22nd July: Gen Z Are Cunts

As you may have seen, I went along to the Fatboy Slim event in Brighton last night, and first and foremost, I must applaud the absolute legendary nature of the crowd. When I first started raving, crowds were always like this. Happy, fun, care-free, and not afraid to make idiots of themselves, all in the spirit of having a good time and losing yourself in the music, like nobody is watching. Raves were never, EVER, fashion events. My first ‘big one’ was Tiesto in Victoria Park in the Summer of 2010. When I look back on photos and videos, people were in jeans, trainers, comfy hoodies, or sweaty old t-shirts which they didn’t mind caking in sweat and/or mud. The women rarely wore much make-up, but sadly, due to social media and smart phones, that was perhaps the last era of such ‘freedom’. 

In recent years, my enjoyment of such events has slowly dwindled, in all honesty. My love for the music remains as strong as ever, but now - especially at events where a ‘cool’ artist such as Fisher, or Solardo - are on the line-up, daft youngsters just want to pose in their latest ‘Boohoo’ costume, and have zero interest in the set itself. The amount of times I see crowds of Love-Island wannabes and steroid abusers with their backs to the DJ, comparing notes on their circular sunnies, overzied ‘ironic’ floral shirts, and black chino shorts, is farcical. They won’t be able to tell you anything about the ID which is currently being mixed in, ‘cuz they’re too busy shoving a key of ket up their snout, or posting bland Instagram captions.

I’m aware that each generation think their own is superior, but Gen Z are rude, ignorant, self-entitled, and incredibly pretentious. These are the people who go to plastic hell-holes like O Beach in Ibiza. These are the people who look at you in disgust when you say ‘excuse me’ to brush past them in a busy crowd at a festival. They’re all living a version of their life which they think ‘looks’ cool, but sadly, don’t know how to authentically enjoy themselves, in their soul. Last night was a real throwback. A return to the glory days of happy, bubbly people, singing, smiling, making eye contact, and helping form pathways into the crowd for eachother.

I’m aware that as this was a 20th anniversary of Fatboy Slim’s 2002 original party on Brighton Beach, much of the fanbase would have made up of people who were there a full double decade ago. If they were 20-30 years old then, they’re 40-50 years old. As a crowd, they were far FAR superior to the shuffling pricks you see with their phones held up in the air for a full 115 minutes of an Eric Prydz performance. Yet, the ironic thing is…

… Those ‘oldies’ are the exact demographic which Gen Z sneer at. Oh, if only they knew the power of REAL happiness.