Twenty years. Good God. Has it really been twenty years? Has it really been two decades since Flammable Liquid, L.A.’s most beloved of all old-school rave after-hours, began blazing its historic trail and setting the city’s nocturnal underground alight? Have the ones who’ve been there from the beginning really gotten that much older? And can that magical vibe from all those years ago be resurrected in this second decade of the twenty-first century? Well, yes, yes, yes, and YES, respectively, as this 20th-year reunion party proved on this cool September night. Even as Nocturnal Wonderland raged far away in San Bernardino to tens of thousands, the several hundred who were at Flammable Liquid laughed at the mere idea of going all the way out there for yet another by-the-numbers massive. There was no fucking way they were going to miss …
If you ask most Hollywood clubbers these days, they’ll likely tell you that L.A. is going through a clubbing renaissance. After all, Tinseltown is now practically awash in high-end venues catering to electronic music: the revamped Palladium, H Wood and even hoary old Avalon are just a few that immediately come to mind, hosting big-name headlining DJs that bring in equally big—but often disappointingly mainstream—Hollywood crowds. Crowds that have little or no personal experience with the rich history of dance music in this town, particularly the time period when the music was just getting established and off the ground. When the seeds were sown that would eventually germinate into the present-day scene that all too many of them are already taking for granted. Yes, back when the music was something that many of them have heard about but never actually seen—underground. So, for the benefit of those who think that modern dance entertainment began with AutoTune, this reviewer is going to tell you a little story. So fluff up your pillows, turn on the night light and pull up your blankies, boys and girls…



























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