crowd at 9 p.m. and continued after the concert until 3 a.m.

For promoters banking on the rave format to draw young people looking for more than the traditional concert experience, this was the most encouraging of a series of similar events. Primal Scream’s rising popularity seemed to bring out a lot of teens who had heard of raves but never been to one.

Many of those trickling toward the exit about half an hour after the band finished (“I’ve been dancing since 9 and I’m tired and hungry,” said one teen-age boy) reported that they would now like to go to a real rave, and that they’d certainly come back to another rave-like party such as this.