BC188 - Organic ’96: An Oral History

Looking back at a legendary show, 30 years on

Thirty years ago, on June 22, 1996, Organic ’96 took place at the Big Bear mountains near the San Bernardino Valley. It wasn’t a rave, something many of the people I spoke with about the event were at pains to note. The vibe was more adult than candy. The crowd spent the afternoon spreading out in packs to check out the three other systems—Experimental Love Bowl (local favorites like Eli Star and John Kelley), Space Port Zone (hardcore a la Ron D. Core and R.A.W.), and Planet of the Drumz (drum & bass, including Urb editor Raymond Roker). The site had many of the funfair gewgaws that had long marked L.A. parties, like the Space Ball, a giant gyroscope that spun seated inhabitants around at great speed.

But the headliners were not DJs. The early mainstage performers were all on the Moonshine label: Oversol 7, Cirrus, and Electric Skychurch. Then the heavy hitters, in order of appearance: Loop Guru, Meat Beat Manifesto, Underworld, the Chemical Brothers, Orbital, and the Orb. If anything sums up what was good about the “electronica” bubble of the late nineties, it’s this lineup.