We were pulling 30-40K a weekend throwing raves back in the 90's. Ostensibly, they were drug and alcohol-free. cough
I am curious how he is getting liability insurance for these events though at his age. I remember it being a bitch to get when I was 20. And what of security? We had to hire off-duty cops until it was found out that it was against the rules for the cops to do that.
The biggest party I threw drew close to ~6K people at $30 a head. After expenses we cleared about 75K. All in cash, mind you. There are probably still parties that big in Europe and/or Asia, but in the states, it's all in clubs these days. That particular party was in the basement of a civic center and was relatively legit.
Kudos to this kid+father for finding a way to make money doing the right thing.
Even at our parties, in a drug steeped culture, we'd give you the boot if you were openly doing drugs, selling pills, etc. As would most "above board" promoters at that time.