Reader: "I've Never Seen Such a Hateful Comment in This Evolving Social Scene"

"It’s easy to dismiss Decadence, the massive two-day New Year’s Eve EDM festival at the Colorado Convention Center put on by Global Dance and AEG Presents." That's how Kyle Harris's review of the first night at Decadence began, and it proceeded to list some of the ways you could dismiss the massive production.

Many of them are the same arguments people use "to dismiss EDM and not engage with what’s interesting about it," Harris continues. "That’s a mistake, because there’s plenty worth exploring." And explore he did in his review, which concluded with plenty of praise for the event.

Readers are as divided about Harris's piece as they are over Decadence itself. Says Paul: 

A quote from Kyle Harris's article: "They’re just there to hook up, do drugs and take selfies of themselves in disposable cyborg-chic outfits."

Has Westword lost their frigging minds to allow such a hateful comment into print? I'm a 44-year-old house, tech, and trance lover, and I've never seen such a hateful comment in this evolving social scene.

Responds Miguel:

 I mean, they aren’t wrong. I’ve been trying to find the perfect description and there it is.

Adds Nicholas:

Hey, Kyle Harris. How much did Global Dance and AEG pay you to write the "un-biased" piece!?!?

Notes Nate:

 It was an amazing production, why hate on a New Year's rave? It's to have fun and listen to the music that the people we love play!

Counters Ryan:

 Fuck Decadence and their overpriced tickets.

Responds Baltazar: 

Buy your tickets early and stop bitching on the price. Went the first night and had a blast. Great production all around. Kids need to stop doing drugs so early, though. Friends saw someone already on a stretcher at 8pm.

Overall a good time.

And Jason concludes: 

This is hands down one of the worst articles I have ever read.

Here's how Kyle Harris's article ends:

"But some of the political imagery at Decadence was also its strength. Two images in particular stayed with me into the morning. One, at the end of Bassnectar’s set, as he told us how much he fucking loved us, was a montage of footage and photos of immigrants and the Statue of Liberty. It ended with a haunting shot of land divided by the border wall. The image, cut in half by the wall, showed both sides equally, and they looked the same. Borders, after all, are made-up barriers with brutal real-world implications. Bassnectar's music undermines those divisions. The other series of images that stuck with me included 'The World Is Ours' repeated in multiple languages during Jai Wolf’s set.

"Much of the music at Decadence suggested that all people should upend our limited perceptions of the world. We can rip apart borders. We can mix cultures, art forms and even political systems. We can create, share space, collaborate and move together.

"Together, we can declare: The world is ours."

Read the entire piece here. What do you think of Decadence? Kyle Harris's take? Post a comment or share your thoughts at [email protected].