In the history of DJing, the DJ has always played a crucial role – not only as a musical selector, but also as a room director and vibe controller. You fill the room with music, but you also have the option of making it stop or change at any time. In a year when personal, highly active, enclosed spaces full of people are one of the most dangerous environments, traditional dance floors are an unnecessary risk at best.
Let’s start this editorial with the key point: When you gather a large group of people for some recreational activity in an area that is still experiencing a runaway pandemic, you are part of the problem. It doesn’t matter how hungry you are to play a gig, how long it’s been since you’ve played in front of people, or how much you miss those great sound systems. Yes, we miss her too – but this is not the time.
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Dance floors should be safe spaces. They are not safe in a pandemic.
Dance floors are a second home for so many of us. They are spaces in which we (DJs, organizers, event producers) build, curate and thrive. How many times have you been absolutely happy on the dance floor, seen your favorite DJ, surrounded by friends, and so satisfied with that exact moment?
Safe spaces. In the decades of dance music and nightlife, these have been the best dance floors. You are a safe haven, an escape from the world, a moment when you can lose yourself in the sound. But when there’s a contagious pandemic spreading across the world like a tidal wave, bringing people together for a DJ performance (especially those without a mask, social distancing and indoors) has inherently dangerous, unsafe effects.
By saying yes to a DJ gig to make you happy again, you are ruining the safe spaces we worked so hard to build. When individuals get together and immerse themselves in their normal dance floor activities, many get drunk and any rules that are set tend to loosen up. People become less mindful and social distancing becomes more difficult. The crowd gets drunker, higher, and the risk of COVID spreading increases.
DJing a gig is for your own satisfaction – but it hurts our larger society.
Let’s be honest. If you are about to say yes to a DJ gig, do so for yourself. They long to be back on the decks and that satisfies it. But as a DJ you play a huge role in making this party a “thing”.
Personal events have a ripple effect when a participant catches COVID. Suppose a person knowingly or unknowingly comes to the event with COVID and infects other attendees. It’s pretty easy when asymptomatic cases are this common – participants may feel 100% healthy. These participants then go home and share it with their circles – the wave continues.
As of September 6, 2020, the CDC has reported over 6.2 million cases and 188,051 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States alone. There were over 290,000 new cases in the past week. This pandemic is not going to end anytime soon. Celebrating like it doesn’t exist, even though it seems “okay” in some eyes, is damaging our society’s efforts – nationally and internationally – to move forward and leave the pandemic behind.
Check out the recent Reunite Festival that took place in the Mojave Desert and claimed to be a “protest” for legal protection and the police did not close it:
And as the author of the above piece puts it on EDMTunes:
I’m really curious why DJs feel ethically okay playing at an event like this. You are asking your fans, supporters, and friends to gather at a party in the desert with hundreds of people at a time when we should hold onto our own pods, distance ourselves socially, and respect each other’s health.
Plain and simple, events like this are reckless behavior that will only prolong this pandemic. The more these illegal events happen, the longer we have to wait before we can all get back on the dance floor.
Your dance floor looks out for you.
DJs often tell groups what to do (ever seen a professional wedding DJ lead a line dance?), Where to go (“last call!”), And when to be where (“I’m playing at 10: 30 o’clock, get there early! “). As a DJ, you are largely the reason people gather on this dance floor. These groups look up to you. They have fans, friends, supporters – and if you ask them, come to a gig to come, they will come, and in a pandemic, if you ask them to come on, they will probably still come.
That is, you are putting them at risk – for your personal endeavors, your own success, your own paycheck, and your own satisfaction. And is it really worth it?
Probably not.
This responsibility as a leader, as a DJ and as a kind of role model does not change whether we are in a pandemic or not. Even if the venue claims they force masks to be worn even if it is outside and there is a claim that there is social distancing, and even if you are making a lot of money doing it, ask yourself: Are these risks worth potentially contributing to more deaths?
Check out the “drive-in” show The Chainsmokers put on at The Hamptons in July. Though the event claimed to be a drive-through, it got widespread coverage on social media, showing videos and photos of a giant pit in front of the stage that was filled with – you guessed it – tons of people who aren’t social distanced. While they may have set guidelines, they definitely didn’t enforce them – and this is where things get messy.
The Chainsmokers had a “drive-in” concert in the Hamptons last night … it looks like social distancing has been heavily enforced ????? … when NY gets the inevitable tip, just blame those rich selfish whites
About IG: adamalpert pic.twitter.com/yLe1XaE0hS
– Icculus The Brave (@FirenzeMike) July 26, 2020
That same weekend, two other artists – Lee Burridge and Kaskade – played events on the east coast to crowds who gathered to watch the artists they love. These are cities with incredible nightlife and crowds that miss them.
Looks like it girl! In Miami Dade County! The Epicenter of Florida !! Responsible!!!! pic.twitter.com/PXu3yhBQXC
– 444 mamí (@itsscynthiaa), July 26, 2020
DJs are still playing shows. They only participate in illegal camp appearances and do not tweet about it.
This is Lee Burridge.
this weekend.
in NYC
no social distancing
Masks not required
?????? pic.twitter.com/AL6jeQTNTu
– Back up your hard drives (@nappyisCRACKED) on July 26th, 2020
Look at the crowd at these events. No masks. No distancing. And although these artists have chosen not to explicitly post about these events on their own social networks, we live in an internet world – at some point everything will be online.
As artists and artists, we shouldn’t choose to endanger our community in this way. As leaders, as role models, as representatives of the music industry that we have built, these are bad choices we make for our own career growth and satisfaction.
Irresponsible parties could come back to haunt our industry
There is currently a major campaign running in the United States by the National Independent Venue Association called #SaveOurStages / #RestartAct. These are named for laws currently in place in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives that are designed to aid the future survival of independent venues, theaters, and promoters. The live events industry is absolutely overwhelmed right now, and there is a very good chance that 90% of independent venues in the US could be forced to close forever without major federal funding.
But what if the parties go on? In the past, renegade and illegal parties have been used to justify extreme laws against our communities. In the midst of a pandemic, throwing parties can further set our industry back and could be used as a justification for refusing to fund these vulnerable companies, their employees, sponsors, performers, technicians, etc.
Events must be certain before they can happen
In 2016, after the horrific ghost ship fire in Oakland, California, I wrote an article entitled “How Can Promoters + DJs Make Events Safe?” Part of the core idea of ??this article was to highlight how everyone involved in an event (organizers and performers) must play a role in the safety of their attendees. Four years later, this concept of creating a safe space – logistically, ecologically, emotionally – persists, albeit in a different scenario.
In the USA in particular, there is currently no way to guarantee a safe event that resembles the events of the past, led by DJs. We must face the fact that nightlife will never be the same in a post-COVID era and we must reassess the rules of the dance floor for the health and safety of our community.
We know this is not an easy subject. If you want to read a different perspective on the music industry during COVID, check out this great take on the relationship between the “business techno” scene and privilege.
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