Electronic Dance Music (aka EDM) isn’t something that’s new, but simply a subculture that’s now migrated into the realm of pop culture. It’s a musical force that’s exploded around the world, especially in the US, over the past six years or so and the staggering attendance numbers at various EDM festivals proves that the popularity is real. One of the largest festivals with over 345,000 attendees is the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, the mecca of US-based EDM festivals and the biggest festival I’ve ever been too. In their new film, Under the Electric Sky, directors Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz follow the journeys of five groups of fans on their pilgrimage to EDC Vegas 2013 (the same one I attended), what the festival means to them, and their experiences over the three day dance marathon of music, love and passion, all scored by one of my favorite DJs, Kaskade.
Six stories, three days, one festival. Sadie is a small town Texas girl who one would consider an outsider and suffers from chronic anxiety. A group of Boston Bros dubbed “the wolfpack” take an RV trip to Vegas in memory of their deceased best friend. A Japan based boyfriend and a NY based girlfriend reunite in Vegas reunite in Vegas after many months of absence for three days of romantic bliss. Six friends in an open rave relationship venture to Vegas to live life hard and to get married as a group. Jose lost the use of his legs and is now in a wheelchair but EDM is his escape and he ventures to EDC for the music and loving ride that has kept him happy. Lastly, Ali and Matt, lovers who met at EDC 15 years prior will make their yearly pilgrimage back to EDC, only this time they have two kids and are getting married. These are the stories Under the Electric Sky will tell and while each one is vastly different, it all culminates to the love and happiness that exists in the magical venue that’s made so many happy memories for others.
Essentially, Under the Electric Sky is a long music video cut with footage of the few attendees that were followed, talking heads with Insomniac employees and a few pre-set blurbs from participating DJs. Yes, I know the focus is the music and festival goers (or “headliners” as they’re called) but a major part of this festival is how it’s created. When we got time with the Insomniac crew and the show runners, what we saw behind-the-scenes we merely a small glimpse of what is actually an epic production, and what we are shown is only scratching the surface. There are some cool flashbacks to what the EDM world used to be like, when Pasquale Rotella participated in the underground world of raves and how his love of the scene pushed him to keep on living, eventually leading to the creation of EDC Vegas, but it would have been nice to see a bit more behind-the-scenes with him and more in-depth interviews with the DJs because it would allow the film to be more accessible to people who have never been or don’t grasp the whole concept of the scene. And this is coming from a guy who left the film on a high, wishing that I joining thousands of other this weekend to the festival that took me to another world.
The negatives I addressed above are if I were a person who didn’t know much about the scene and isn’t just looking to see how people are impacted by the festival and the experiences they have. This isn’t a film of much substance, but as a fan of EDM music and an attendee of EDC Vegas 2013, the same festival chronicled in the film, I felt alive watching this movie. You got a taste for the variety of people who attend the festival and it allowed me to revisit one of the wilder times of my life. In fact, this was a straight nostalgia trip and an incredibly brilliant/shameless marketing ploy to get past EDC attendees or hopeful future ones to see what they’re missing out on or to remind them of what they loved about going to the festival. The colors, the lights, the peace, the love, regardless of what’s going on in the world this little slice of electronic music nirvana will make you forget about the suffering and pain going on in your life, much the way being at the actual festival makes you feel. This documentary is able to pull in any real fans of EDM in for 85 min and, despite some of the corniness of it all, allows you to reminisce about your time(s) Under the Electric Sky or dream about your first trip to the mecca of festivals.
The stories that are told are varied and genuinely heartwarming. S
ome of the characters are a bit out there and some are seemingly so conservative that you’d never know they were ravers. The one story that suck out to me was the one about “the wolfpack.” At first, these are the absolute stereotypical guys you hate on, the kind of guys that “bro” everything up as humanly possible, but the more toolish they sound talking about their friend who the trip is dedicated to the more you begin to like them and, by the end, you actually end up seeing the real guys without their bro faces on, seeing their true emotions and the types of good human beings they are pour off the screen. Like me, they went to party hard and have a good time with their friends and, you know what, you have to respect that, especially when all they keep doing is talking about the friend that should have been there with them.
From a visual standpoint, Directors Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz’s have made a beautiful looking documentary but, the again, it would have been a tough feat making something like EDC Vegas look bad, visually speaking. Regardless, the cinematography and various shots were stunning and really helped capture the essence of the festival while the DJs, such as Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Alex Kidd, and Fatboy Slim, were blasting their beats and crowds were going wild. As far as the 3D goes, it comes in and out. I took my glasses off a few times and there were points where there was simply no 3D going on. The best usage of 3D occurs during the before and after credits, anything in between is mostly pointless. I’d suggest seeing this film in 2D so that none of the bright colors are darkened by the 3D glasses.
While it might seem like Under the Electric Sky is a film that should be accessible to all audiences, especially those really interested in getting an in-depth look at the experience and process of putting together such a huge festival, it’s more of a stunning music video that’ll make any fan of EDM music wish they were there. It’s a documentary that does its job really well in certain aspects and falls short in others, but for those who love EDM it won’t disappoint.
From an EDM fan’s rating: A visually stunning and emotional ride that reminds you why this scene has exploded and why EDC Vegas has become the pilgrimage trip that it’s become today for fans around the world (8.8/10)
An outsiders POV rating: Good stories, pretty lights, and a lot of “noise” aren’t enough to to distract us from the glossing over of certain subjects (5.9/10)
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