Electric Zoo 2014 kicked off today, Friday, August 29th on New York City’s Randall’s Island. This years installment has seen heightened security measures in light of the two deaths at last year’s event – causing the festival to close shop early.
Some of the measures being taken to protect event attendees include four medical tents, six drug-sniffing dogs, twelve video cameras and fifty to seventy-five roving health monitors on top of a very thorough gate pat down – reminiscent of airport style security.
“Back at the entrance, attendees will need to view a two-minute Public Service Announcement before they activate their entry bracelets, which are dependent on a code revealed at the end of the video. The film depicts a man on the dance floor who suffers a dramatic adverse reaction after ingesting a white powder.” – The Wall Street Journal
Everyone has seen the “Electric Zoo: Come to Life” video by now (if not it’s below), but the real question remains: is it useful? Probably not. Now, another great question would be: where do you draw the line between treating your high paying customer (the festival go-er) like a guest and like a prisoner?
Don’t get me wrong, overall I applaud Electric Zoo’s actions to keep everyone safe, however, I believe that certain tactics – like the aforementioned video – are a waste of time. Skewing the view of drug use in an effort to “scare” ravers is without a doubt counterproductive. I’d much rather see and educational service being provided in addition to their positive security efforts.
The biggest security addition to Electric Zoo this year is definitely their powerful robotic camera. This eye in the sky will grant law enforcement and security personnel the ability to every move made on the dance floor while highly anticipated acts such as Jack U perform.
“High above the grassy parkland on Randall’s Island—site of this weekend’s Electric Zoo music festival—hangs a robotic camera so powerful it can read text on a note pad 80 feet below.
Security officials will monitor the video feed from the camera and 11 more like it from a command center nearby, part of a new strategy during the three-day music fair to keep drugs off the island.” – The Wall Street Journal
At the end of the day Electric Zoo curators are clearly doing their best to protect ravers and I’m sure they’re under a lot of pressure from New York City officials.
But there is no question, these security measures have surely turned away many electronic dance music lovers, and promoters Mike Bindra and Laura de Palma are very aware of that.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Share On
