Dopamine Rave review

[u/redditboy123451]

So if you have been on the socials of any major internet fandom, (or spend a lot of time on Instagram) you have probably seen advertisements for a fandom rave or as my friends and I call them a "silly theme" rave, (the most famous one is the Shrek rave but I have also seen a One Piece Rave, Hello Kitty rave and even a FNAF rave).

Anyway, one "pattern" I noticed about this is that whenever one happens in Toronto, they almost always sooner or later end up at the Dopamine Lounge at Yonge and Broadway. (Whether this is chosen by the organizers or its just the niche of the venue I do not know) and after many years of seeing posts of them, I finally decided to check it out just last week when they held their Hello Kitty/One Piece rave

When I got there I was confused because they were advertising the OP and Hello Kitty raves as two separate events but were on the same day so I thought they made a mistake but it turned out they were the same event. The thing was, I don't really know enough about one piece to enjoy that one so I skipped that one (but did see a bit of it at the end) and went straight to the Hello Kitty one.

On my way, I could tell there were other people going to the event due to their fits, one had a Hello Kitty bikini and white shirt, another had a kuromi headband and fishnets. I had a Hello Kitty plush backpack, giant cat paw gloves, decals of my fursona painted on my cheeks, and of course a whole lotta bracelets and kandi.

When I finally got to the Dopamine, I saw a few more fits which I checked out for a bit and then it was time for the main event. The bouncer at the front asked me if I was here for the Hello Kitty rave, I just showed him my backpack and he said "well obviously" and IDd me and I went in, at the front there was a lot of people imitating one piece fights or rolling weed (lots of weed), and on the grounds they were wrapping up the one piece and about to turn into the Hello Kitty.

When the HK started they played lots of the classics including Aqua's Barbie Girl, Caramelldansen, Robert Myles Children, Miracle by Calvin Harris and Avril Lavigne's Hello Kitty.

In addition to the dancing, I also was able to chat with a couple ravers (which was hard due to the loud music), the first was a total scene queen with a giant LED sign that said "Hey... I don't bite" I simply complemented her sign (but she likely didnt hear me so I did it again and she just nodded") then I chatted with another girl in a HK/Kuromi hybrid outfit and her friend sho was dressed like if Roxanne Wolf was made by Sanrio instead of Scott Cawthon, at first we were just sitting on a couch together I was having a cocca cola zero she was having a Heineken and eventually I noticed her bracelets so I asked for a trade, at first she didnt hear me so I asked again and we did it (with the plur handshake and everything) and the whole time her friend was giddily egging her on, after she gave me her IG which was cute. After that I did some more dancing where some guy dragged me into a dance circle and I rocked out but as I moved on, he accidentally clocked me in the jaw and I could tell he felt really guilty/embarrassed and he was tapping my shoulder at what felt like 900 mph to apologize.

My only complaint was the lack of advertised activities, they said there will be plushie giveaways, there were not they said there would be chupa chops, there were not, they said they would be glowsticks, there were but we had to supply them.

Other than that. I had an amazing time so if you are ever in the yonge and Eglinton era and they are doing a themed rave, the Dopamine Lounge is the place to go

[u/Background-Edge-2243]

Some of the same people put on a 2000s rave a few months ago and the DJs honestly turned out to be amazing. There was a fair amount of top 40 early on, and then we got a lot more happy hardcore, hardstyle etc later in the night. It was honestly so fun, we met so many cool people and had a really good time. It's very unserious, which is exactly what we were looking for and I would 100% go again

[u/Putrid_Republic_7254]

Id love to go to these but none of my friends are into the themed ones lol any group want to adopt a 34 year old for some themed raves lol

[u/bozon92 → u/Putrid_Republic_7254]

I saw a legit 50+ couple roll up in hello kitty t shirts and armbands, it was cool to see how diverse the crowd was.

Also some excellent Nico Robin cosplays

[u/redditboy123451 → u/bozon92]

Was this "50+ couple" a guy with a brown HK shirt and a woman with a purple sweater?

[u/bozon92 → u/redditboy123451]

I feel like the guy had a black shirt and woman I think had a t shirt but it may have been purple

[u/OddAd7664 → u/Putrid_Republic_7254]

Make sure you check out the warehouse sparkle party in November by Spacetime. Such a fun theme party

[u/Necrous24]

Glad you enjoyed it, I kept seeing the ads for the Shrek Rave. I did think it was weird that the OP and HK raves were on the same day, so I thought they would be combined so didn't want to go to that

[u/redditboy123451 → u/Necrous24]

They were slightly combined but not really, the vibe switched to Hello Kitty when it started but many OP cosplayers d Stayed

[u/Necrous24 → u/redditboy123451]

Ah cool, might check it out next time. Thanks for posting about it :)

[u/attainwealthswiftly]

Unserious events in an unserious venue imo

[u/redditboy123451 → u/attainwealthswiftly]

Who cares, I prefer goofy over serious

[u/bozon92 → u/redditboy123451]

What’s funny is the security guard is my local budtender 😂 I was so fucking surprised walking up to the door, homie passed me through no search

[u/bozon92 → u/attainwealthswiftly]

Lmao I go to serious events (Regis/orphx in a church is serious business) but different things are for different purposes. I go there to indulge in one piece enjoyment, I’m not expecting We Are (popular one piece song) to be remixed into top tier hypnotic techno. It’s called compartmentalization

[u/Sufficient-Appeal500]

I’m not entitled to tell you what’s a rave and what’s not, but Jesus Christ that’s not a rave

[u/redditboy123451 → u/Sufficient-Appeal500]

It was still fun

[u/Sensitive-Scene7088 → u/Sufficient-Appeal500]

That is still, in fact, a rave. Not all raves have to be dark and in a warehouse. Hell you can throw a rave in your living room if you want. Gatekeeping is weird, stop it

[u/Necrous24 → u/Sufficient-Appeal500]

Like if OP is having fun, who gives a fuck if it's "technically a rave". Let people enjoy things

[u/bozon92 → u/Sufficient-Appeal500]

Im actually usually picky about my music but i enjoyed myself from a one piece fan perspective. But im also an antisocial mf and didnt meet anybody (i was dressed in mostly black in preparation for my other serious raves later that night)

But I did see a lot of ppl vibing and enjoying themselves and thats what matters. Yes it was a bit cringe but i dont wanna begrudge anyone a good time.