Buzzkill : Summer Festival Deaths

[zin 25]

In a sad state of affairs, another young life was lost with the recent festivities of another incarnation of the Electric Daisy Carnival. Moments ago a young man was confirmed to have passed in a festival full of life and enjoyment at this year's EDC Dallas.

 

Pasquale Rotella, CEO of Insomniac Events, released the following statement:

"Our condolences and deepest sympathy go out to the family and friends of the man who passed away tonight. To go from a moment of happiness and enjoyment, to the loss of life, is very heartbreaking. We would like to ask everyone to keep the concertgoer and his family in their thoughts and prayers. Along with the independent local promoters in Dallas, we will work with the authorities to understand how this tragedy occurred."

While we do not condone the usage of substances, we maintain a viewpoint that promotes responsibility. Please do your very best to watch out for your fellow man and notify the proper personnel if you see anything worrysome. With EDC Las Vegas coming up next weekend it is imperative that we look out for one another to avoid yet another tragedy.

 

Please make sure you hydrate properly, but do not over do it. With temperatures rising during the summer months, it can be a bit overbearing. Avoid dehydration by drinking drinks high in electrolytes and make sure you watch your alcohol intake.

 

This is the third festival related death this summer after last weekend's Bonnaroo held in Tennessee, which are also believed to be caused by a mixture of heat and substance use.

[JaredHimself 18]

lame

[Demo 65]

Harsh. Hope he wasn't underage.

[Trebek 25]

I'm gunna be the harsh one here....But people are dumb, they already know drugs are bad mk, so if you take them at least be responsible about it, and if they die it was their own fault. But then it all comes back to the party hosts cause its their fault somehow. I say fuck em, if your gunna take drugs you know the risks it involves.

[straightravin 0]

While we do not condone the usage of substances, we maintain a viewpoint that promotes responsibility. Please do your very best to watch out for your fellow man and notify the proper personnel if you see anything worrisome. With EDC Las Vegas coming up next weekend it is imperative that we look out for one another to avoid yet another tragedy.

 

Agreed - and the keyword is of course, 'responsibility'.

 

Too many people just don't know how to handle their liquor - or their substances.

IMO, it is our responsibility to watch out for those who are too naive/stupid to watch out for themselves.

[Ph0toN 33]

I'm very saddened that this happened. EDC Dallas was an amazing event and Insomniac and Full Access did a very fine job of keeping a safe envoronment. It all comes down to people not taking proper care of themselves, staying hydrated and knowing their limits and such. I'm personally very worried about what effect this will have on future EDC's in Dallas. Hopefully Insomniac and the local authorities can figure out a way to help prevent something like this from happening again.

[suzume 47]

http://digi10ve.com/...confirmed-dead/

 

people at EDC were hearing that it was something like 7 people died, and Excision made a facebook post about it and then made a joke about it too, cuz people dying is soooo funny...

 

my guess is it was good 'ole southern gossip, cuz we only have one report of a death, but over 20+ hospitalized from: alcohol poisoning, heat stroke/exhaustion, overdoses, etc.

 

I fucking Love how dallas fire department immediately told everyone it was a 15 year old when the coroner turned around later saying, no it was a 19 year old; how very texan of 'em to try and get this blown out of proportion as fast as possible...

 

Also this happened during Excision's set, which honestly brings up something that's been bothering me with the rise of dubstep and brostep; this constant insistence to mosh and riot during events; im sorry, i Came to the rave culture to escape people like that because 70% of texas highschools are filled with emo/goth/metal-heads that are nothing but condescending rude conceited asshole bigots. (personal rant and doesnt pertain to this topic, just venting)

 

I'm honestly suprised it was only one death;

the heat got up to 105 yesterday but with the heat index it was feeling like 110-115

 

Given four out of five stages were indoors, that's still pretty easy to get a hot and muggy room inside even the most air conditioned dancefloors.

 

The water stations were a great idea but with only one 'free water station' i'm sure this had some problems adding to it all as well

 

That and let's not forget that it all comes back to the individual

 

Tx members can attest that i went around Aim and via texts before EDC warning everyone to stay as hydrated as possible;

but nonetheless someone had to be 'that guy' that just utterly refuses to recognize his body's warning signs (or didn't know what heat exhaustion feels like) I'm not saying you Can't go have a good time, but you Can do it responsibly. "hmmm, this pill makes me feel good but makes me overheat and dehydrate very easily, it's gonna be 110 in the shade today, i better eat Five of these then"

 

But only one death, that's honestly better than what i was predicting; especially considering:

we've had people passing out in the streets during the Mavericks Parade on Thursday,

people passing out at the June-Teenth Festival (happened yesterday as well)

people passing out in their cars stuck in rush hour traffic (i'm not even kidding)

and even passing out at the airport waiting for when the Mavericks landed after the Finals (week ago or so)

 

I'm mainly interested to see if this is going to hit the local news or not; we've been sidetracked with the Mavericks, a fire south of dallas, a fire east of fort worth (both under control now) and a slew of city festivals coming up; i guess it really depends on how our city council feels about everything right now, for all we know this could slip by our local media totally undetected. I'm not saying death should go ignored, but i do have very little patience or forgiveness for people that don't take responsibility especially for themselves

 

And I'm sorry, irregardless of age, wether they're 15 or 45, they can call themselves an adult, but if you can't recognize your own body's warnings and can't keep yourself alive without the assistance of others, in my eyes you are a child, and these events are no place for children...

[zin 25]

I'm gunna be the harsh one here....But people are dumb, they already know drugs are bad mk, so if you take them at least be responsible about it, and if they die it was their own fault. But then it all comes back to the party hosts cause its their fault somehow. I say fuck em, if your gunna take drugs you know the risks it involves.

It's not about being harsh or making comments on the state of society (because let's face it, our new generations are all about social status). It's about being a bigger person and realizing that not everyone is capable of taking care of themselves. If we just take a few seconds glance while we're out there having fun, we can prevent another tragedy. Instead of having one person ruining the scene for everyone else, we can be the few that potentially save it.

 

I fucking Love how dallas fire department immediately told everyone it was a 15 year old when the coroner turned around later saying, no it was a 19 year old; how very texan of 'em to try and get this blown out of proportion as fast as possible...

 

Also this happened during Excision's set, which honestly brings up something that's been bothering me with the rise of dubstep and brostep; this constant insistence to mosh and riot during events; im sorry, i Came to the rave culture to escape people like that because 70% of texas highschools are filled with emo/goth/metal-heads that are nothing but condescending rude conceited asshole bigots. (personal rant and doesnt pertain to this topic, just venting)

 

I'm honestly suprised it was only one death;

the heat got up to 105 yesterday but with the heat index it was feeling like 110-115

 

Given four out of five stages were indoors, that's still pretty easy to get a hot and muggy room inside even the most air conditioned dancefloors.

 

The water stations were a great idea but with only one 'free water station' i'm sure this had some problems adding to it all as well

That and let's not forget that it all comes back to the individual

 

...

 

I'm mainly interested to see if this is going to hit the local news or not; we've been sidetracked with the Mavericks, a fire south of dallas, a fire east of fort worth (both under control now) and a slew of city festivals coming up; i guess it really depends on how our city council feels about everything right now, for all we know this could slip by our local media totally undetected. I'm not saying death should go ignored, but i do have very little patience or forgiveness for people that don't take responsibility especially for themselves

 

And I'm sorry, irregardless of age, wether they're 15 or 45, they can call themselves an adult, but if you can't recognize your own body's warnings and can't keep yourself alive without the assistance of others, in my eyes you are a child, and these events are no place for children...

I'm sure this will most definitely hit the local news. What irks me the most about this is that Bonnaroo has had up to ten deaths since 2002, but no one gives a shit about that. But once EDC has it's first and second deaths since its inception in 1997, EVERYONE freaks out and new sites around the nation post with negative stereotypes and other ridiculous statements. I'm not saying they should disregard that a death happened, but at least state the truth with statistics (EDC and other massives are ridiculously more safer than many other events IMO).

 

As for the water station. I've only been to one other Insomniac event that had a water station and the capacity was 50,000+ people. One water station was sufficiently enough even when most of the other rooms were indoors. They were very efficient at filling people's water up not to mention it got people outside of the tents and indoor areas to cool off from the musty indoor air. From the map of EDC Dallas, it seems to me that there was even a regular paying water station inside or near the entrance of every stage that was set up.

 

I also do not love this whole moshing trend when it comes to DnB and Dubstep. It was very minor with drum and bass, but once dubstep gained popularity it just went into overload. My friend went to a Skrillex and Zed's Dead show this past Friday (day before EDC Dallas) and said he had to tell a few kids to cool it cause they were trying to start a pit. Eventually it escalated to a verbal argument where the kids stated that dubstep derived from "punk". Needless to say, he got their group kicked out when they started elbowing females. If this continues, I can see promoters not having dubstep at their events just to prevent issues like this from happening again. They will basically cause the downfall of dubstep, something which they claim to love.

[Aquilae 21]

Sparrow, awesome comment. Agreed with many things in here:

 

my guess is it was good 'ole southern gossip, cuz we only have one report of a death, but over 20+ hospitalized from: alcohol poisoning, heat stroke/exhaustion, overdoses, etc....I fucking Love how dallas fire department immediately told everyone it was a 15 year old when the coroner turned around later saying, no it was a 19 year old; how very texan of 'em to try and get this blown out of proportion as fast as possible...

 

Yes. Seriously, that's Texas for you.

 

 

Also this happened during Excision's set, which honestly brings up something that's been bothering me with the rise of dubstep and brostep; this constant insistence to mosh and riot during events; im sorry, i Came to the rave culture to escape people like that because 70% of texas highschools are filled with emo/goth/metal-heads that are nothing but condescending rude conceited asshole bigots. (personal rant and doesnt pertain to this topic, just venting)

 

Couldn't agree with this more, man. Some people don't understand why I refuse to see Skrillex, Bassnectar, Excision etc. I can't speak for ALL dubstep shows, but the ones I've been to have had totally whack vibes. This does not belong in the scene... but an unfortunate side effect of trying to cater more to the general public.

The type of people that are flooding the scene with this current rise of dubstep make me bigtime.

 

 

 

 

The water stations were a great idea but with only one 'free water station' i'm sure this had some problems adding to it all as well

 

^ one of my only complaints about EDC this year. For a crowd that massive, there needed to be at least 2 or 3.... but I'm probably just getting greedy now b/c last year free water didn't exist.

 

That and let's not forget that it all comes back to the individual...I'm not saying death should go ignored, but i do have very little patience or forgiveness for people that don't take responsibility especially for themselves

[Lira 38]

... agreed. I don't even need to textwall. everyone's said everything I could possibly say, and I am oh-so-tired of feeling apprehensive about the shifting dynamics of the EDM scene.

 

And above all, responsibility responsibility responsibility responsibility responsibility. Knowing your limits doesn't make you any less "cool" among the ingrates mugging around to music that makes them feel more badass than they actually are. Knowing your limits means ensuring the best experience for yourself, and for pretty much anyone.

 

and why in the flying fuck do you have to be stupid in order to have a good time? what is wrong with our generation? It's your right to do whatever you want, but I don't think anyone can claim it's worth throwing an entire life away for the revelry a night.

 

imo, given the massive amount of people there, one water station still wasn't that bad of a wait time-- not even ten minutes. The crowd got a bit thick, but that was inevitable.

 

---

 

There was a kid in a wheelchair with LEDs threaded around the spokes of his wheels, traversing the whole circumference of the trance crowd. People high-fived him, cleared out of the way, helped him get around. I fell into a prostrate "we're not worthy!" bow every time he passed by, and he grinned. No one could help but smile when they saw him.

 

That's the kind of vibe I live for at these events. The kind of euphoria that tears through you & leaves you breathless when you hear a song that you've subconsciously been hoping for (helloooo, Elektra vs. Helsinki Scorchin'. that was my moment of the night, and I'm sorry to those of you I scared when I started leaping everywhere, shrieking in joy). and regardless of their states of mind, that's what plenty of people come to these events for, too. It's a music festival, it's not a "who can out-bro each other (or out-ho each other)" festival.

 

I can only hope fervently that this kind of unconditional compassion-- people being unspokenly considerate for their fellow human beings, even if only for a little while & in small moments-- persists as EDM sweeps up every kind of bandwagoner over the next couple of years. I think we're seeing the peak in the constant cyclical rise & fall of the scene, and it makes me sad.

 

*cuddles her aluminum Insomniac water bottle*

[Epsilon Kias 2]

It's funny, I leave the EDM scene in general for a while, and next thing I know (and the thing that brings me back) is the fact that some kid dies at EDC again. I go from watching people get trampled at Metal and Punk shows in Miami (Though, the people in the pits always help those who fall, it's sorta like a kind of PLUR sensibility.) with no deaths and no injuries aside from the occasional bloody nose, to this, kids dying of dehydration or water intoxication because they lack any sense of responsibility. I'm not at all surprised, either. I mean, people get hurt at events, people have health issues, people get drunk, people get intoxicated and people lose any sense of "I feel bad" after a while, you get that at any event, but why is it that I hear of people dying at EDC, as opposed to these supposedly "violent" Grindcore and Punk shows? Makes no sense, really. Maybe it's a community thing as a whole as opposed to a venue or music issue. Prayers out to the kid's family, though. This is horrible. But one must wonder why he had to go like this, and what the people at the event could've done to keep this from happening.

[JaredHimself 18]

I go from watching people get trampled at Metal and Punk shows in Miami (Though, the people in the pits always help those who fall, it's sorta like a kind of PLUR sensibility.) with no deaths and no injuries aside from the occasional bloody nose, to this, kids dying of dehydration or water intoxication because they lack any sense of responsibility. I'm not at all surprised, either.

 

 

my thoughts exactly.

[xXEmoboyXx 4]

It's funny, I leave the EDM scene in general for a while, and next thing I know (and the thing that brings me back) is the fact that some kid dies at EDC again. I go from watching people get trampled at Metal and Punk shows in Miami (Though, the people in the pits always help those who fall, it's sorta like a kind of PLUR sensibility.) with no deaths and no injuries aside from the occasional bloody nose, to this, kids dying of dehydration or water intoxication because they lack any sense of responsibility. I'm not at all surprised, either. I mean, people get hurt at events, people have health issues, people get drunk, people get intoxicated and people lose any sense of "I feel bad" after a while, you get that at any event, but why is it that I hear of people dying at EDC, as opposed to these supposedly "violent" Grindcore and Punk shows? Makes no sense, really. Maybe it's a community thing as a whole as opposed to a venue or music issue. Prayers out to the kid's family, though. This is horrible. But one must wonder why he had to go like this, and what the people at the event could've done to keep this from happening.

 

 

I agree 100% with this being both a partaker in Hardcore shows and Punk shows.

 

The main thing that peeves me about all of this is the fact that now the majority will suffer due to one persons irresponsibility. If you are going to a festival/masssive/concert just to get all boozed up or drugged up, then please go do it somewhere better suited. I mean seriously don't ruin other people's fun and run the risk of getting an event banned or adding more restrictions just because you want to have a "good time". :wallbash:

[Monkeyslam 0]

I agree with most of what everyone has said, RESPONSIBILITY, we all have the same opinion with this. But I wonder, does it fall to us to act when we someone on the verge of exhaustion or dehydration? I know I have done it. I was just wondering how others feel about that.

[chaseisgame 0]

That is not a buzzkill. That is a tragedy.

[Aurastys 6]

Can someone tell me if they have pamphlets or something that say stay hydrated, responsible, etc etc?

Zin told me they do, but I don't know much about it. I'd like to get in on that and learn more.

If I were able to and it didn't look sketchy on my part, I'd print and hand out pamphlets to people entering the event.

[zin 25]

Can someone tell me if they have pamphlets or something that say stay hydrated, responsible, etc etc?

Zin told me they do, but I don't know much about it. I'd like to get in on that and learn more.

If I were able to and it didn't look sketchy on my part, I'd print and hand out pamphlets to people entering the event.

I think you misconstrued what I stated. I said in SoCal they hand them out at the events that were at the Coliseum and Sports Arena. Dance Safe chapters are also located around the nation and they hand out pamphlets and other information throughout.

[fishscale 5]

drugs are bad mkay.

 

big ups to insomniac for water refilling stations

edit:typo