Rat Island Raiders

Rat Island Raiders - Fans of STAR'S END

As with all overnight DJs, when we bother to pick up the phone it's usually a pretty weird time. Late one chilly February night several years ago, I took a call from a guy wanting to hear "Autobahn" by Kraftwerk (which has already been played about a million times on STAR'S END). I soon discovered that Warren was calling on his cel phone from out on a little island on the Delaware river where he and a bunch of his friends were camped out for the night. These "Rat Island Raiders" have been making a pilgrimage to this speck of an island for something like 20 or 30 years. Along with the consumption of quantities of cold beer and grilled meat, their tradition also includes chilling out to STAR'S END. Over the years I have become close friends with Warren and his family, as well as several of the "Pirates", and look forward to providing music for their industrial wasteland weekend retreat. I'm always on the air while they're out there, partying madly - in between fending off rats, high tides and extreme elements. I occasionally make it out to visit the pirates for a Sunday visit, but by then everyone is nearly burned out. Excursions are scheduled every February and November. Theoretically, this trip is open to anyone with a six-pack (or a cheesecake) and the guts to brave it out there.
Access the Photo Essay by Adrian Beasley from November 2006 (25 Photos)
- Chuck van Zyl/Host of STAR'S END

Delaware River Pirates - Video by Tommy Lawrence

Related Links:

Warren's Homepage
City Paper Article - 8 August 1996 Rat Island Raiders

Listener Essays

Rat Island Raiders - Fans of STAR'S END
As with all overnight DJs, when we bother to pick up the phone it's usually a pretty weird time. Late one chilly February night several years ago, I took a call from a guy wanting to hear "Autobahn" by Kraftwerk (which has already been played about a million times on STAR'S END). I soon discovered that Warren was calling on his cel phone from out on a little island on the Delaware river where he and a bunch of his friends were camped out for the night. These "Rat Island Raiders" have been making a pilgrimage to this speck of an island for something like 20 or 30 years. Along with the consumption of quantities of cold beer and grilled meat, their tradition also includes chilling out to STAR'S END. Over the years I have become close friends with Warren and his family, as well as several of the "Pirates", and look forward to providing music for their industrial wasteland weekend retreat. I'm always on the air while they're out there, partying madly - in between fending off rats, high tides and extreme elements. I occasionally make it out to visit the pirates for a Sunday visit, but by then everyone is nearly burned out. Excursions are scheduled every February and November. Theoretically, this trip is open to anyone with a six-pack (or a cheesecake) and the guts to brave it out there. Access the Photo Essay by Adrian Beasley from November 2006 (25 Photos) - Chuck van Zyl/Host of STAR'S END
Delaware River Pirates - Video by Tommy Lawrence
Related Links: Warren's Homepage City Paper Article - 8 August 1996 Rat Island Raiders
Listener Essays