Hi hi,

On this episode of #sorryasainparents, I’m joined by CupCake, RidicuLance, and Vortex for a mini ZipperSquad reunion. We will be sharing with y’all stories of a time when we were just a bunch of broke youths trying to make festivals happen and (of course) EDC!!!

When I started this YouTube project, I knew I would be talking about my music festival journey a lot. This video is the second time I’ve brought up the Electric Daisy Carnival, and it probably won’t be the last. I am grateful to have these three (this time and probably more times) with me, so y’all won’t have to hear just me blabbering on about my glory daze for almost two hours!

So, you’re welcome.

It could be a bit hard to follow our overeager-storytelling as we zip and zap through a bunch of cautionary tales of our early raver days. Still, we couldn’t help getting excited when talking about our nights under the Electric Sky. For this reason, I’ve included timestamps marking things like our early struggles raving in a pre-smartphone era and having to deal with paper tickets, Nocturnal Wonderland and the NOS Event Center, and even infamous TomorrowWorld! I know our conversation may seem a bit erratic, but I’m sure our love for the events hosted by Insomniac will make everything seem connected . . . I hope.

It’s a shame I can’t get all of my rave family together in one video (because that would just be a chaotic mess, let’s be honest). I wish I could, though. I love everyone whom I’ve met throughout my rave journey. Being in this pandemic, I’ve come to realize how much I miss every one of those beautiful souls. And If I’ve learned anything from being stuck at home, limited to Zoom calls, it’s not to take your bonds and friendships for granted.

So I hope this video can bring some of y’all (who are also missing their rafe fam, festie besties, and the euphoric feeling of being on the dance floor surrounded by beats and lights) a little comfort. If y’all have any stories y’all wanna share, feel free to post them down below.

PS, I want to apologize for some of the crappy pictures; I had to extract most of them from Facebook. But like the memories we made, these shitty pictures are an accurate representations of the times we shared, cloaked in a beautiful haze of dreams and stupidity.

Timestamps

0:00:00 – Intro
0:01:00 – Welcoming In The Gang
0:02:00 – Starting Off 2020 w/ A Bang!
0:02:50 – Prepping For 2021 Festivals (COVID Measures)
0:05:00 – INSOMNIAC And EDC 2020 Problems
0:07:30 – 2020, The Year Of DJ Livestreams
0:11:50 – We Used To Deal w/ Physical Tickets, GrooveTickets, And MapQuest
0:16:30 – The NOS Event Center and Beginning Our Journey At Nocturnal Wonderland
0:23:17 – HARD vs INSOMNIAC Events
0:28:10 – Evolving Our Music Taste And Timeless Artist On Repeat (Above & Beyond, Seven Lions)
0:32:00 – Beyond Wonderland 2012 w/ ASOT 550 and The Knights Inn
0:35:55 – EDC Part1: 2012 Duststorm, Thursday Night Bar Crawl, And The Friendship Lineup
0:46:30 – Vegas Kinda Sucks w/out EDC
0:48:30 – Doing Crazier (Stupider) Stuff When We Were Younger
0:50:45 – TomorrowWorld 2015, Chicago Fam, And Risking Our Life And Jobs For Squad
1:05:40 – EDC Part2: EDC 2013 (Da Best Year), Fitting 13 People in a 2 Bed Hotelroom, EDC Traffic
1:13:00 – Boomer Ravers, Raving Used To Be Controlled Chaos, Off The Main Stages
1:18:40 – Being Messed Up At Raves and TomorrowWorld (Again!)
1:20:30 – Those EDC Moments, Our EDC Numbers, And Our Favorite EDC Stages
1:31:20 – The Last Time We Gave Out Kandi At A Festival, And The Scene Has Changed
1:35:20 – Prohibited Rave Items And Festival Security
1:39:00 – Safety At Festivals, Finally Getting Free Water, And New Friends
1:44:40 – We Miss Festivals And The Friendship Lineup
1:49:43 – Being Broke And Raving Made Everything Stressful
1:52:53 – Saying Our Goodbyes, Till Next Time