My Journey To Raving
My journey started back in 2016 when I was a freshman in high school. I had the pleasure of growing up in Colorado, so therefore Red Rocks was practically in my backyard. In 2016 I was 15, which might seem a bit young to some to start going to shows, but growing up in Colorado, that’s just what you did. My first ever EDM show was Global Dub in 2016 and that is when my love for EDM began. After that, I attended countless Red Rocks shows throughout my high school experience, getting the amazing opportunity to see artists multiple times at Red Rocks such as Flume, Odesza, Big Wild, Louis The Child, Zeds Dead, and so many other unreal artists who helped to develop my love for EDM. I also attended my first Decadence CO in 2017 with my sister and her best friend, where we got to watch Odesza ring in the 2018 New Year as they played a remix of Sun Models- which as you can imagine, is a beautiful memory I will never forget.
The atmosphere and the vibes at these shows were always unmatched, I knew I loved everything about raving and going to shows, but being so young, I just thought it was a bunch of fun and never really appreciated it or understood what PLUR (short for Peace, Love, Unity and Respect) was all about. It wasn’t until the Alchemy Tour in 2019 (which was Slander and NGHTMRE’s tour that they did together), that I truly began my appreciation and pure love for EDM and raving. Every show leading up to this helped to develop this love inside me, but the Alchemy Tour is where I realized how much EDM means to me. I had just graduated high school and a few of my guy friends- very last minute- invited me to the show because they had an extra ticket. I fully sent it without really having a plan and without even knowing much about or listening to Slander and NGHTMRE. I was always down for a Red Rocks show and of course, couldn’t say no to a free ticket. Little did I know, this show would change my life for the better. I remember having the time of my life dancing on the Rocks and listening to these two artists that I quickly became obsessed with. Sometimes the best things in life are the unplanned and unexpected things that happen, and this 100% was one of those times. It was at this show that I learned what PLUR meant and I got my first ever Kandi given to me that said “enjoy the ride”. From then on, I knew raving would hold a special place in my heart and not just be a place to have fun, but a place to spread love and positivity while dancing under the lights to the higher vibrations of EDM.
Since then, my taste in EDM has tremendously grown. I do have my favorites, but I practically love every genre within EDM, except for hardstyle (sorry to all my hardstyle lovers out there). I have now been to well over 100 shows and to bigger festivals such as EDCLV 2021 and 2022, Hard Summer 2022, Lost Lands 2023, and I even got to take one of my best friends- who is now obsessed with raving- to her first ever rave (which was Goldrush 2019). All of those experiences are stories for another time that I hope to share with you, but I just wanted to give a small glimpse into my journey to raving and share how my pure love and appreciation for this beautiful thing that we get to do began. I hope it’s allowed you to remember all your “firsts” when getting into the EDM scene, and together we can continue to appreciate, love, and remember all the beautiful times we’ve had, and will have together thanks to EDM. It has been quite a journey