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sg_57
Senior tranceaddict

Registered: Feb 2011
Location: nyc, usa
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| quote: | Originally posted by Woony
That seems absurd. DJ worship just was the inevitable result of the rise of dance music as a culture/youth culture. Before EDM the DJ wasn't much more important than the barkeeper, he was just a jukebox and nobody really cared. With EDM the DJ become an actual artist and the worship just was the natural result when EDM first become big. |
Maybe at the clubs you went to or knew about...? but just as obviously, at least in NYC (Larry Levan, Tony Humphries), Chicago (Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles, Lil' Louis) and Detroit (Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, etc...) there may have been other clubs you didn't go to but where thousands of people went where this was clearly not the case. Quite the opposite in fact: if a certain DJ wasn't there that night, almost nobody would show. Only talking about House and Techno. But Hip-Hop was the same, with those huge parties at 1018 (Roxy) attracting sold-out crowd for Afrika Bambaata and Grandmaster Flash. And even gay clubs like The Saint certainly had very major names with a huge following playing like Jim Burgess.
Mind you, it wasn't so much a matter of dumb 'worship' as one of deep appreciation and solid but unconditional and very knowledgeable support. Some were major stars who often times ended up influencing radio play and creating million-selling worldwide hits like Taana Gardner "Heartbeat", Soulsonic Force "Planet Rock" or Inner City "Big Fun". I'd wager that very few who post on here would have witnessed this as most of them would have been too young to go clubbing in... 1985. Also, at that time a majority of those huge club crowds was black/latino or gay rather than lillywhite and straight as they seem to be nowadays. But maybe you're right, to straight white crowds in the US this didn't matter much before EDM.
But it would be inaccurate to say that it never happened before. Just that whatever was going on probably was off your cultural radar.
The facing-the-DJ business started happening around 1996 or so, possibly a bit later like when Sasha-Digweed did their monthly at Twilo. Everyone noticed it but not much could be done about it. In my opinion it was a direct result of big fees and promoters hyping the hell out of their expensive guest DJs (rather than residents), treating them like performing artists, putting them on a stage and with concert-type light systems focused on them so it soon became the norm. That is what was never the case in earlier times.
For those who don't like it, there are certain parties where picture-taking is not allowed (like Berghain, where they'll throw you out for doing it) or others that jam cell phone reception, hopefully it helps everyone remember that - for those who care about keeping the vibes musical and the privacy intact - it can still be about dancing and community. Matter of priorities, really.
I'd wager that the glowstick-jesus-pose-epic-breakdown EDM thing will probably crash and burn soon enough, while another generation of underground kids will still be dancing to some new sort of mind-bending techno (or whatever else it'll be called) in dark, trashy rooms twenty years from now. Maybe at that time with new technology there'll be some sort of communal enhanced psychedelic drug rituals where it'll be a truly shared experience rather than individual as it is right now? Who knows. But I think there will still be a crowd who enjoys the basics rather than the superficial fluff.
Anyway, it may not be that important as there's room for both extremes, it's just a matter for people to wisely choose parties they want to support and go where they feel comfortable. Some people like to shop at Pathmark and go for the bland discounted products, others prefer Whole Foods and the top-dollar organic route. Whatever works...
My personal opinion is that it's pretty difficult for anyone constantly spending time fiddling with their gadgets to close their eyes and allow themselves to be carried by the beckoning swirls and twisted rhythms and end up getting 'lost in sound' at any party. Different kind of experience, really.
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My goal is to be one with the music. I just dedicate my whole life to this art.
Last edited by sg_57 on Feb-15-2013 at 07:37
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Feb-15-2013 06:54
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dave-bofficial
tranceaddict in training

Registered: Jan 2013
Location: Oslo, Norway
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl44Li0yUNo
See how the people are enjoying themselves?
Sure there's a lot of weird people there, but still...
I feel that those just standing there facing the DJ are "killing" the vibe...
Of course this is my opinion, but hey, let's face it, we're all different and have our "ways" to party.
I have to agree with those who said that it's better to attend to "smaller" or local events, when it comes to enjoying themselves and partying...
I don't know if anyone was watching ASOT 600 yesterday... I respect Armin for what he's doing and all that, but he (Armada +++) seriously organize this to be a concert and not a dance event (i feel it this way)... I really start to speculate that it's not the people that started this "facing the DJ" thingy.. But rather there was some DJ's that felt better about themselves when people started focusing on them (and partly on the music). I understand it to certain point, but they should understand that people mainly come for the music.
I know if I were a (famous) DJ, I would enjoy seeing people dance to my or the music i'm playing rather then just facing me. If this continues it can result in that the DJ's can just have the mix already prepared on 1 cd and play it while they just fistpumping and dances to the music... I have a great example of this:
Last summer I was at Balaton Sound in Hungary which was great. I don't know why the hell I was at this concert, but I ended up seeing Martin Solveig (I feel embarrased to say it). He wasn't even mixing, he just played shittycheesycrap songs, and when each song was finished he just said a looot of crap to the audience and played the next song. EVERYONE was facing him, filming and fistpumping. This is a good example that people don't come for the music anymore, but to see and do the same things as the DJ's and later brag to friends that:
"I saw Martin Solveig live bro'"
"No shit bro'" rather than:
"I went to Martin Solveig",
"How was it?"
"I danced my ass of, and the music was great"
Seriously, this starts to concern me.
But hey, these are just my opinions...
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Last edited by dave-bofficial on Feb-15-2013 at 09:39
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Feb-15-2013 09:33
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