By Christian Contreras, Sept. 12, 2023
A couple weeks ago, I went to my first rave. As I was walking in, I was smacked in the face with so many colors like neon green, pink, blue and purple, saw so many different outfits and heard the music already blasting. Surprisingly to me, I was already enjoying it.
The captivating music, seeing everyone with their different signs and totems and being with my friends all contributed to making my first “HARD Summer” one I will never forget.
I never thought raving would ever be something I’d enjoy doing. So when my friend told me a couple months ago to buy a ticket, I thought to myself, “Why? I don’t even listen to that kind of music. I don’t think I would have fun.”
Although I always thought raving looked fun, I also believed it might be too insane for me, so I never gave it a try. Plus, I never really enjoyed the music. But I just decided to go with it and try something new.
Weeks leading up to the event, I had no idea what I was going to wear. I already knew people go all out with their outfits at raves, so as someone who rarely even goes to concerts, this was all new to me.
I asked my friend and thankfully, she sent me a couple of good ideas. Knowing my favorite color is green, she sent me pictures of green striped shirts, shorts and sunglasses.
Once I had my outfit covered, next came the nerves about what I was getting myself into. As the days were leading up, I was excited knowing I would spend a whole day with my friends in Los Angeles, but I was unsure about what I’d experience.
It wasn’t until I was actually there and hearing the music live, when my entire perception changed. Being in the moment, dancing with my friends all night, watching everyone having a good time, feeling the heat from the pyrotechnics, looking at all of the fireworks light up the sky and seeing all the artists and DJs perform live, especially John Summit – whose music I was already familiar with – only grew my appreciation for house music and put the idea in my head maybe this is something I want to keep doing.
As the first week of school started getting closer, I was happy knowing I was ending my summer experiencing something new I enjoyed.
A couple weeks later when I learned Dillon Francis – who I had just seen perform at HARD Summer a couple weeks prior – was going to be the headliner at BroncoFusion, I knew I had to go as I would begin my final year the same way I ended my break.
I thought the negative reaction from students all over social media was funny because a lot them didn’t know who he was plus, many of them were expecting Ice Spice – which I didn’t think was feasible – but nevertheless, I wasn’t discouraged from wanting to go.
Despite the never-ending pushing and shoving in the crowd, the music had me going crazy all night, and BroncoFusion proved to be a memorable welcome-back event for me. It’s funny to me because I never thought I would be raving at school, but life has its way.
The more events I go to, the more my appreciation for raving grows. I recently went with a couple of my friends to see Habstrakt perform at the Hollywood Palladium, and we were dancing for four hours straight – almost until 2 a.m.
Now that I have been bitten by the “rave bug,” I plan to continue raving. I just recently bought my ticket for EDC Orlando in November, and if you told me just a couple months ago I would travel across the country to attend a three-day electronic dance music festival, I would have never believed you – but here I am.
I’ve grown to love house and EDM music and the vibes that come with it, especially when you are surrounded by thousands of people who are enjoying it with you.
As someone who isn’t opposed to trying new things, I’m not surprised I ended up enjoying going to raves, but I am shocked I went this long without ever giving it a chance. As the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover.
Feature image by Lauren Wong