Everything You Need to Know About EDM Tribes

EDM has been around since the Disco Days, but people tend to underestimate the gravity of what EDM really is and what it means. It’s a lot of music. It can be techno, house, club music. And within those genres are subgenres. I’m talking deep house music, tropical house music, dark techno music, trance techno music. The list goes on. All you have to remember though, is that it’s dance music. Music you can get your freak on to. And what better place to get your freak on, than an EDM festival?

I’ve been to one or two of these shindigs in my day, and what I tend to notice most are the different tribes of people that are able to culminate harmoniously in such a highly stimulated environment like an EDM festival.

Let me inform you on said “tribes.”

1. The Neon Newbies: A group of 14 year-olds dressed in hot pink spandex and neon green halter-tops from American Apparel who stay at the Avicii stage all day. They sing along to the one and only song they know “Levels.” They then leave halfway through the set at approx. 9:03 p.m., because they are dehydrated from waiting in the same spot all day. They tell their mothers they didn’t see anyone on drugs. Meanwhile, they have a killer hangover from the three shots of Malibu they took that morning.
2. The Fist Pumpers: OK, this could be offensive. These dudes may be wearing wife-beaters and Nike joggers, and they probably look like they walked off the boardwalk of the Jersey Shore, but these dudes have loved dance music since day one. They truly have been the OGs of dance music. Just accept it.
3. The Professionals: These are some of my favorite people. They are dressed a little nicer than most, always have a VIP lanyard hanging around their neck, and never over-exert their dancing. They 2-step all day, every day, and they love it. They’ve just been around the block a couple times, and you can tell from their lingering around the dark techno stage all day. They’ll be drinking gin and tonics till the festival grounds close.
4. The Hardos: Almost an evolution of the Neon Newbies, these festivalgoers having been rolling their face off for three days now, and they’re still doin alright. Sure, their clothes may be absurd. They may be wearing furry leg warmers, or a baby binky, or nothing at all, but you can tell they’re just havin’ a good time, sippin’ on their camelbacks. To each their own.

Next time to you find yourself at an EDM concert, keep an eye out for these characters. They're easier to spot than you may think.