Guest Post by the Ragehound.
PLUR: It’s one of the biggest buzzwords circulating throughout the raver scene, and has been utilized across the scene as both a communal term, an ideology..and a key tool in marketing campaigns.
It’s been slapped onto shirts, hash-tagged, exclaimed by kandi-clad ravers at festivals, and is on the uptrend. While there are many efforts in the scene that claim to demonstrate ‘PLUR’, many of these fall short as they simply use ‘PLUR’ as an excuse for monetary gain, contrived purpose, and ultimately end in sloppy execution; often leading to more negativity surrounding their shortcomings.
Additionally, many who get behind the movement fail to understand the origins of the concept, or simply drop the facade once its core virtues no longer suit them. As a result, those who use the acronym are often met with disdain and annoyance from the more ‘clubby’ or ‘audiophilic’ crowd and regarded as the ‘dirty hippies’ of our time.
However in more recent efforts, the concept of PLUR has ushered in a new application that may help to fight the stigmatized ‘rave culture’: Charity.
With major acts like Avicii donating up to $1 million while on tour and donating 2 million meals through the FEED organization, Steve Aoki forming the Steve Aoki Charitable Fund to aid children in third world countries, and Insomniac Event’s Pasquale Rotella donating up to $115,000 to Las Vegas charities, there is more to the PLUR-spewing scene that initially meets the eye.
On a smaller scale, new events have begun to emerge that follow in the same footsteps carrying the same message: a quick Google search reveals hundreds of thousands of small Facebook events whose missions range from local initiatives to third-world outreach.
Among the vibrant (and ever vigilant) raver community on Twitter, small but tangible efforts range from rave bras to benefit charities to full-blown fundraising campaigns to benefit fellow ravers, friends, and family in need. Icons among the festival crowd like Lady Casa (formerly Molly Casa until a ‘clean the scene’ name change) preach acceptance and work towards inspiring others to inject more positivity into a largely snob-saturated atmosphere.
Though many club regulars, tech-house die-hards, and veterans to the scene may feel that today’s “kandi kid” PLUR-preaching scene is largely contrived, there is a tangible forward-thinking motive behind the movement that is hard to ignore. As the scene matures, It is my hope to see more ravers embrace PLUR in a more charitable way by reaching out to others in need: anything from sharing a water at a festival or attending a charity rave for a non-profit.
Instead of just slapping ‘PLUR’ on a shirt, organizers should try slapping the concept of PLUR onto events and partnering with notable (and honorable) causes which set forth to make a difference in the world. I’m not saying we need an ‘Electric PLUR Carnival’ in 2014, but I would gladly welcome events like Electric Zoo donating proceeds to the ASPCA and Nocturnal Wonderland partnering with the Make a Wish Foundation.
Instead of casting light on lingering the drug culture that becomes the main focus of media sources in reviewing events, I would love to see major events give back to rehabilitation centers, hospitals, and recovery efforts for any raver who may have found themselves in a dangerous situation at a rave.
More on WRR:
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