POP MUSIC REVIEW : 808 State Leads E-Ticket to Escapism

Saturday night’s rave at downtown’s Shrine Exposition Hall was an aural E-ticket to relentless escapism. Headlined by the Manchester, England, group 808 State, the laser-enhanced party offered 2,500 fans a sonic tonic till 5 a.m.

Although most fans came for the opportunity to dance till they dropped, many members of the largely young crowd sat eerily transfixed for hours on the floor watching pictures roll by on three movie screens--abstract images, clips from “Metropolis,” an evil Mickey Mouse, etc.

808 State came on around 2:30 a.m., and although the three puckish computer wizards offered the frantic dancers a loud assault of pulsating rhythms layered with lovely, haunting, ethereal melodies, the songs were laden with more pomp than purpose. The group’s cold impression was due in part to the powerful precedent set by Meat Beat Manifesto, the English group that preceded them. Lead singer Jack Dangers managed to transcend techno hedonism and inject good, old-fashioned feeling into the music’s synthetic texture.

If the eight-hour wall of music wasn’t enough stimulation, viewers could stroll through the club’s upstairs black-light marketplace, which offered a fluorescent selection of body painting, plastic pacifiers and Blow-Pop lollipops.

But no refuge was offered to even momentarily escape the music’s pulsating pounding. 808 State’s Graham Massey whistled piercingly periodically, causing one beleaguered fan to scream, “I think he just erased some of my childhood memories.”