Sunset Music Festival, estimated attendance: 20,000 ravers. You know what’s amazing about the above photo of the event, that wasn’t true at Electric Zoo or Coachella? Every single person in the photo is still alive. I want to emphasize the importance of this. No one died at Sunset Music Festival, where DJ Snake killed it and event attendees got their first taste of the insane heat this year’s summer festival season. I’ve gotta give it up for the festival producers for everyone who made this stunning achievement possible. And you know what? This simple yet unfortunately important statistic for dance music festivals trended all weekend long, throughout every major festival that took place over Memorial Day weekend.
Mysteryland, the gigantic dance music festival on the site of the original Woodstock festival (that thing your parents/grandparents went to when they wanted to listen to music and take drugs). also had 20,000 people running around in rain so hard your phone was blowing up with multiple storm warnings if you were in the tri-state area. When the local police are referring to the
number of arrests by using the word “several” as opposed to “hundreds,” you know we’re all doing something right. The local Sheriff went on to say:
“They were a very well-mannered crowd “I walked through the crowd; I saw the kids. They were just there to have a good time. It was just wonderful to see.”
That’s the guy who had the job of “keep the damn kids in line.” If that’s not proof the scene is evolving in the right direction I don’t know what is. And to remind everyone, three people died at Woodstock. Three. That means fewer people died at this festival than the actual hippie ideal construct that gets dangled above dance music fans when old people tell them their culture is non-existent. DanceSafe was at Mysteryland, providing information, vitamins & other supports, even if it’s just an open ear and some cold water. You’ve gotta believe this helped, especially in the mud.
The above picture is from Pasquale Rotella’s Twitter. This orgy of bass, blinky shiny, every DJ you’ve ever heard of, intense lighting, and some of the most jacked and tan EDM fans anywhere went off without a hitch this weekend. That’s 50,000 people who
managed to negotiate an emergency flash flood evacuation due to the intense storms. Think about that, 50,000 EDM fanatics respectfully and gradually left the dance area without trampling/killing anyone. Apparently the half hour delay went off a little after 4 PM, and they went back in and carried on. Can you imagine if they had to do the same thing with Met Life stadium filled with drunk Jets fans? Especially after the butt-fumble? Pasquale Rotella needs to give the USA & Russia some tips on how to get along.
But surely someone, somewhere had to do something stupid. Maybe at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival right? DEMF happened in the hallowed urban neo-dystopian jungle that is Detroit, someone had to have done something stupid. Nope. Not one that I can find. I want to emphasize, I looked and I asked. I read police blotters, I slaved over Google. Please feel free to cite an article to the contrary if there is a verified case and I’ll buy you a coke , while tempering my praise. But I don’t think there is one. I think hundreds of thousands of people went and danced their asses off, come hell or high water, and we all made it. Surely, people got arrested, others got hospitalized, but we’re all still here. Kudos to you, the reader, the attendee, the DJ, and the producer. Couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you making the right decisions.
(Photos by Brockelbank Photography, Tod Seelie, The Urbanite, Pasquale Rotella)
