Welcome to the New-Age Sober Rave Era

By Darshita Goyal

Gigs are no longer restricted to dark warehouses. As the younglings drop off alcohol, DJs are now playing in daylight at cafes, in kitchens, and even in your local train. But what’s influencing this shift?

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A familiar electricity fills the air. The floorboards are pounding, bodies are moving in unison and the smell of sweat lingers heavy in the room. The sharp smell of spilled gin is missing as are the strobe lights that circle the space. Reality seeps in: this is not an underground club or an abandoned warehouse. It is a rave but this time, it’s in the daylight, it’s sober and it’s at a cafe. Welcome to new-age gigs, they no longer need alcohol, neon lights and poppers to survive.

If you haven’t yet been to one such party, maybe you’ve seen it on your daily doom scroll. Mumbai’s Nandan Coffee hosted Beans & Beats, a dance afternoon for people and their pets. Streetwear store Capsul has closed-door gigs where you can groove with limited edition sneakers while Surat’s Cafe Pulp serves espresso topped with Red Bull at their Sunday morning raves to keep techno-lovers on their feet. Then there's Crab Culture, an IP infamous for crafting unconventional DJ sets, that has turned the Mumbai Local (from Borivali to Bandra), a tractor ride in Surat, 23rd Street Pizza in Bangalore and even Sapa, the Mysore-based bakehouse into make-shift clubs complete with artists behind the decks.

DAMP ERA OF WELLNESS

The rave is no longer bound to a secret location, it can be at the neighbouring supermarket or even make an appearance at the local library as a silent party. While some credit Los Angeles-based AM Radio for normalising and romanticising DJ takeovers at coffee shops, this shift was bound to break through in the present day sober-curious, damp era of wellness.?

Multiple studies and experts emphasise that drinking is no longer a priority for young partygoers. As per an NCSolutions survey, the share of American Gen Z that wants to drink less jumped by 53 % in 2024 while the sales of non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits reached $565 million, rising by 35% from 2022. This phenomenon is also taking shape back home with major players in the alcobev space paying close attention. In 2024, Diageo India — the subcontinent’s leading spirits conglomerate repping international brands like Baileys and Johnnie Walker as well as homegrown labels like Royal Challengers and Godawan — bought a 15% stake in the Indian non-alcoholic brand Sober. Additionally, a host of local 0 ABV brands like Catwalk Botanics, Kati Patang and Coolberg have become mainstays at prime bars and spirit shops. Seeing this shift, 30 Best Bars, the Indian ranking platform, also introduced a Best Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Menu award in 2024, which was snagged by Mumbai's small plates cocktail bar, Bandra Born. Clearly, the beverage industry – and by extension the gig industry – is undergoing a mini-revolution, and brands are responding to this clarion call with rebranded parties.

When restaurateur and marketer Bikash Parikh noticed that the young people around him and in his team rarely chose alcohol, it sparked inspiration for Practically Sobar, India's first sober bar based in Bangalore. Since opening its doors at the tail end of 2024, the venue has already hosted early morning DJ sets and lofi sundowners featuring local artist Sakré. Next up on its calendar, is a silent party with projection art starring DJ Shiva Manvi.?

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT?

Parikh believes that young people are not only sober drinkers but also curious drinkers. “These are not syrupy mocktails that are a stand-in for alcohol. While dancing, people want exciting drinks and experiences that they can recommend to their friends, so innovation with ingredients and flavour is equally important in our 0 ABV cocktails,” he says. The founder is collecting unique non-alcoholic bottles from across the world to display at his sober bar, just as one would find behind an alcohol counter, creating memorable photo-ops. After all, new-age non-drinkers still want to create content about their raves and in the post digital age, a party has to look worthy to be deemed worthy.?

There's also a “been there, done that” feeling associated with classic raves that young people are bored of. This routine stands out more in dry cities like Surat without any clubs, where nightlife is restricted to invite-only farmhouse parties or hidden locations that hold the risk of getting raided, leaving everyone involved with a bitter hangover. “Gen Z is tired of house parties and they want to unlock new ways of hanging out and enjoying music,” explains Mauneka Oswal, the co-founder of Cafe Pulp. “Surat has one of the world’s most demanding palates for specialty coffee, so we decided to combine that with early morning raves, and they have been a huge hit. We have people from 16 years all the way to 55 years grooving every Sunday – that’s how much of a gap there is for third spaces.”

As the quest for living well outpaces the need for alcohol, this rave-related languor is equally apparent in cities with thriving club culture too. Deloitte's 2024 survey states mental and physical health is a primary priority for Gen Z and millennials in India, and it shows. Bandra Born's Chef Gresham Fernandes believes many people are dropping cocktails to reduce the unhealthy calories they’re consuming while Parikh is working on eliminating sugar entirely from his drinks menu.

RISE OF HOBBY-COMMUNITIES

The rise of hobby-communities from puzzle making groups and knitting circles to run clubs and yoga gatherings also indicate a shift towards mindfulness. The charge for wellness is equally influenced by isolation: 43% of urban Indians report feeling lonely. These factors together pushed Bangalore-based Arvind Srikanth to start 56 Run Club. “The idea isn’t just running together but creating a social club where people can make friends and interact with fitness at its centre,” he shares. 56 quickly gained fame on social media for its IP event ‘Afters’, a post-run gig hosted at coffee shops across the city. “Look at the value added. You finish a run, high on adrenaline and then attend an early morning party, dance, meet new people, have breakfast and it’s not even 10am. You have the whole day ahead of you,” Srikanth says.?

Since the pandemic, people are craving IRL spaces and communities where they belong, and clubs like 56 propagate much needed friend-building. Music has a similar impact; over the years, research — and individual experience – has shown that tunes can transcend language, age and class barriers to bring people closer. Listening to music together reportedly releases oxytocin and hikes up endorphins while reducing the stress hormone. Think of the friend you always reach out to when you discover a new song or the explosive discussions about Spotify Wrapped that dominate social media.?

This is also why fandoms double as a safe space for many. Taylor Swift's loyal listeners or Swifties have created an enviable, global community with an act as simple as exchanging homemade bracelets at concerts, and that represents the power of music in bringing people together. Worlds apart but inspired by a similar intention, Mumbai-born Kitchen Rave taps into the same sense of community by bringing music and food – two such symbols of comfort – under one packed roof. Hosted in the cloud kitchen of The Baykery, marketeer Harshith Bangera and chef Siddharth Shetty serve up a 7-course menu of party nibbles while a creative strums up music for an intimate crowd.?

CRAFTING HOLISTIC EXPERIENCES

Although Kitchen Rave has alcohol in the mix, the liquor isn't central to the gig. It's the sensory experience of smelling hot brioche buns as they are pulled out of the oven, watching them plated and garnished, and passed around family-style in shared skillets while dancing to techno music that sets the party apart. “If you’re a foodie who loves dance music, you don’t have to go to two different places to check those boxes. People come to Kitchen Rave with the intention to experience something new and that’s exactly what they get,” Bangera says.?

With wellness, friendship and novelty becoming integral to the new-age rave, it’s equally important for brand managers to pay attention. As gigs change their face, the events are rich with opportunities for authentic collaboration. Bangera and Shetty are toying with the idea of launching Kitchen Rave protein bars while Srikanth is sifting through 56’s DMs to find a brand that fits the club's needs. Currently, the run club has received offers from athleisure labels, fitness recovery brands as well as cafes waiting to host its members.?

Parikh, on the other hand, has a string of product ideas waiting to be released into the world. “We’re designing quirky socks but instead of a pair you will get three because you always lose one in the wash,” he says, adding that Practically Sobar is also developing tees, stickers, a recipe book and edible rice garnishes for cocktails that visitors can take home to DIY. Merchandise is paramount to the sober rave experience. Young people often use their clothing, the stickers on their laptop or the tote bag they carry to communicate their interests and represent their personalities. These micro-expressions help them signify what they believe in, placing the wearer on a scale of cool, while also serving as conversation-starters.?

By investing in alcohol-free, day time raves, brands send a clear message to the millennial and Gen Z audiences: they are on the pulse of the youth movement and want to cater to wellness needs. Instead of hosting overdone sit down dinners with elaborate tablescapes and tasting menus for influencers, stakeholders in the food and bev space should shift their focus on the passionate and often ignored micro-communities that attend day gigs.

Young consumers make discerning customers that no longer fall for the trap of transparent marketing campaigns. They crave seamless product integrations that elevate their quest for wellbeing and community – something brands can encourage by powering micro-group activities like playlist-making or zero-proof cocktail workshops that precede gigs. Young buyers are also big believers in the ‘little treats’ mentality and lifestyle brands can lean into smaller merch trinkets and micro-experiences like jewellery-making stalls, photo booths, temporary tattoo stations, rave-ready slogan tees, quirky sunglasses or socks that they can treat themselves to during or after a gig. With plenty of room to creatively court buyers seeking products and experiences that resonate with their beliefs of health and connection, sober raves are a fertile ground of opportunity, waiting to be mined.