The scene - incorporating the cracking scene of the 1980s and early 1990s - has been declared dead several times over since the late 1980s. Some claimed the Amiga would kill it, others that the PC would destroy its soul or that the Internet would rob it of its essence. This is to be expected: In a subculture - which is what the scene is - there’s typically going to be elders lamenting the changing of the old ways, and newcomers eager to bring their own ideas into the mix.
Except… That last part might no longer apply to the scene. Examine photos from a late 1980s rave party and they’ll show a bunch of young people partying hard. Fast forward in time and look at photos from a 2025 rave party, and the concept remains basically the same, but there’s now a different bunch of young people partying hard. When performing the same experiment on the scene, there’s close to zero teenagers among 2025 demo party attendants. Look closer and it becomes evident that many of the 2025 attendants are in fact the very same persons as the teenagers and twenty-somethings appearing in party photos from 1989. The Demo Scene is Dying, But That’s Alright
Notes
The Demo Scene is Dying, But That's Alright
