Peace. Love. Unity. Respect.

Written by Mason Plotts

Peace. Love. Unity. Respect. PLUR.

This phrase is typically heard at musical festivals across the world, as it is the unifying philosophy of the rave movement and Electric Dance Music culture.

Originating from early online discussions about rave culture, its usage has been common since the early 1990s, where it became popular on club flyers and advertisements for underground outdoor trance parties, also referred to as raves. It may be interpreted as the participant’s essential philosophy of life, or at least while gathered at a rave. Raves are a modern experience that promotes a strong communal sense, where PLUR is considered an ideology. Sound familiar? That’s because it is…

The Woodstock Music & Art Fair, also simply known as Woodstock, was a music festival advertised as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music.” It was held at Max Yasgur’s six-hundred-acre dairy farm in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to 18, 1969. Thirty-two acts performed outdoors before a young and lively audience of four hundred thousand people. The festival is widely considered to be the definitive symbol of the large counterculture generation.

The counterculture movement of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed first in the United States and the United Kingdom, and then spread across the globe between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s. The combined movement gained momentum as the African-American Civil Rights Movement continued to grow, and became revolutionary with the expansion of the US government’s extensive military intervention in Vietnam.

As the 1960s progressed, many social controversies developed and tended to be debated amongst generations, regarding human sexuality, women’s rights, traditional modes of authority, experimentation with drugs, and differing interpretations of the American Dream.

As the era unfolded, new cultural dynamics and subcultures revolving around experimentation formed. The hippie (or hippy) subculture was a youth movement that emerged swiftly and spread to other countries around the world. Hippies created their own communities, listened to psychedelic music (mainly in the genre of Rock ‘n’ Roll), embraced the sexual revolution (supporting gay rights), and used an array of drugs to explore altered states of consciousness. Hippies modernized the term peace and labeled it with its now-famous symbol. They believed in equal rights across the board and the act of becoming “one” in the presence of groovy music.

Now, roughly forty years later, the EDM subculture has given rise to an identical ideology. Peace. Violence is never the answer, whether it was during Vietnam or in the present day. Love. Goodwill and kind spirits are welcome to anyone who participates in the same subculture whether a hippie or “raver”. Unity. We are all united in the human condition. Respect. Respect is given to everyone, no matter his or her age, race, religion, sexuality, etc.

A rave (also known as an EDM concert) is comprised of live performers playing electronic dance music (EDM). Music played at raves may include house, trance, dubstep, drum and bass, etc. The music is amplified with a large sound reinforcement system, typically with large subwoofers to produce a deep bass sound. The artist’s material is often accompanied by laser light shows, visual effects, and smoke machines.

Since rave culture has seen such an explosion in the United States since 2010, as the rave scene is no longer illegal or underground, raves in the U.S. are now so popular that there are many brands selling apparel for those who go to dress up at raves. As “hippie gatherings” often led to illegal practices, they were also deemed illegal at first. Hippies themselves had their own style: bell-bottom pants, tie-dye material, bandannas, dangling jewelry, long hair, denim jackets, etc. This style of attire, along with the entire rave culture attire, spilled out into the mainstream. “Rave fashion,” sometimes known as “festival fashion,” is known to consist of as little clothing as possible. However, it consists of accessories to create unique looks depending on the person and event. Items such as jewelry, wigs, temporary tattoos, furry leg warmers, sunglasses, fanny packs, light up lingerie, and ultimately neon colored clothing run rampant at EDM festivals. Both cultures are really about self-expression. Raves, as well as Woodstock, are and were thought of as a judgment-free zone, where attendees can wear whatever they want and feel comfortable to express their own unique style.

Both phenomena have their more controversial sides as well. Many hippies smoked marijuana, considering it pleasurable and benign, which then opened their scope to other drugs. Hallucinogens such as LSD, shrooms, and DMT were popular among the culture, which often led to many overdoses. Alcohol was and is abused presumably in both cultures’ eras. Today, in the United States, law enforcement agencies have branded the rave subculture as a purely drug-centric culture, usually drugs such as marijuana, MDMA (widely known as ecstasy or “Molly”), LSD, DMT, etc., similar to the hippie movement of the 1960s.  However, not all controversies were harmful to the body. Homosexual rights are a huge part of both cultures as hippies were a central player in the sexual revolution, as “ravers” are primarily in support of the gay rights movement in the United States today.

Both cultures surely carry their stereotypes as well. Many adults as well as fellow teens view both groups to be filled with unmotivated delinquents and lost causes. However, many have proved this to be false. President Obama himself was a part of a hippie group in college and grew up to be an extremely intellectual and aspiring man (personal opinions aside). I, myself, partake in the “hippie culture” of today by attending such raves. While I may not participate in all of the acts that transpire at these given events, I find them to be an incredible experience. It is a place where all judgments are lost and every person is able to come together equally and enjoy what we all love: music.

The rave subculture today proves that there is truly nothing new under the sun… PLUR.