Just Enjoy the Music

Last Wednesday, I got to attend Swedish House Mafia's One Last Tour in my hometown of Montreal. As someone with few friends that listen to electronic music, I rarely actually attend any DJ shows, so I was especially excited for this one. Its no secret that I love these guys, and have been a longtime fan. The last show I had seen at that venue was Kanye West & Jay-Z's Watch the Throne, and the last electronic show I saw at the Bell Center was Daft Punk. So the bar was set pretty darn high! The trio did not disappoint, giving a show full of pyrotechnics and lights that set the stadium ablaze. Check out the guys dropping Antidote. So much fun!

But after the show, I went into deep thought about the whole electronic scene in general. I found myself thinking like a hipster (which I loathe), not wanting to share the artists I follow (in this case, SHM) with the masses. Being part of the older demographic (30s!), it was tough to be surrounded my fluorescent-wearing, grammatically incorrect speaking adolescents. If you're from Montreal, I'm talking about the St. Leo/RDP/Laval crowd. If you're from New Jersey (or America for that matter), I'm talking Jersey Shore crowd. And if you're from the UK, well then Geordie it is. An example of my frustration was when the guys dropped Axwell & Ingrosso's "Together" which was produced in 2005 and I was literally the only one singing along. Its like the rest of the crowd went dead.
But this knee-jerk reaction of being annoyed by kids is just adult resentment. Everyone and their blog has taken a stance on who should listen to dance music, how it should be listened to, who is cool, who is not cool, go educate yourself about the history, blah blah blah. Like Tommie Sunshine, who feels the need to be an advocate for dance music by contributing to the Huffington Post on the matter. No thanks dude.

Obviously music is a matter of personal taste, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Its kind of nuts that people feel the need to dictate how other people listen to music, or how they should take in music into their lifestyle. Am I right?
I also got to thinking about how as a fan of the SHM boys, how I always feel the need to defend them. I guess case in point was the whole DJ Sneak debacle. I mean, look at this childish behaviour:

Slander is just not ok. But even the boys have moved on, showing success truly is the best revenge. They are clearly too busy to be bothered with Sneak. Witness more of his absurdity here: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/clubz/4798538/A-peak-into-the-world-of-Sneak.html
I just wish the underground could accept the mainstream. They don't need to like it, just not slag it off all the time! I suppose that would be trying to enforce censorship though.

Its equally strange when fellow commercial acts like Deadmau5 start up the chatter too. Shouldn't they band together agains the underground scene out to get them? http://www.vibe.com/photo-gallery/deadmau5-covers-vibes-febmar-2013-issue/?page=1 Everyone is on blast: SHM, Avicii, his manager Ash Pournouri, Guetta, anyone that breathes basically. I've said it before and I'll say it again, guy's got some serious mental health issues and he puts it out there for everyone to see. And its not in a "lets generate awareness" kind of way. Just the other day I was in Toronto and a friend of mine told me our mutual classmate is Zimmerman's neighbour, and he is a bad neighbour. Not because he plays music loud, because he is a downright douchebag. I guess my bottom line is, why is everyone so cranky and wants to be mean to others?
Anyway, back to more reflection. I've always been quite critical of the blog Dancing Astronaut. Now they are taking contributions from writers reviewing more underground acts (which is actually a good thing), and their writers are even turning their backs on guys like SHM. Is it because it isn't cool anymore to like guys like Guetta and SHM? Its laughable! Even the boys of SHM are trying to prove they have musical tastes beyond EDM. Angello had posted Disclosure's Latch a few weeks back, and Seb Ingrosso posted a Cyril Hahn remix. I don't know what is going on, but there is crossover everywhere and it is interesting to watch it all unfold. I guess labelling what is in and whats not is the evolution of dance music. Yesterday was EDM, tomorrow is looking to be "deep house."
This video is funny and really shouldn't be taken seriously.

Best line "I bet they don't even know who f#*king Derrick Carter is" Haha, spoken like a true hipster! I mean Hitler!
I kind of sort of went on a whole One Last Tour tweeting spree, and I actually out of paranoia checked if some of the underground DJs that follow me unfollowed (no one did!). Whose approval am I seeking anyway? To be chastised for liking something another person doesn't is ridiculous.
My friends have told me I should write a blog cause random strange events always happen to me. A clear example just happened.  When I took the bus back to Ontario after the SHM concert, there was a kid standing, waiting for the city bus. I asked him if he knew what time the bus was coming, and it prompted him to start talking to me (I don't know why random strangers always feel like I'm approachable but for some reason this always happens to me!). Anyway, the kid might have been drunk, as he was coming from some university function. He realized I could speak french and insisted on speaking in french the whole time. Then he asked me where I was coming from and I told him I went to Montreal just for the SHM concert, and he proceeded to tell me that he listens to "electro house." Intrigued, I asked him to name some artists he listens to. But he couldn't. Then he said he listened to dubstep, and insisted he didn't listen to brostep (aka Skrillex). So I asked, like Skream & Benga? And his face went blank. Who are these kids trying to impress? Everything doesn't have to be so contrived!!!
Ok, so maybe I am completely contradicting myself in this post, but I wanted to write out all these random thoughts. I need to keep reminding myself to just enjoy music, and not get so worked up about other people listening to electronic music too. Even if I'm a longtime fan and they are fairweather fans, to each their own!
Update 06/03/13: Seriously Sneak, seriously? http://djmag.com/content/60-seconds-dj-sneak