I don't claim to be a veteran. I've only been out doing this stupid desert party since 2011. I'm a baby, and I'll probably forever be a baby as this festival progresses (or soon collapses under the weight of the BLM and their demands, or the population, or the lack of tickets, or any of a number of factors fighting against the life of BM). I'm not knowledgable. I'm just a guy who loves Burning Man. I'll probably delete this later, it's late and I'm grumpy.
So, I get this, I really do. And I agree - the Mayan Warrior is one of the coolest things out there. Painted by Alex Grey, an entirely custom sound system made specifically for the bus, a unique design that actually hides the fact that it is actually a bus (unlike some unoriginal massive rave busses), and their lineups are not EDM-friendly at all. The only mainstream recognizable name, out of this whole lineup, would probably be Maceo Plex. I'm on your side - I'm actually really stoked about this lineup, especially because the scene at Robot Heart (my favorite place for music 2011 - 2014) has become an absolute shitshow. I would love to see Acid Pauli tear open the void, maybe like a 4am - 7am time slot? I get chills thinking about it. Maceo Plex on THAT soundsystem? In THAT environment? Whoa. WHOA. Park that thing in the Deep Playa and I'll be living a fucking dream.
This lineup is excellent. The Mayan Warrior crew has a proven track record of not being douchebags, their lineups never involve bullshit poppy EDM artists, the bus is amazingly mutated, and it is done out of love. All of that is established. So, here I go, about to be totally negative.
The growth of dance music on the Playa these past few years has been... astronomic. Go pull up a Rockstar Librarian from 2010 or 2011. As I understand it, Opulent Temple used to really be the only camp pulling massive names, like Tiesto, Carl Cox, and Armin Van Buuren, and them somewhere inbetween 2009 and 2011, maybe, playa lineups switched from a peppering of big-name DJs and a ton of locals from all over the USA, to being stuffed full of huge talent. From Seth Troxler to Skrillex, Burning Man is the place to be for huge DJ sets nowadays. Burning Man has always been in the mainstream news, but now the tone has switched a bit.... and I don't think there's a single place on earth that can have a vibe like a sunrise at Robot Heart (douche-hate aside) or a daytime party at DISTRIKT. These are good things, in my book. The fact that I can casually jump around on Friday night, every year, catching nearly nonstop ridiculously amazing sets is intoxicating. Last year I saw Carl Cox, followed by the All Day I Dream guys, and then stopped by for more Carl Cox at sunrise, and then Seth Troxler/Jamie Jones did a tag until noon. Whoa. That's an Ibiza-level kind of night, all for free (relatively speaking). AND these guys, knowing the crowd we are, don't play canned bullshit. Like, I saw Coxy playing fucking classic DISCO. Seth and Jamie were playing straight up E'd-out vibe-as-holy-shit music. Lee Burridge played some really ballsy tracks as the sun rose and the crowd collectively grinded their teeth to a pulp. These guys bring their big guns for out stupid desert party.
There is a verifiable flood of people coming out here for the rave. It's probably always been happening, and I truly lack the perspective of pre-2011, 'cause as I understand it, the rave had already taken over by like 2009. I don't know. This is just my perspective.
But look at the 20 problems the BLM has with this event in that recent leak - multiple times, sound camps come up as a problem. Talk to Resto and see where their problems lie - Robot Heart dance floors, 10 and 2 dance floors, inner-city dance floors are all notable. Look at what causes the most complaints, even so much as barring a camp from coming back - big sound. Around Deep Playa parties, newbie participants can't help but create a fucking mess, piss on the ground, shit on the ground, and hell, the Robot Heart guys have to truck a ton of free water out to their sunrise parties because the folks there just don't fucking get it. They even have the final DJ's get on the mic and go "Hey, guys, this is Burning Man, can you, like, help us stick around and clean up?" as a flood of people wander off high out of their mind to find the next beat. I've watched it happen. It's kind of depressing. Never, at Burning Man, do I see people disrespect the playa, as much as I do in the middle of a dance floor. The worst porto's, by far, are 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock, and whichever poor set of portos end up next to DISTRIKT, Pink Mammoth, Panda Lounge, or one of the (now many) day party camps. DISTRIKT got so big, last year (or maybe the year before?) that some staffers had to come by and get on megaphones and yell at the horde of people to "CLEAN UP THEIR FUCKING BIKES OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING ROAD."
Dance floors attract the most cops, and I would guess the most arrests. You don't see six BLM cars lined up anywhere but a Deep Playa Robot Heart party. I would venture a guess that dance floors attract the most medical emergencies. They definitely attract the most newbies... and there are only more coming. Burning Man is like some kind of twisted mecca for ravers now, and even some big burner DJs have come out saying "Guys, guys, calm down. This isn't desert coachella. Go enjoy something else, stop chasing lineups." Rockstar Librarian, once a few pages long, is now practically a goddamn novel, chock full of music. The place you're most likely to get your bike stolen or your things fucked with? Outside of a sound camp, I would guess.
There are verifiable problems coming from this flood. It probably started before my time. It'll definitely continue after my time, as well. But somewhere, something needs to happen. BMORG banned the Capitalist Pig camp when they got to be too much of a group of assholes. BMORG put their foot down and told Gate and DPW to calm the fuck down and stop being such assholes. BMORG enacted sound policies to prevent gigantic-rave-bus #15 from deciding that the intersection of Deep Suburb and Deep Suburb was THE place to start a sunrise party. It might be a good idea to limit these big sound camps who bring out big names from advertising themselves so blatantly to try to stem the flow of people coming for the wrong idea. Hell, the BMORG is activating even more new rules this year regarding sound... random Deep Playa parties are no more, as I understand it, and instead there are Deep Playa sound zones with porto-potties nearby to hopefully stem the tide of Little-Mr-Never-Done-Ecstacy shitting on the ground because it's too hard to find his bike and he doesn't want to steal another one to ride. We don't need Resident Advisor writing articles about how sick the lineups at such-and-such camp are. And yeah, I'm a member on Resident Advisor.
I don't know. At this point I'm just ranting. But it's the feeling of just one guy out there. We need to calm the rave down, just a tad bit. Releasing a big lineup full of big names, a month before the event, when tickets are the most difficult to find ever, attracting wooks looking for their final festival of the year... not a good idea, in my book.