During their massive rave in 2010 over 100 people, both minors and adults, were sent to the hospital due to various injuries. Drawing as many as 99,000 people to a single event, it's clear that EDC has a huge following of adults and youth a like.
While promoting their documentary The Electric Daisy Carnival Experience on July 27th. The promoters made a snafu in not anticipating a large crowd in the middle of Hollywood's busiest intersection, when DJ Kaskade, who is one of the highlighted Dj's in documentary, tweeted that he was doing a free open-air show outside of Chinese Grauman theater.
Kaskade's set went without a hitch, until his rave bus hit the corner, creating mayhem with hundreds of kids running after him.
The crowd grew larger and larger, and according to LA Weekly journalist Dennis Romero it became a standoff between the crowd and the cops.
"Police declared a tactical alert [actually this isn't true; see more at the bottom] and officers arrived en masse to Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue and then pushed West. Hollywood Boulevard was shut down from Highland Avenue to La Brea Avenue."
A stubborn crowd of ravers, which also included some seemingly trapped-and-innocent tourists, set up camp at Sycamore Avenue and Hollywood and wouldn't budge. Some took to the street, stood on toteboards and took cellphone video of the cops that by then had them surrounded."
Things got so bad KTLA reported that a Cop Car was set on fire.
Hoping to stop the madness Kaskade sent a message through twitter to help lessen the damage to "PLEASE RELAX." Trying his best to stop the madness, he pleaded in his final tweet to fans:
Youth congregating for music, illegal substances, and peace is a tradition that can date as far back as Woodstock or prohibition. In the past twenty years, raving has been both the controversial and massive subculture , that has entranced our youth and caused some trouble along the way, and promoters are not taking accountability for it.
There are a couple of complications with raves like EDC. Unlike nightclubs that sell liquor, you need to be 21 and over to enter, but with raves they are all ages and for the most part are unmonitored. Raves that contain thousands of attendees and are hard to monitor, and ever more difficult for youth to be safe.
Los Angeles EDM (Electronic Dance Music) fan Tina, feels that raves are are as dangerous as any other concert or large crowd gathering, but there should definitely be an age limit.
"Ideally I would like the limit to be 21 but 18+ is good enough. I've been to both all age massives and 18+ massives and there definitely is a difference between the two. It is my assumption, although I don't know how true it is, that it is the teenagers who don't fully understand the risks of drugs and the "proper" way to take them, causing them to overdose. They are the ones who bring a bad light to the electronic dance music scene and make us all look like druggies."
At least with a club, there are enough bouncers to throw people for violating certain behavior. At a massive rave, it's possible to get away with a lot, from unruly behavior, to violence and sexual assault. Promoters who charge at least $50 per ticket are making millions of dollars off of these massive raves, at the expense of minors who do not have experience to protect themselves in a drug fueled environment.
The riot at in Hollywood during EDC documentary premiere is indicative of the issues with raves, youth, and safety. I'm all about a great party, but there are certain boundaries that need to be met, or more catastrophic consequences are going to happen.
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