Music Matters - How the power of music continues to unite ravers all over the world.

As Summer looms, a sense of anticipation ripples through ravers all over the world as they look to escaping in a muddy field, care free, surrounded by good people and good music. 

However this year, a deeper sense of anticipation looms. With an ever growing list of cancelled festivals, and even the prospect of party islands such as Ibiza ‘banning Brits’ to return to their haven. A general consensus of a ruined summer and ‘cancelled’ 2020 haunts as music lovers are left in limbo, filled with anxiety as the party has been put on pause. 

After months of anticipating lineups, finalising festival plans and the long awaited Ibiza trip - it’s hard to not feel deflated. I asked a few of my mates about their summer plans and the prospect of summer being cancelled altogether. 

“The possibility of not being able to go to Ibiza is a hard pill to swallow, because the place unities music lovers from all over the world that you would never normally cross paths with but all have a collective love for music.”

“It’s not quite sunk in yet that my summer plans won't be going ahead, I’ve had most things booked way in advance up until August but i’m hoping some of those plans still stand if it's safe to do so. But if none of the events go ahead and nothing gets arranged for Autumn/Winter it will feel like a wasted year. I guess the silver lining is that when it is finally time for that first rave back, my god, it will be one for the history books.”

“Each year we all look forward to summer and we’ve all spent a lot of money on getting our plans sorted. I’m of course gutted about the whole thing but I can only hope that everyone does their bit and this can all be over sooner, so we can at least enjoy some of summer.”

As an unignorable sense of doom hangs over the season and the hospitality industry alike, DJ’s and Producers are doing their bit to lift spirits and keep us all dancing during these times of uncertainty. 

With world renowned DJ’s aiming to keep spirits high by bringing the party to the confinement of lockdown, whilst connecting audiences from all over the world in one collaborative space with the powers of the internet. Although it’s far from what we’re used to, ravers are adapting and live streams have provided a sense of normality and a route of escapism through the power of music. 

From the weekly live streams that have embodied infamous club nights from around the UK and intimate all night long sets that continue into the early hours. To exclusive mixes produced by DJ’s released to raise funds for the ongoing COVID-19 effort all around the world. The ways that music has united people over the past few weeks has been incomparable to anything we could have expected.

DJ’s from across the continent and beyond have been curating unique experiences for ravers without the limitations of oversold venues and expensive festival tickets, and ultimately proving they care about the wellbeing of fans.

Speaking with DJ and Producer Tom Dunne, he agrees that this time away from playing to crowds in the way we’re all used to has given DJ’s a unique opportunity to recharge and work on their trade. 

“Producers have been making more music over the past few weeks, as there are no distractions such as touring so more music’s being made. I’ve been working on a few new mixes to be streamed online, this is completely different to what's been done before as it’s easily accessible for many people and potentially could reach a bigger audience”

“Everyone now has the chance to focus on production and spend more time collecting music and records as well as connecting with other DJ’s as everyone's online.”

“Going forward, I think people will want to see more live streams/virtual festivals in and out of lockdown. That being said, I think we will see more ‘creative’ locations that parties are being thrown in and stepping away from classic club nights.”

With a new found sense of hope shared by music lovers, this prompted me to contact my mates again, but this time asking them about the unique opportunity that has risen over the past few weeks of virtual festivals and live streams that have catered to everyone's taste. 

“I’ve been catching a few of my favourite artists and DJs live streams over the past few weeks, it was so good to be able to interact with other music lovers in the comments and it made it feel like a proper friday night that we all know and love, maybe the ‘new normal’ isn’t all bad?”

“I think festivals/music events have done such a good job of keeping the vibe alive throughout lockdown. I’ve watched DJ’s play from their living rooms which has been unique but also so entertaining. I tuned into Awakenings live the other week, which was one of their past events but it made me feel like I was in the crowd - which I effectively was! If anything, it got me buzzing to be their next year!”

“The fact that DJ’s have made an effort to connect with fans this way has been amazing, it’s really kept my spirits high over the past few weeks. Of course it’s not as good as the real thing but it’s the best we can get at the moment and it’s been good fun being on facetime to mates at the same time and all tuning in together, as if we were there!”

Dixon, Berlin based house and tech DJ and producer curated his all night long tour in 2017 under the name of ‘Together we dance alone.’ When the idea for this blog post came about, this tour resonated with me. I want to leave you with a facebook post from Dixons page written on April 11th as I found this particularly poignant given the circumstances. 

‘Together we dance alone.’

“We gathered under this claim for the first time during my all night long tour in 2017. In present times it appears more current, more real, to you and me than ever.

Responding constructively to chaos means recognizing your power of action and then acting accordingly.”

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