The Crowd Surfing Michael Vick Dog and Booty Obsessed Elmo,
maybe the two biggest names announced for the Mad Decent Block Party
If Michael Wadleigh were directing this story, the 3rd Annual Mad Decent Block Party on July 31st, the hipster generation’s last stand, would end the way Woodstock did. However, instead of Jimi Hendrix playing the “Star Spangled Banner,” it would be the self proclaimed “Philly Club King” and likely the movement’s closest performer on a level comparable to Hendrix, DJ Sega crushing his own remix of the national anthem in the same manner Jimi did, however, this one would be done behind the turntables, head nodding in time to the beat, blunt hanging askew out of the corner of his mouth, with the song that defines the nature and purpose of our nation being taken into avenues and corridors it likely never expected to reach.
The hipster movement is dead. Just like the hippies before it, the most mainstream accessible and luckiest acts in the movement made it big, cashed out, and became superstars everyone could enjoy. As well, there are perpetual favorites too, the acts that everyone hopes make superstardom one day, because they’re entirely responsible for some of the best songs and defining moments that allowed the movement’s development. On July 31st, on a few blocks in Philadelphia, let’s all take a serious look at ourselves and a serious look at these performers. Let’s all hug each other, let’s all remember the times we shared, the moments we enjoyed, and what brought us together. Because it’s gone. It’s on the soundtrack to Jersey Shore. It’s the background music in video games. It’s number one on the Billboard charts, and it’s #1 on the President of the United States’ iPOD. These days, it’s certainly no longer the domain of the hearts and minds of awkward, creative, technologically enhanced and socially wandering misfits, but it’s the music that informs the world.
Let’s also give credit to Diplo. Much of what became the hipster movement we couldn’t have had without him. He co-opted, co-mingled, resurrected, invigorated, involved, mashed up and reheated many of the world’s most unique and disparate local trending melodies into international champion sounds. Bmore club, Baile funk, Dirty South crunk, Dubstep, and the list goes on and on. Smelly girls and boys with phenomenally terrible beards would never have a clue of who K.W. Griff, Scottie B, Blaqstarr, M.I.A., Rusko, the Paper Route Gangstaz, the entire Brick Bandits crew and so many more were without him and the Mad Decent imprint. From such humble beginnings with DJ Low Budget and the Hollertronix parties to the likelihood of rocking 20,000+ screaming EDM maniacs at the upcoming Electric Zoo Festival, the idea of seeing this man dropping legitimate sound bombs of musical delirium while hanging out on a South Philly street corner in front of a mausoleum was once expected, but is now incongruous with the level of the man’s fame and legend.
And ultimately, that is why this is the end. It is now time for the rest of the universe to become enraptured by what we held near and dear. This block party, complete with a relaxed social atmosphere, local families and bizarre interlopers mixing and sharing and being happy together without threat of crime, is an ideal universe. Hipsters, a culture of people largely defined by eschewing financial gain for personal satisfaction and a self-defined harmony, for a significant era lived and thrived in that ideal. However, the bottom fell out of the economy, mommy and daddy had to pull the purse strings, and in many cases, an entire generation remembered those college diplomas sitting on the wall collecting dust, and used them to *gasp* get jobs, be useful in a traditional sense, and hopefully use the ethos of their era to influence the direction of the next generation.
From Nadastrom to the Death Set, to the Brick Bandits to Paul Devro and Brendan Bring’em to those they directly influenced like Maluca, Po Po, Bosco Delray, and the mysterious Toadally Krossed Out, this is the end of yet another renaissance era. Let’s bask in it’s memory, and revel in its ultimate success.
JULY 31st. Philadelphia. 12th & Spring Garden. 2-8 PM.
FREE FOOD & DRINKS. ALL AGES FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.
If this movement defined you, raised you, and allowed you to truly discover and enrich your life, come join me and let’s celebrate.
elivindotorg 