Confessions of a Canadian Raver

Personal blog of shows / events / festivals / raves, my personal thoughts on subject and other (sometimes) non-related BS

[edmbushido]

I wanna take this time to thank @kootysentinel for all the memories he has given me in the short while I knew him ... He was a special person , with a special light that always seemed to lift the fog of a gloomy day . I remember your first rave , I remember your face , I remember how badly you wanted to goto your second and then shortly after #edc2013 ... I love man .

[edmbushido]

#rave #lol #notime #legit #truestory #edm #bass #beat #repeat #seemslegit #raveready #party #partyhard #instamusic #insomniac #instamood

[raves-r-us]

We're bringing it to tumblr! We nominate all our followers to reblog with their top 10 trance songs. Here is our's from our nomination! Not in any order...

Cosmic Gate - Fire Wire (Cosmic Gate Back 2 The Future Remix)

Artificial - Stuck In Sa Caleta

Super8 & Tab - Good Times (Lange Remix)

Dash Berlin vs 4 Strings - Take Me Away Till The Sky Falls Down

Sunny Lax - Isla Margarita

Mat Zo - Rebound

DJ Jan - Blaxo (Tiësto Remix)

Paul Oakenfold - Password

Above & Beyond pres. Oceanlab vs Norin and Rad vs Anhken - If Not Satellite (Vincent Photik Tam Mashup)

Sam Stroke & Isaac Fisherman pres. maSSIF - Front Seat (Ari Kyle &Audioscape Remix)

[edmbushido]

@andysill posted this earlier, #jokes for sure #edm #rave #rage #seemslegit #yyc#403 #calgary#403gay #turnt #turnup #yolo #yoloswag #yoloswagforjesus #plurnt #party #selfie

[edmbushido]

#Aboveandbeyond 's new cd has alot of revamped songs. Hearing the re - worked version of oceanlab brings back some #memories . #tatw #abgt #trancefamily #trance #music #lyrics #quote #edm #love #respect #beautiful #edc #remix #repeat #instamusic #instamood #insomniac #yyc #403 #calgary #yup #ocean #dance #happySaturday

[edmbushido]

#lol #funny #owl #instawin #instagood #instamood #best #rave #edm #party #partymusic #legit #cute #animal #love #plur #kandi #eyes #faded #hazey

[edmbushido]

#rolling #edm #truth #love #legit #fail #fry #plur #kandi #raver #rave #raverproblems #best #instawin #instamood #instagood #ravememe

[edmbushido]

How a 7 year old answered his "#favorites " #edm #trance #trancefamily #lol #win #music #love #kids #children #amazing #plur #kandi #raverproblems #rave #partyhard #party #instawin #instagood #best #ferrycorsten #school #answer #saturday #win #edc

[edmbushido]

even #caesar cAme to party , so #plur guys #lol !! #caesarspalace #vegas #edcweek #edm #edc #insomniac

[edmbushido]

Little red haired #hippie @ #mdbp #mdbp2014 #maddecent #dillon #waka #floss #rjd2 #torrotorro #grandtheift #edm #bass #beat #repeat #wub #plurnt #party #partyhard #yyc #403 #calgary

[edmbushido]

@kaerbtraeh took this photo #chasingsummer #csmf2014 #edm #trancefamily #trance #music #bass #beat #repeat #wub #plurnt #turningup #turnup #yolo #yoloswag #yoloswagforjesus #partyhard #yyc #calgary #403 #403gay #partyhard #yup #rave

[edmbushido]

Only sunshine, under the bright sky .... #edm #frequency2014 #plur #party #rave #dance #dragons #kandi #yyc #403 #yeg #shawconference #love #lasers #trancefamily #dnb #bass #beat #repeat #emazing

[edmbushido]

My actual #dog he's 2 month and Is a #GermanShepard , #rileythedog #riley #callofduty #codghosts #cod #puppy #dogsofinstagram #pup #cute #yyc #calgary #403 #fatty

[edmbushido]

#pure2013 #780 #boodang #edm #partyhard #trancefamily #trance #bass #beat #repeat #yyc #lasers #ghostbusters

[edmbushido]

#raver #rave #raverproblems #lol #edm #music #instawin #instamood #partyhard #win #bass #beat #repeat #plur #insomniac #fatburger #yyc #403 #calgary

[edmbushido]

#edm #tbt #throwbackthursday #trancefamily #trance #music #Aboveandbeyond #403 #calgary #403gay #turnt #turnup #yolo #yoloswag #yoloswagforjesus #plurnt #party #partyhard #boodang #partyhard #love

[raves-r-us]

Best rave festivel advice? Things I should know for a three day rave festie?

Your phone will be mostly useless. Do not count on being able to use your phone to communicate during the peak hours of the festival.

But you’ll still want to conserve the battery. There are few things worse than being unable to find your friends as the sun rises and having no way to reach them on a dead phone. Ways to conserve your phone’s battery include turning off 4G and Wi-Fi, texting instead of iMessage, dimming the brightness setting and closing unused apps. There are also charge cases available that add life to your battery.

The single best way to conserve your battery. Wear a wristwatch so you won’t have to pull out your phone and light it up to check the time throughout the night.

In fact, just put your phone away. Studies have shown that people remember less of experiences that they photograph. It takes you out of the moment and prevents you from losing yourself in the experience. Besides, the sound quality on videos from festivals is always awful. Don’t waste your time. Just put your phone away and dance.

But get pictures with your friends, old and new. Those are what you’ll cherish, not videos of a little tiny Calvin Harris playing a little tiny Rihanna record from halfway across the field

Change your lock screen. Save the festival map to your photos on your phone, and make that picture your lock screen. It’s much quicker and easier to refer to the map that way than to open the Insomniac app. You’ll have to open the picture itself if you want to zoom in though.

The first thing you do once you get inside the gates: Locate the water refill stations and restrooms closest to whichever stages you’ll be at most of your time.

Plan to periodically find your friends. It’s unlikely that your entire group is going to want to see the same DJs all weekend. You’re going to split up and finding each other can be difficult without working phones. Instead of trying to find one another on the fly, plan your meetups in advance. Pick one designated spot as your “rally point”, and several designated times throughout the evening, where the whole group heads back to the rally point so everybody can regroup and plan the next part of the evening. Be sure to plan your final rally at the very end of the night so you can find all your friends and go home without drama.

Plan to periodically lose your friends. Get out there. Explore. Meet new people. Make new friends. Just be smart and be careful if you wind up by yourself at some point. That being said, some of the best festival adventures happen when you wander off on your own.

About those new friends though… Don’t take drugs from strangers. All the precautions you take with your own drugs go out the window the second you accept a Molly from a friendly stranger – no matter how hard he appears to be rolling. And don’t give drugs to strangers either.

As for your friends. Take care of each other. Make sure everyone is safe and hydrated. Make sure you don’t lose your friends. And don’t be that guy who leaves friends high and dry at the end of the night. That’s a $100+ cab ride. Just don’t be that guy.

Dance with your friends. That’s why you bought a ticket, right?

Dance with your back to the stage. The crowd is always more interesting people-watching than staring at Hardwell do the YMCA from 1,000 feet away.

If you’re not dancing… Don’t sit down on the dance floor. You’ll get kicked in the head every 10 seconds as people trip over you. And you deserve it. Go off to the side if you need to take a breather.

Take breathers and drink water. Going hard for three nights straight is tough, no matter how much chemical assistance you may have. Be sure to stay hydrated and take a break from dancing every now and then. 

Speaking of pacing yourself. Go easy on the drugs the first night

Speaking of drugs. I’m assuming you tested yours? Reagent test kits are a 100% essential purchase for anyone who rolls, and you can get yours on dancesafe.org.

Stay cool. 

There will be newbies. Welcome new faces into our scene warmly. And be patient with them. Don’t expect everybody to know everything about how they’re supposed to behave. And don’t be afraid to speak up if someone is acting the fool.

If you’re driving and riding dirty. Obey traffic laws. Use cruise control. Make sure none of your lights are out. And don’t call attention to yourselves by painting GO HARDWELL OR GO HOME on your windows. That screams “Search Me.”

But you have the right to tell a cop no. Police must have probable cause or a warrant to search your car. If you’re pulled over and they ask to search your car, politely and firmly say no. (If they have probable cause, they won’t ask.) If the officer persists, ask “Am I being detained or am I free to go?” Cops are less likely to take liberties with somebody who knows their rights.

Download an app like Find My Car or Car Locator that allows you to take a note of where you parked.

You don’t have to feel gross the whole way back to the hotel. Bring bottled water, snacks, hand sanitizer, eyedrops, contact lens solution, mouthwash or anything else that will make you feel a little more like a human again in the morning. Leave it in the car to come back to in the AM.

Speaking of gross. Don’t have sex at the event. It’s bad for the scene and the sex is probably going to suck anyway. Wait until afterwards when you can climb into a bed, use protection and maybe even get meaningful consent from someone who isn’t wasted.

Also speaking of gross. Bring your own wipes or you’ll be cleaning your butthole with the festival map anytime you use a Portapotty in the second half of the night.

Dress for comfort.

Also, comfortable shoes are absolutely key. And if you think Chuck Taylors are comfortable enough, you’re wrong.

Don’t overplan sets. No matter how meticulously you plan which sets you want to see, plans have a way of not surviving the night. So don’t sweat it, and give yourself the freedom to go with the flow.

But know your musical priorities. Your festival agenda should include a mix of DJs you can’t miss, DJs you want to see, and DJs you’d like to check out. It’s easier to make decisions on the fly if you think in advance about who fits into which category.

Check out DJs you haven’t heard before. The biggest thrill in dance music comes from discovery – there’s nothing like the first time you hear your new favorite record. And chances are you’re more likely to hear a new favorite if you explore beyond who you already know. You should always leave a festival with at least one new favorite.

Don’t spend the entire festival at the main stage.

Don’t be such a hipster and never visit the main stage.

Attach metal keys to a lanyard or hair tie with a key ring and wear it around your neck/wrist.

Return Info On Wallet & Cell Phone. Tape a Post-It to your cell phone and/or wallet with your return info as well as the numbers of a few people in your group so if a stranger finds it on the ground they can return it to you easily. You can jot a little friendly message thanking them in advance.

Disabling the passcode on your smart phone can give a generous raver the opportunity to return it to you if found by returning any missed calls or redialing recent numbers (likely to be you or your friends). Obviously you’ll need to decide if the return of your phone is worth possibly breaching your privacy.

Hand-written Emergency Numbers. Write down a few of your friend’s numbers on a piece of paper and keep it in your wallet or pocket as backup in case your phone dies.

It takes 10 seconds to stop your whole group before hitting the road or leaving the hotel room each day to confirm that everyone has their ID, ticket, and cell phone with them. Having one person in a sticky situation at the gate because they forgot their ID is always a major buzz kill.

Do NOT put anything in the small inner pockets that are nested in the main pockets of jeans. Walking/dancing pushes the contents up and out of these easily

SHOES!!! Yes again! Can’t stress this enough! You won’t look cute in your fancy shoes when you can’t walk.

HAVE FUN

<3 raves-r-us