EDM raves on in Asia’s frontiers
YANGON: Lasers cut across the sea of ravers bouncing to the beat at “808 Festival Yangon”, as Asia’s US$1bil (RM4bil) EDM money machine careens into Myanmar, whose youth are at last able to connect with their global peers.
With its highvoltage staging and superstar DJs, EDM (Electronic Dance Music) is scooping up devotees with dollars to spend in the poor but emerging frontier market.
Martin Garrix, Armin Van Buuren and Hardwell, each of whom bill hundreds of thousands of dollars per set, have led the vanguard of big names to play in Myanmar, adding the country to their mega tours of Asia.
Myanmar was for decades locked down by its paranoid former junta, which viewed modernity and outside communication as a threat to its rule.
But that has changed under the civilian government and the slick branding of EDM’s DJs and festivals is now streaming in, priming the country’s millennials with a soundtrack played in bars, clubs and festivals across the world.
And as Myanmar opens up, social mores are also shifting.
Dressed in hot pants, her eyes rimmed by sparkling silver make up, 21yearold Khin Wint War Myint looks a long way from the longskirted, demure paradigm of femininity upheld by Myanmar’s conservative culture.
“I wear traditional clothes in my daytoday life. This outfit is only for when I come to EDM events,” she said.
She joined 12,000 other EDM fanatics at “808 festival Yangon”, one of several major events studding the city’s party calendar.
Young women in skimpy tops danced hands aloft alongside shirtless guys with dyed hair and shades, hypnotised by the pounding bass, pyrotechnics, lasers and huge LED screens.
“If you look at the global scene, Asia is the only region where EDM is growing,” Kaung Sett from 808 Festival Yangon promoters HLife, said.
“In the West, hip hop is coming back ... but Asia is where the money is, where the market is.” — AFP