By Melissa Zuniga
Technology is one of the only things connecting everyone right now. With the stay at home order being extended, we’ll be stuck in the house for much longer. Music could help us get through it. With artists and DJs playing for free, artists are bringing the festivals right to your home.
Pasquale Rotella is the founder and creator of Insomniac, the world’s largest dance music company. With his yearly Beyond Wonderland being held during quarantine, he decided to do a free live stream on Insomniac’s YouTube. He didn’t want to stop the fun, so he brought it straight to our laptops. No need to wait hours to buy a ticket or sign up with your email. Simply head to Insomniac’s user profile from Friday to Sunday and it’s right there in front of you.
Rotella put together his team to create a DJ set in his own Insomniac headquarters. The room was filled with decorations heavily inspired by “Alice in Wonderland.” There were mushrooms, butterflies and neon lights primarily red and purple. He had booked about six to eight DJs that would come to the headquarters and play their sets live. Rotella sat across from the DJs so that he could hear the music and watch the lights, all while checking on the comments.
Each DJ is introduced before their set by Rotella. With set time slots, listeners can tune in when their favorite DJ is playing. The sets last between an hour or more with lasers, lights and fog per the DJ’s request. Throughout the night, the team takes precautions. They make sure that the DJs are either wearing masks, gloves and even having Disinfecto, a man with a belt full of cleaning supplies, wipe down the DJ controller.
A completely free festival every single weekend, who wouldn’t want that? When the weekend comes around, the headquarters is decorated from floor to ceiling to fit the theme of the weekend. His past few raves have included Hard Summer, Countdown, Nocturnal Wonderland, Escape and Electric Daisy Carnival. Many viewers are excited about what comes next, checking their emails for the next #virtualraveathon to come starting Friday of every week.
This online music festival thing is something many could get used to. Over one million people tune in to dance, watch and comment while in the safety of their own homes. People are in a Zoom call partying with their friends. Music is helping lighten the mood, especially during this time of stress and anxiousness concerning the nation. Artists are taking advantage of it. Fans are loving it. The viewership just keeps going up every week. Even if you miss a set, the Insomniac team puts many of their previous sets up on their channel.
If you’d like to join in on this free festival, keep a lookout for any Insomniac live streams or even your own favorite artist. Frequently view their social media for constant updates; they might just be live streaming soon too.
