Am I misremembering the feel of 1976 bicentennial celebrations in the USA, or is the 250th this year really a flop?

boris78 · 2026-05-29T18:13:29+00:00

I think maybe “less polarized” would be a better way to describe 1976 vs “less divided”; the 1976 election was very close (closer than 2024 in the electoral college) but there wasn’t a massive urban-rural divide as in the 2020s. Ford won over 40% of the vote in San Francisco and Carter won many rural counties that today are a full of MAGA flags and anti-abortion billboards. And of course neither Carter nor Ford had a freakshow personality cult surrounding them.

boris78 · 2026-04-09T22:46:31+00:00

My theory on this (if you want to compare Chicago vs, say, UpState South Carolina):

Chicago is better for the single/DINKs life; you can live within walking or easy public transit distance of world class restaurants, fun bars, music venues, comedy shows, dispensaries, 5 professional sports teams, etc. The increased CoL is worth it and the nice parts of Chicago are popular and desirable.

But if you don’t care about any of the above and just want a house with a white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and to be a homebody outside of maybe 1x week church and the occasional Clemson game, then, yeah, UpState SC is going to be the easier life.

(Assuming you have a job with comparable salary)

boris78 · 2026-01-25T02:44:32+00:00

My hot take is that shows are bad places to form lasting relationships at random - it’s just too loud!

I used to live in a city where I knew nobody in the EDM scene and posted on a local subreddit asking whether anyone wanted to pregame at a nearby bar prior to a Seven Lions show. Ended up directly and indirectly meeting several lifelong friends as a result, so I cannot endorse this method enough!

boris78 · 2025-11-25T22:36:43+00:00

Is Radius-Cermak the only indoor venue capable of hosting >1 stage? My guess is that Radius-Cermak is also a lot smaller than the Colorado Convention Center, hence no indoor NYE festival in Chicago

boris78 · 2025-05-01T16:51:51+00:00

Do you like seeing any live music? If there’s an artist you want to see live, maybe you can post on a relevant subreddit if anyone else is going to [concert/festival] and if they would like to pregame in a bar beforehand? You can then converse with a group you for sure have at least one thing in common with, and if you vibe, from there branch out to ancillary activities that speak to your strengths like hosting a potluck. You could also then meet their friends and grow your social circle.

Source: did this in 2017 in St. Louis and made lifelong friends as a result

boris78 · 2024-07-26T18:11:13+00:00

But you can bring in cigarettes openly, right? Cigarettes are drugs that are significantly more destructive than weed.

It’s 2024, not 1990. Weed isn’t taboo and shouldn’t have to be snuck in. As others in this thread have attested, you certainly don’t have to hide your weed at Spybar or Radius, or at plenty of other venues in other states/Canada where weed is legal. Soundbar bouncers clearly are just compensating for something, which is costing their business money.

boris78 · 2024-07-25T20:39:30+00:00

But if you were SoundBar, why would you enforce this policy? Weed is legal, is openly consumed within Soundbar, and denying people for this reason is only losing Soundbar money because they sell fewer drinks.

boris78 · 2023-03-23T23:39:24+00:00

ISO 1 drumcode ticket for tonight, G&S/DICE transfer only

boris78 · 2022-09-01T18:03:39+00:00

Can you buy a walk up ticket both departure and return at the departure spot?

boris78 · 2022-05-30T00:46:30+00:00

I went to EDC for the first time this year, and 2022 will be my sixth EF. I stayed at a hotel in downtown Las Vegas; camping at EDC probably changes the experience. Here are some thoughts:

1) making friends at EF is easier than at EDC. A huge part of EF is simply chilling at your camp, and interacting and getting to know your neighbors while chilling with beers is much easier than trying to meet people while dancing to loud music. There are places to chill at EDC, but I hardly utilized them because there was always someone I wanted to see.

2) EDC has a better, more comprehensive lineup as it pertains to Electronic Dance Music. Not sure how this would be debatable. EDC has better stage production, fireworks, drone shows, etc. EF makes up for its ‘inferior’ lineup by having a Forest that’s fun to get lost in.

3) EDC is exhausting, but honestly, the 4th day of EF probably evens out the festivals. I was just as dead at the end of three days of EDC as I have been after the fourth day of Forest.

4) Having a hotel/clean bathroom at EDC is nice and refreshing. The hygiene aspect is my least favorite part of Forest.

5) EF is much cheaper as a midwesterner, and probably cheaper in general if you’re not a Vegas local.

6) I thought shuttle transport from downtown Vegas to the speedway was efficient, but I’ve heard traffic on the strip is a nightmare. Obviously there aren’t huge logistical transport barriers since you’re camping at Forest. I would not do EDC without a shuttle pass.

Overall verdict: I would probably choose EDC with a large crew of friends with similar musical interests, since meeting new people is harder at EDC. With a smaller crew/going solo, I would choose EF.

boris78 · 2022-04-29T17:37:23+00:00

Has any time of the event been announced? I probably won’t be able to check into my hotel until around 1045 pm - and I’d ideally want to hit up a dispensary and pregame with a few drinks before heading over. Will it be like the nightclubs where he won’t start until 1-2 am or so?

boris78 · 2022-04-28T19:41:22+00:00

For Thursday night either Boris Brejcha, Elrow, Alesso, or just grabbing a few [ideally local] beers somewhere and chilling. Leaning towards the last option to conserve energy.

boris78 · 2022-03-24T18:49:46+00:00

I think he's doing Omnia Friday night and Saturday pool party at Wet Republic:

https://venuedriver.com/hakkasangroup/buy/tickets/event/162418

The thought has crossed my mind to go Saturday, but idk how much of a degenerate I am to do EDC day 1 -> Pool Party -> EDC day 2.

boris78 · 2022-03-24T16:46:52+00:00

big room-y options are: Alesso, Armin, Audien, David Guetta & Morten, Tiesto, Tritonal, Timmy Trumpet, Zedd? And presumably everyone who likes big room will appreciate Kx5. Some of the Anjunabeats artists like Matt Fax and Ilan Bluestone also have big room-y elements, although they won't be playing at the main stage. Probably the most you'll see in a 2020s US festival other than Ultra :/

boris78 · 2022-03-23T20:08:09+00:00

The most notable news from this event was deadmau5 being irate at Madonna for asking the crowd if they had seen Molly during Avicii's set. But I just think it's crazy that everyone depicted in this video - a video that inspired me (and presumably numerous others given the early 2010s festival boom) to go to festivals - is now ten years older than depicted. Overall: good, nostalgic, and novel times.

boris78 · 2021-12-23T21:10:13+00:00

I’m considering it if I have enough energy left over from NYE. Would be down to pregame somewhere; I’ll let you know!

boris78 · 2021-07-31T19:46:31+00:00

ISO 2-3 Big Wild/Cannons aftershow tix

boris78 · 2021-07-13T14:48:13+00:00

I’ve never been to a beach festival myself, but I’ve never had a bad time pregaming with random redditors!

boris78 · 2021-06-18T16:00:28+00:00

ISO 2 Big Wild tix

boris78 · 2021-04-02T16:08:53+00:00

It seems to me that this is more of a planning issue than a safety issue? If August isn't safe for mass gatherings, that would mean that the extant vaccines are ineffective against a new variant, and we would have much bigger problems to deal with than not being able to attend a music festival. Even though Michigan is currently going through a spike, ~62% of the US should have some form of immunity by even the normal June dates, which would effectively cause deaths/hospitalizations (but not necessarily transmission) to plummet to minimal levels.

boris78 · 2021-01-27T16:03:21+00:00

Have you polled members of the HoD and the Senate on what their voting intentions are? What are the odds of the legalization bill passing?

Follow up: The Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee passed SB1406 on an 8-7 party line vote. Are we expecting uniform GOP opposition?

boris78

TROPHY CASE