When raves wind up being debated in the City Council and featured in the Chicago Tribune, you know that -- no matter that the discussions may be about their danger quotient -- raves are entering the mainstream.

"They were a lot different when I first started going," says Matt Druid, 25, a local rave deejay who's been attending these kinds of parties since his teens. "What drew me to them was the music, the vibe. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. Thousands of people from all walks of life getting together to dance all night -- and it wasn't a meat market."

Raves are one-time-only all-night parties -- their locations usually announced at the last minute via the Internet, info lines and word of mouth -- featuring a lineup of deejays playing techno and trance music. They're frequented by all sorts of people -- black and white, Latino and Asian, gay and straight and everything in between -- but they're primarily aimed at older teens who can drive and be employed but still can't get into regular over-21 clubs.

"Now the raves are more overground," says Druid. "Now there's a look-alike thing going on; everybody's into phat pants, pacifiers and glow sticks. Before, everybody was a little different; it was a little confusing but things had a different feel. It's more trendy now, what with stores in malls selling raver clothes and everything."

In fact, raves are big business: According to Brian Majeski, editor of Music Trades Magazine, the sale of music equipment jumped 20 percent from 1998 to 1999 (the last year for which there are figures), to a startling $6.8 billion. About $420 million of that is what's called deejay equipment -- turntables, CD players and mixers, which are used mostly now at raves.

"The whole deejay industry didn't even exist 10 years ago," says Majeski, attesting to the commercialization of the rave scene.

Adult promoters are happily jumping on the bandwagon, bringing rave deejays into mainstream venues such as clubs and trying to continue the rave sensation among young adults.

"But the main thing the media get confused about is what a rave is," says Druid. "If it's at a club, it's just a club with people who go to raves, it's not a rave."

In the last few weeks, raves have been getting buffeted in the Chicago area: a recent drug death in the suburbs has been linked to a rave, and the Chicago City Council passed strict new rules that will make throwing raves even more difficult.

Druid, who not only is a deejay but also promotes raves, shrugs at the impact of the council's new law. "Unless there are new all-ages clubs in the future, I don't see how it's not going to change, how it's not going to go even more mainstream. Right now, they're all happening in the same two or three venues out in the suburbs. You see, you have to be legit, and there are few [property] owners who'll let you do it otherwise. So it can't help but get more commercial, put more music into the clubs and just progress more and more into the clubs."

A strange combo of old and new rave attitude is being offered up Friday at "Once Upon a Time," a party being thrown by the not-for-profit People for People, whose publicity reads: "Once Upon a Time in a far away land, there was a magical place. It was in this place that people from miles around came to dance & smile. They would leave the day behind & laugh into the night. The echoes of their joy brought together the Vibe. Within this Vibe, the world was perfect. The people called this place Rave."

It's $5 admission with canned food donation, $10 without. Organizers promise no drugs, alcohol or weapons. For details, call 877-317-9394. To get in touch with Druid and keep talking, check out his Web page: www.mattdruid.com.

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It may seem like a few thousand years since the Annoyance Theater began, well, annoying us. Their rapier wit, their utter vulgarity, their complete irreverence -- who could resist?

For me, what finally got me, what made me a fan for life, was "Manson: The Musical." I went in prepared to hate it, ready to use every adjective in the book to slam their insensitivity, their cruelty -- and walked out amazed at what they'd done with a story that, on its own merits, was already so far over the top it couldn't be improved by satire. Playing it straight was satire.

Come June 3, the Annoyance as we know it is going into limbo. Their landlord -- whose supportive history is well-known -- finally decided to sell their Lakeview building (an offer, everyone agrees, he would have been foolish to refuse). Until the Annoyance lands in a new home, it's on an indefinite hiatus.

In the meantime, the group is showcasing some of its greatest hits: "Manson," "So I Killed a Few People" (another fave) and "That Darned Anti-Christ."

On June 3 -- the absolute last night at this location, 3747 N. Clark St. -- the Annoyance will perform "Tippi: Portrait of a Virgin -- An After School Special Gone Bad" at 8 p.m., and at 10:30 p.m., "Co-Ed Prison Sluts," an Annoyance staple for 11 years.

Call ahead for information at 773-929-6200.