As the 2015 festival season opens up and we start to dust off our rave gear, the decade-old acronym PLUR is something that we should all remember to keep in mind when we’re out there shuffling the night away.
As someone that was somewhat “late to the party” with electronic dance music, I was instantly amazed and completely invested in the community that exuded such happiness and love.
Thinking back to my first festival – the main stage with huge names and tracks – was an entirely new experience for me. Every second was captivating. This was, of course, in addition to the smaller stages with lesser known artists that were insanely good, offering an experience just as magical.
It was all amazing, it was all freeing.
Albeit, becoming exposed to the scene amidst the United States EDM boom proved to be an interesting experience for a newcomer. I counted a significant number of festival veterans speaking out about certain DJs that they were not particularly fond of, using the term “they suck” more often than expected.
Why?
Regardless of genre, there will always be some form of debate between the mainstream and underground artists that can get more argumentative than it needs to be.
There is no explanation needed for the concept of people not liking every artist they encounter. That’s just human nature.
But why toss out such a harsh and blunt analysis of a DJ that is very much part of a community that runs itself entirely off of peace, love, unity, and respect?
Tommie Sunshine perfectly eloquated this sentiment during Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival documentary Under The Electric Sky:
I play music for all the people who don’t know where they fit in in the world […] These are the kids that ate lunch by themselves in high school. These are the loners, and they stumbled upon this and they went ‘Woah. I belong here.’
So much of the effort and support that keeps EDM culture going thrives off of acceptance and letting people love what they love and listen to what they want to listen to.
It has essentially become a sanctuary for those in need of musical freedom and expression. That is the magic that we need to keep alive; not just for ourselves, but for the sake of that newcomer that has never been to a rave before and needs that loving acceptance PLUR offers with open arms.
Acceptance is what brought us all together in the first place.
From Skrillex dropping a truly heartfelt motivational speech to the crowd, to moments like up and coming DJ Ansolo stopping the show with Martin Garrix on New Years Eve in New York City to have everyone give each other a hug and realize why they’re there, it is quite evident that this community of music means so much more to people than just tracks booming through speakers.
That goal is to love each other, not put each other down.
It’s okay to not like every artist out there. It’s okay to like more of the underground. It’s okay to like the main stage. It’s okay to like whatever it is that you’re in to, but it is so important to remember that every perspective is different and we are all at different stages in our lives.
Festivals all over the place are getting bigger and tickets are still selling out. The more people there are, the more diverse the atmosphere. It’s up to us to keep the magical vibes of the EDM generation flowing and lead by example. So lets get to it!
Lets make 2015 our best year yet.
We Come. We Rave. We Love.
