By Andrea Mendez, Staff Reporter
Some can agree that 2020 is turning out to be one for the books. Since the beginning of the year, a series of unfortunate events have unraveled before our very eyes. The funny thing is that we really believed 2020 was going to be the year we got our shit together. Resolutions were made, deals were kept, and the flowing energy was deemed “good vibes.”
Four months in and that energy has shifted . The truth is, we don’t know the vibes anymore. With COVID-19 in full effect, the world slammed to a halt. Sunday fundays were cut short, then sports events, and soon after, music festivals.
At first, a majority of these events were pushed to further dates in the fall to give the coronavirus time to blow over. But as we close into the fifth month of 2020, music festival goers have to face the reality that their raging days are further than expected.
Ultra Miami and SxSW were two of the first big music festivals to cancel this year. Since then, more music festivals have been canceling their shows, including Tomorrowland and Burning Man for the sake of practicing social distancing.
Interning at a radio show that specializes in the underground music scene, I was so excited to dive headfirst into the scene. By the end of 2019, I had a couple warehouse parties under my belt only for my journey to come to a halt in 2020. Here I was ready to indulge in the heart-pounding bass that vibrates the soul, just to have it put on hold until we can soon gather to enjoy such translucent music.
With these sudden cancellations, fans everywhere are left disappointed with the terrible case of inevitable FOMO. To make matters worse, Ticketmaster refuses to refund any tickets for postponed concerts, forcing everyone to ride this dead horse on nothing but selfish hopes. Now what kind of shit is that?! But hey, you can’t top that optimism.
It doesn’t seem to stop there either. This pandemic is only getting worse and regulations continue to be added. Scientists and doctors have predicted that until we find a vaccine, social distancing might develop into a seasonal practice. Even insinuating that this might carry into 2022.
Music festivals and major events are being put under pressure to cancel all together in order to help flatten the curve. People who were planning to attend these events are just waiting to receive that one email that lets them know their sole reason for going to the gym and staying up for hours looking for a ‘totes’ hot outfit was done in vain.
But in all seriousness, if you’re like me and if this year you promised yourself to get out of your shell and embrace the experience of surrounding yourself in a pit of human sweat and odor as your favorite artists blow out your ear canals with their bass-filled tunes, save it for next year…hopefully.
