PLUR ... ? Not So Much

Before anyone gets too offended by my speculation, my reasoning behind it comes from a recent significantly large fight occurring at the Stereosonic Sydney festival in Australia (11/29-11/30). I personally have seen fights break out at local events, but now I'm certain that Philadelphia isn't the only place experiencing violence considering this brawl made headlines across the world. The EDM scene already has a poor reputation mainly involving drug use. Now due to this fight, the people who didn't condone raves to begin have more ammo to support their beliefs and label the scene as destructive to society.

It takes a lot more PLUR promotion to build a better reputation for ravers than it does for a few bad headliners to completely disregard the whole "PLUR" concept, convincing the public that raves are toxic and only result in violence, heavy drug use/distribution, and not to mention the extremely revealing "apparel" most girls claim to wear as appropriate clothing. I know we're all aware of these things, but it especially doesn't look too good in writing published so everyone sees it, right?

So attention all kandi kids: Do you really want things like this to continue happening, causing our already not-so-great reputation to deteriorate even more than it already has? Then you're going to need to actually physically practice "PLUR" at these events towards everyone and not just use it to trade kandi bracelets between one another. Sorry, but jewelry definitely won't convince the public that raves aren't harmful to society.

I'm certainly not telling all ravers what to do and how to act, that's all up to you. This is simply a public service announcement making you fully aware of the reputation that follows you as a raver. When someone who isn't part of this culture asks you what you're doing that weekend, and you reply with "I'm going to a rave with some friends", I can almost guarantee that the first thing that person will think of after hearing that, is "Okay... so you probably do drugs." Change this image! Actually prove that people who think that everyone who raves is a drug addict who only parties to music "made by computers" (don't get me started on that one, that's a whole different argument in itself!) are seriously close minded and very far from the truth of what goes on in this underground scene.

Instead of accepting this negative image, take the time to explain to those who are unaware of this culture that it's not all about partying and getting into trouble. I personally always tell people that if someone who attends a rave doesn't go solely for the music, then they probably shouldn't be there to begin with. So don't rope me into that misconception because I know many people who are clean and sober and thoroughly enjoy attending raves because of their passion for the music. Going for any other reason besides your pure love for the music isn't what this is about. Yes, there are people who attend shows and go a little overboard with their excessive intake of certain "party favors" but that doesn't mean EVERYBODY there is partaking in this behavior. Same thing goes for violence. I've seen fights before but that doesn't mean there are fights occurring at every event involving a large group of people. In fact, it usually is just between two or three guys getting a little too egotistical. Overgeneralizing and misconceptions are the root of all the poor imagery ravers portray, and it's something that shouldn't continue going unnoticed.