Thousands of fans formed a dancing sea of skin, confetti and lasers last weekend at Northern California’s largest outdoor electronic dance music festival, I Love This City (ILTC).
Many of the ravers there reported they were “warming up” for Electric Daisy Carnival, an event commonly referred to as a “massive,” taking place next weekend in Las Vegas.
The two-day festival was moved from the AT&T Stadium Lot to the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View earlier this month, and while the venue change upset some attendees at first, most described their overall experience with words like “epic,” “sick” or “amazing.”
The Main Stage and lawn area were entertained by top 40 hits spun by some of the bigger names in the House and Progressive genres like Laidback Luke, Steve Aoki, and Duck Sauce.
The two stages in the parking lot each had distinct flavors as well: the Park stage featured underground artists like Felix Cartal and experimental group “Holy Fuck.”
A heavy wobbling sound could be heard constantly emanating from the Bass Stage, where dubstep DJs Doctor P, Feed Me, and Helicopter Showdown showed off mixes of original tracks and remixes.
The general mood of the festival was positive, and almost everyone in attendance seemed ready to smile and introduce him or herself.
Possibly attracted by the edgy music or the low age limit of 16, the overwhelming majority of the crowd was under 25.
Ravers donned various costumes, such as neon-colored glasses, fuzzy hats, pasties, furry boots, bandanas, and brightly colored beads called “kandi.”
A tradition at events like ILTC is to trade kandi while performing hand gestures associated with the scene’s mantra, P.L.U.R., which stands for Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect.
Among all the good vibes were some harsh realities as well. Undercover officers circulated the event in search of underage drinking and distribution of illegal substances.
Multiple arrests were reportedly made each night of the festival. Several attendees were also treated for collapse on the festival grounds, adding ambulance lights to the luminescence of the stages.
Drugs were obviously present, however, they were not the focal point of every raver’s night.
“I don’t even roll [take drugs], I just love the music,” one young attendee commented from beneath a blanket on the mainstage lawn.
The music is bass-driven, with piercing synth chords and booming drums throughout. An array of genres of electronic dance music (EDM) were represented, including electro, fidget, deep house, trance, and bro-step, all with distinctive nuances fans grow to recognize.
Dancing styles varied from stage to stage, just like the music, but “shuffling” could be found at all three. Another style displayed was “Poi,” incorporating glowsticks attached to the ends of strings. Ravers also gave each other “light shows” during which one would perform intricate finger dances with illuminated gloves in front of the other’s face in time with the music.
The size and energy of the crowd built slowly from the calm afternoon to a roaring climax by the time the final set ended.
While ILTC is not quite to the same scale as EDC, it is the closest in size that the Bay Area regularly hosts, drawing crowds from all corners of the map.
EDM is swiftly gaining popularity in the United States. Many of the artists present at the festival are currently influencing pop music, including world-renowned record producers and DJs David Guetta and Tiesto.
These acts, like many in the EDM industry, hail from Europe, where the music has been more popular over the last few decades.
Plans are reportedly being made for I Love This City 2013, a festival publicist said.
