At what age are you too old to do Hardcore Techno? (Confessions of a "Gabber Elder")

hi-ho,
there is this insane thing going on the internet about "getting older" and (seemingly) "old age" in relation to music, culture, and music culture. i see questions on online forums like "is 30 years too old for raving" or "can i still go to a metal concert at 40" and so on.

this is very weird to me. i might belong to the older "generation" too - gen x, on the cusp of being a millennial (i.e. born november 1980). i'm also part of a dj / producer group called "the gabber elders". because we are DJs into hardcore techno (also known as "gabber house") since the 90s.

so allow me to chime in my own 51 cents, in this "rave age" debate, and other issues.
let me put my walking aid aside, slip into my slippers, and sit down in my rocking chair, while i tell you a story (just kidding).

let me tell you how it was back then, the hardcore techno scene ca. 1994. my personal point of view, but i guess others felt the same.

for us, there were essentially two things: on one side, there was boomer culture, mainstream society, a world run by squares and bores. which they assumed to be the "normal" world, which was made up of what teachers, parents, and a lot of other people called "everyday life".

we didn't like this world very much, or simply were not interested in it. and maybe we just did not fit in there.
so the "social freaks" and outcasts of that 1990s society turned to the subcultures and the underground, where - surprise surprise - millions of people like us were already waiting, and having the time of their lives.
it was like an own family, community, a legit underground nation.

a few years spent together, of party, and bliss, and friendship... and for some of us these times continue to this day.

so let's look at hardcore techno specifically. most of us were teens or young adults like me. the people who slamdanced to 280 bpm beats, who flocked the record shops, or who crammed themselves into cars and trains each weekend to ride to the best parties in cities all around europe.

but a lot were not. the people who promoted the parties, rented the clubs, ran the record shops usually were not.
the same was true for a lot of the djs and producers.
there were a lot of older subcultural types as well, from the 80s ebm / industrial scene, or 70s punk, or avantgarde intellectuals.

and no one, literally no one, ever thought: "oh this geezer or chick, is a bit too old to rave with us. tee-hee!"

everyone was welcome in this scene. regardless of skin tone, nationality, religious affiliation, age, criminal record, physical appearance, mental health status, social standing, or economic class (well, upper class people might have had it harder - but we allowed some of them in, too!)

age and "getting older" was really a total non-topic.

and, to be honest, i think this has not changed that much. i hope the "age debate" is more of an internet bubble chamber echo feedback loop, that has no real footing in reality.

because ya know... you are never too old to gabber, or to do hardcore techno.

and you know why?
because hardcore never dies!

Gabber Elders Website: https://thegabberelders.com/

Review: Kotzaak Unltd. - From The Darkest Depths (KOTZ CD 02)

follow up to the first kotzaak cd release / compilation.
and there is a lot of stuff going on here.
On CD 1, there are a kind of "best of" tracks that did not find their way to the first compilation - from the "classic" kotzaak period in the 90s.
But there's also "best of" tracks from the kotzaak re-launch after the millenium.
And finally there are a few unreleased tracks, too!

Then on CD 2, there are a bunch of live recordings from The Kotzaak Klan and the Kotzaak acts - all over Europe.
Plus a kind of "mini album" of Jack Lucifer tracks.
These were part of the "Contaminated Black Planet" album, that was conceived earlier, as a stand-alone release, and was finally digitally released in... 2017 (yes!)

One of these album-tracks is actually hidden on CD 1, too.
And now, let's take a look at the unreleased tracks - because these are the goodies you are likely going for, right?

"Tormental Beginning" feels like a drumless black metal piece played on synths. With tormented voices by Hamburg Hardcore Head Triebtäter.

"Determinate" is a quite novel encounter. "Slow" Kotzaak style - with hc punk / meta shouting!
"Mangled" is most classic kotzaak all the way!

"From The Darkest Depths" on discogs:
https://www.discogs.com/release/443514-Various-From-The-Darkest-Depths