Dennis RomeroL.A.'s embattled mega-rave promoter Insomniac Events has banned bright LED lights from its parties, stating that they present a negative image of the events when “groups of music fans are sitting or lying on the floor gazing at the designs …”
The light shows reflect “poorly and sends a false message of what the electronic dance music scene is about,” the promoter stated on its Facebook page.
Insomniac is behind the Electric Daisly Carnival, which last year drew 160,000 ravers over two days to the publicly owned L.A. Coliseum.
The 16-and-older event got in hot water after a 15-year-old who got in subsequently succumbed to an ecstasy overdose. It also saw chaotic crowd conditions, with young people getting injured as dozens traversed barriers, 60, mostly drug-related arrests and more than 200 medical emergencies.
Glow sticks at EDC.; Credit: Caesar Sebastian
Coliseum officials and local leaders wondered if the parties, known for their ecstasy use, should be allowed at public venues.
The promoter has agreed to try to clean up the events with an 18-and-up policy, extra police and security, and now a no-LEDs rule.
Former LAPD narcotics officer Trinka Porrata, a rave expert, says the light rule only points to her argument that the parties are driven by illicit ecstasy use.
Light envelops a dancer at EDC.; Credit: Caesar Sebastian
Ecstasy dilates one's pupils and enhances the enjoyment of light in a psychedelic sense. Thus, raves are known for their lasers and amateur light shows in which young people sometimes gather around someone who's twirling glow sticks or LED beams.
The new rule, Poratta says, “is admitting that you know drug use is the primary point of the whole thing. These people are all on drugs. That's the point.”
The crowd at EDC.; Credit: Cesar Sebastian
The promoter states that it has “introduced” a “Get Up and Dance Crew” (see video, below) that will prevent people from sitting on walkways and dance floors but that the LED ban is also needed to improve the image of the events.
Last week the Coliseum Commission reviewed plans by Insomniac to put on June's two-day Electric Daisy Carnival. Those plans include on-site medical staff that a doctor hired by the promoter said would be used to prevent “unnecessary transports” to hospitals.
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