EDM 2018 as the Peak of One Era and the Changes After the Pandemic

 Because of my relationship with techno music for instance, some people may be surprised by my attitude. But I also like EDM, Martin Garrix (Garrix also brought my person to Dua Lipa because his collaborations with Dua Lipa), Alesso, or MATTN from the female DJs for example. 

What saddens me is that many things changed after the pandemic. To this day, I regret that I did not visit Tomorrowland in 2018. I see it as the peak point for EDM, and also the peak point of the time when EDM was dominant at Tomorrowland. Attendance was also at its peak.

Honestly, I am not very enthusiastic about the fact that Tomorrowland became something else after the pandemic. And EDM gave way out. It may be a case for sociologists to explain why. In practice, I no longer have much interest in visiting Tomorrowland. I wanted to experience the EDM atmosphere and community there, and that time is gone…

Drum and bass is also visible at Tomorrowland today. In the past, it was mainly the Belgian Netsky at a Belgian festival who stood out. I like Netsky. Although there may now be people performing at Tomorrowland from DnB whom I personally like, I still do not like that DnB is now common at Tomorrowland. I do not like it in relation to the EDM community and to the experiences I may never have had.

When I look at the changes at Liquicity Festival, in my opinion it is similar. 2022 was the break point, after which what came next is no longer something that attracts me. I also see some similar reasons there as at Liquicity for why the changes happened. But at Tomorrowland among these reasons is not a person :D

 2018 as a Symbol of the Peak

The year 2018 can be seen as one of the strongest moments in Tomorrowland’s history. At that time, the festival benefited from the peak of EDM popularity, massive international interest, and an atmosphere that had been building throughout the previous decade. Mainstage culture, festival anthems, big melodies, and euphoric moments were still at the center of the festival’s identity.

At that time, Tomorrowland did not represent only a music event, but also a cultural phenomenon. For many fans, it meant a place where the global EDM community came together. That is exactly why, for many people, 2018 is associated with a feeling of the peak — not only in production, but also emotionally.

 EDM as the Dominant Identity of the Festival

In the pre-pandemic period, for years EDM at Tomorrowland was perceived as the main language of the festival. Progressive house, big room, and the festival sound defined the character of the main stages and the overall image of the event. Names such as Martin Garrix, Alesso, Hardwell, or Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike were symbols of that era.

That does not mean that other genres did not exist. Tomorrowland was always musically broader. The difference was in what formed its dominant identity and what most people automatically associated with the festival.

 Changes After the Pandemic

After the pandemic, festival culture changed, and Tomorrowland changed with it. Styles such as techno, afro house, tech house, or harder modern directions of electronic music, including neurofunk gained more space. If someone longed to experience the atmosphere of the peak EDM era, they may feel that they will never experience it now. 

The approach as a Mirror of Economy

 In the article The Landscape as a Mirror of Society, I wrote about Dutch land management, which is clearly visible at first sight. 

The Netherlands is also considered 

the second-largest exporter 

of food in the world... 

This is mainly about the value of exports, not the number of tons of food produced. 

As in other areas of the economy, the Netherlands is also remarkable in how much it can earn from exports.

I already wrote in the above-mentioned article about Dutch farming, and the truth is that the Netherlands uses high-tech greenhouses, precision agriculture, automation, and innovative cultivation methods. Thanks to this, it is able to achieve high yields even on a small area and with lower resource consumption.

A one of the major roles is played by the connection between farmers, companies, and research institutions. Dutch Wageningen University & Research is globally known for its research in agriculture and food production.

Another key factor is strong logistics, especially the Port of Rotterdam. Goods quickly reach both European and global markets. The Netherlands also functions as an important trade hub. Thanks to its strong ports and logistics centers, goods from all over the world are in the Netherlands and are then distributed further to other countries.

Last but not least, a major reason is that instead of focusing on cheap commodities, the Netherlands concentrates on products with higher value due to quality, specialization, or technology. These include seeds, greenhouse vegetables, flowers, cheeses, dairy products, or processed foods. 

Life Shorter by One Hour

 I feel like I’m missing an hour of my life. First of all, back in autumn I left daylight saving time on one of my watches—my favorite ones. I keep catching myself thinking that the time shown on the watch is the real current time. And that brings me to the second point: I’m missing that hour of life in my life. Because of it, I can’t keep up with what I want to do. I wish a day had 28–32 hours.

Now I associate this with the loss of that hour. A 24-hour day feels too short to me, and on top of that, according to my own watch, I’ve even lost an hour of my life. It’s no longer five in the evening—it’s six. I always pause, realizing the watch is now set correctly, and it’s already six. The same goes for the morning. It’s already so late, when it feels like it should be an hour earlier.

In fact, I feel like I’ve lost two hours of my life — one hour in the evening, and another hour in the morning.

Lekker

 Hah… I recently mentioned that I like hip hop, among other music genres.

At the Happs mix, I also mentioned that Amsterdam is sometimes perceived as a kind of “black sheep,” but I said that I don’t see it that way, that this isn’t like a hip hop track mixed into Happs.

Additionally, I talked about Christmas in Amsterdam. In my opinion, Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful places in Europe during Christmas. I love the real Christmas atmosphere there. 

I also wrote a lot about how I perceive the Netherlands as a genuinely safe country. Sometimes it gives me an indescribable atmosphere, one I find hard to find elsewhere: The West Coast of Europe.  

I came across a video on Dutch Instagram, belonging to a Dutch girl, Somi Linda aka driplist. The video’s description says, “Dutch rappers: I was raised by the streets…” This video is another one, in my opinion, that captures what I often write about the Netherlands. I laughed when I saw this video for the first time.

Experiences Over Statistics

 Recently, I wrote about Grand Est in France. The truth is that, statistically, French cities often rank among the most dangerous in Europe. In many cases, this is true not only statistically.

Grande Île de Strasbourg 

I wrote about Grand Est intentionally because cities in Grand Est, such as Strasbourg, do not rank among the most dangerous cities.

 I don’t like statistics. Safety statistics, including those from Eurostat, are based on reported cases. Reality can be different, and from experience, it is. In Czechia, cities have everyday crime that Eurostat does not cover, I think. This is precisely because it concerns safety—things are either not reported, or people don’t see that reporting would solve the problem, or the issue does not turn against the person reporting another. In many Czech cities, people complain that they are afraid to be outside during the day, let alone after dark. Eurostat, however, shows nothing like this.

„definitions and counting of official crime vary between countries, and comparisons between countries can therefore be misleading“ European Commission 

The same goes for cost of living. Statistics often deal with prices but not with wages, for example. When statistics claim that living costs are lower somewhere, income is not taken into account at all. This is just one example of how statistics fail when it comes to cost of living or poverty.

I don’t know exactly how Strasbourg compares statistically to cities in Czechia, for instance. However, my impression is that Strasbourg itself is safer and calmer than cities in the Czechia. For example, at night, a drone is enough to cover many areas and monitor moving people. In Czech cities, a drone would not be sufficient in similar places.

At first glance, this might seem like excessive control. But the situation is clear: Strasbourg is calm at night in these areas. People are practically absent, homeless people or drug users are minimally visible—or rather, they are simply not there—and the space is well monitored. In such a case, a drone is sufficient for prevention and monitoring.

The contrast with many Czech cities — statistically different places — is stark. In city centers and main areas, movement of various “undesirables” is common even during the day—homeless people, drug users, thieves, or even worse. People often fear intervening, even when something happens that would require a reaction. In such an environment, a drone would not be sufficient—the area is too lively.

It is also clear that official statistics, for example Eurostat in my view, do not provide an accurate picture. They are based only on reported cases and often do not reflect how people actually feel or how safe their daily environment is. In cities, people regularly experience fear from everyday crime, complain about the situation, which statistics almost never capture.

Strasbourg, which I used here as an example, is, from the perspective of nighttime calm around the center and safety, simply a “different world.” Drone there work as an effective supplement for prevention. In similar Czech cities, this approach would fail because the dynamics and concentration of problematic groups in the center and main areas do not allow for simple technological monitoring.

 During the COVID-19 pandemic, drones began to be used in France to monitor compliance with lockdown measures and the movement of people in public spaces; this practice was subsequently restricted by courts due to privacy concerns, which led to the adoption of legislation in 2023 that legalized the use of drones and established conditions for their deployment—officially for purposes such as maintaining public order or preventing crime.

So calm and a sense of safety in a city are not just about statistics or technology, but about the actual reality, the visibility of problems, and the experience of the people who live and move there. Strasbourg shows that sometimes it’s enough to simply have a space where people “normally aren’t” for prevention to be effective. In my view, if there were a society that denied the existence of crime, Eurostat would evaluate that society as perfectly fine.

I don’t even need to mention why so many people outside of a country know me. This is also something that could be sociologically questioned.