Lotus Magazine was a pop cultural blip, a publication that catered to a niche of a subculture. Independently published from 1996 – 2002, Lotus served the West Coast's underground rave community. It was a free magazine, half electronica rag, half semi-spiritual/environmentalist youth outreach project. This online archive presents a sliver of the material published in the magazine during its six years of bi-monthly publication. Some of the content is still relevant, and some of it's just silly. All of it's very, very earnest. Enjoy! – Portland, Fall 1999
by Jesse Farmer
Now is a strange time in Portland. Oursummer held so much promise, but we seem to have lost sight of what’s important. For a brief period, local promoters were thinking bigger and broader than ever before. But, as the summer wore on, the vibe began to wear thin. Put simply, many of the kids became picky. Rather than promoters turning against promoters, it was the dancers who decided to go against the promoters, as well as each other. Many turned against a certain venue or DJ, creating a sense of diversion that has torn apart our once unified scene. Portland's community has always been large enough to host the big names we all know and love, but small enough to create a deeply rooted sense of unity and respect.
But not all hope is lost. After the "bigger and broader" concept failed, local promoters turned to mother nature for an answer. The two "Oracle Full Moon Gatherings" brought both local talent as well as the recently elusive vibe into the woods of Mt. Hood National Forest. Names such as Djion, Icarus, and Kid Hope helped celebrate the full moon as well as help revive our scene's fading unity. "The Trinity Festival" also gave Portland's community a boost with a massive two-day event, also held in Mt. Hood National Forest. This event brought together a myriad of Northwest promoters and finally brought back a strong sense of unity not seen in recent months.
Kinetic Events continued their fine tradition of theme parties with "Everybody Gets Lei'd." A perfect blend of techno, jungle, and a Hawaiian theme helped this event become one of the better larger parties of this summer. But bigger is not necessarily always better. "Funkshun Fridays" at Zoot Suite continue to showcase techno on a refreshingly smaller scale. Everyone from Ritchie Hawtin to Bad Boy Bill have stopped by this quaint little space, bringing their unique stylings of house and techno with them.
So while our community may be going through a few growing pains, we keep our hopes high that differences will be settled and our once prevalent unity will be restored. After all, isn't that why we're all in this in the first place?