RAVE OR DIE TOUR 2025 ––
One film.
One book.
Eight cities.
Six Festivals.
Two clubnights.
And a single burning question: what is hardcore?
Massive thanks to everyone who has bought the book, told a friend, joined the chat in the shop/rave/cinema/bar and continues to live, breath and sweat the culture by supporting our artists, venues, labels and parties too stubborn and fantastically reckless to quit.
DANCE OR DIE!
Nov 29 –– Porto/Post/DocFestival screening + panel
Nov 28 –– Porto/Post/DocFestival screening
Nov 27 –– Dance or Die Lisbon at Well Read
Nov 27 –– History of Hardcore show on Radio Quantica
Oct 24 –– Amsterdam Dance Event History of Hardcore vinyl session
Oct 22 –– Amsterdam Dance Event screening at Melkweg
Oct 11 –– Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam screening
Oct 4 –– Dance or Die Paris w/ Explity Music
Sep 26 –– Dance or Die Amsterdam w/ Hard Attack
Sep 25 –– Dance or Die presentation w/ N8W8
Aug 1 –– Hardcore in Motion BMIM panel at Dekmantel
Jul 17 –– Dance or Die Rotterdam w/ PRSPCT
Jul 13 –– Dance or Die Manchester at renae
Jul 12 –– Cologne SEE THE SOUND Music Film Festival screening
Jul 9 –– Dance or Die London w/ Velocity Press
Jun 14 –– Save Cinerama Rotterdam special screening
Mar 5 –– Erasmus University Rotterdam screening + panel
Jan 31 –– International Film Festival Rotterdam world premier + Perron after
We all know that hardcore will never die – but do we really know what hardcore is?
As a music journalist for 15 years and raver for much longer, Holly Dicker is no stranger to documenting dance music’s heaviest, gnarliest and speediest niches – but in her book Dance or Die: A History of Hardcore, she attempts to finally answer that big question.
From the pioneering hardware assault developed in Frankfurt and Berlin, to London’s grubbiest squat raves, Dutch intercity gabber rivalries and Scotland’s ‘tartan techno’ explosion, Dance or Die is a historical map of hardcore in its many forms.
Holly dials in from – where else? – Rotterdam to talk us through the crucial rave tales collected in her book, as well as revealing her personal history with hardcore and offering her thoughts on where the scene went wrong post-Covid.
Feeling like a hardcore Taganista? Help the pod by giving us a (good!) rating on your podcast app of choice, leaving a review over at Apple Podcasts, or liking this post on Substack. You can also subscribe to our paid tier for £5 per month and become a member of our own NT Hard Crew. Thanks to this month’s new subscribers!
Our 2nd episode with Dance or Die heads to The Hague. @h__dee sits down with @siuliko who has been integral to the Dutch techno and hardcore scenes since its late ‘80s acid punk beginnings. From fronting the noisy DIY group MINIGOD to organising some of The Hague’s first basement raves, Siuli was a rebel youth with a diehard love of music and bringing people together beneath the blinding flash of a strobe. Whilst living in one of Holland’s most famous squats Blauwe Aanslag, she organised the infamous Acid Planet parties where Unit Moebius and the Bunker label forged their cantankerous acid techno sound. Linking up with the newly exiled Spiral Tribe in the early ‘90s, she helped establish the Network 23 record distribution network and launched her own labels Grijs and Nocturnal State a.o. to support local talent. Four decades in, Siuli is still playing vinyl, raving, and producing multimedia exhibitions and festivals – we find out more about the journey of this cornerstone of the scene. For more info and extras, visit Ravetothegrave.org. To pick up Dance or Die, visit @velocitypress 🤘 #dutch #hardcore #ravers
We’re kicking off a special mini-series of episodes in collaboration with Dance or Die, Holly Dicker’s book on the history of hardcore on @velocitypress . What better start than talking to author and rave documentarian @h__dee about living hardcore, writing about gabber, sleeping with scorpions, breakcore, free tekno madness and Hellraiser raves with chainsaws ⛓️ Hell yeah!! Episode is up now on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and our website RavetotheGrave.org among other spots you listen to podcasts. More dropping each week so keep it 🔒🔒🔒
This first shot is Holly, RTTG host @stareyezzz & @baseck at @bangface which we also talk about in this episode 💕 greatest rave evar
#hardcore #gabber #holland #rave #electronicdancemusic
