I’ll probably be back, Forest
Posting whole essay because mods deleted my original post with link.
Other notes from after the storm and last sets:
I hope Aidan from Greenbay found his way to safety and his belongings I brought to lost and found after he slipping into the night (morning).
Also whoever was on aux at the Third Eye Pinecone shop on Main St from 1-3am was playing some heat. I need the Doechi Nissan Altima flip with the Crazy Train melody on top. WTF
What values or etiquette do you think are worth passing on to new Foresters? Or reinstating/emphasizing?
I spent the 3+ hours waiting to leave the campgrounds late Monday morning reading EF Reddit and Facebook. Why? I honestly don't know, but it left me with a lot of thoughts.
What happened at Electric Forest to that baby is abhorrent. Someone doing their job found something no person should ever have to find. There is no “Forest magic” strong enough to make that less devastating.
But I also do not think this is an Electric Forest-specific failure. It is too easy to take a tragedy and say, “See, this is what that place is now.” That lets the rest of our culture off the hook.
This happened inside a society where people are isolated, ashamed, under supported, mentally unwell, under resourced, criminalized, intoxicated, dissociated, and often completely without meaningful systems of care. A festival can intensify those conditions, but it does not invent them. Personally, I also hold a spiritual belief that souls are larger than a single lifetime. That belief doesn't lessen the tragedy or erase responsibility. It simply means I don't believe this baby's story ends here. To me, the deeper question is not, "Who should we blame?" but, "What conditions made this possible, and what do we need to repair so it becomes less likely to happen again?".
This was my second Electric Forest. I came for the first time last year. It’s an event that had been on my radar for almost ten years, but I’d spent most of the previous decade bouncing between hardcore, punk, indie, metal, prog rock, and visual kei shows instead. I finally have a dubstep boyfriend (be careful for what you wish for) so I now have a companion to make the 12 + hour drive from the Hudson Valley to Rothbury.
I had fantastic neighbors this year, some new attendees and some having their 5+ forest. From morning downloads of what we enjoied the previous night, receiving hand picked cherries for chasing down windblown gear, to wardrobe assistance and mutual admiration. I was reminded of how quickly strangers can become community.
I'm new enough to still be in awe, yet even I noticed a shift in the atmosphere from 2025 to 2026. Despite making more memories and forest friends, and being more prepared this time, I noticed WAY more trash, nitrous tanks all over the campgrounds, heavier intoxication across the board (Shanaedia — very drunk woman leaning and leering into my hammock while Boyfriend and I were resting, her companions just watched her trip over herself instead of sheparding her), and a more disconnected feeling than I experienced last year. Literally being pushed and stepped on without acknowdgement.
Garbage says, “someone else will clean up after me.”
People pushing through crowds says, “my experience matters more than yours.”
Mountains of discarded nitrous tanks say, “consume and move on.”
I can understand the sentiment of locals or long term attendees lamenting over the change or decline of an event they hold dear. I think commercialization (or is it mainstreaming?) changes who comes, why they come, and how people relate to the event. I’m from the Hudson Valley in NY, gentrification has been creeping since the mid 2010s but the pandemic blasted our population up by tens of thousands of people. That creates change, some wanted or needed and some change that leaves me gasping to get out. I used to attend Afropunk in NYC, there used to be actual hardcore/punk/etc bands with people of color in them. Having grown up in the NYHC world which is signifigantly white it was always something I looked forward to. The last time I went was in 2017, it was like cool black people fashion week and not a punk band in sight. I couldn't help but wonder how many people there knew what PMA (Positive Mental Attitude, a community ethos within the hardcore scene) even stood for. Not that I don’t love Thundercat, Chronixx, Princess Nokia, etc but that is not Bad Brains or Burn. Burn actually played that year but were on the tiniest stage so far away. That’s like The String Cheese Incident playing at the Grand Artique and Sullivan King in their place at the Ranch. Like what? What the in the hell has happend? I also haven’t been back to Mountain Jam (Hunter, NY) since 2009. For me, it’s another example of how sponsorship and corporatization (Townsquare Media and later Live Nation, in this case) can change the feel of an event over time.
Sometimes when too many catch onto something the person/event/band/entity has more to answer to. The last few times I’ve seen certain bands it made me decide that I’m either too old for this anymore or that band is evolving creatively or even playing to the masses for survival. I love Turnstile but I’m not going out of my way to see them again. It won’t be like when they were opening for Ceremony. So I hear the “edm has changed ef” or “it was better before everyone was on ketamine”. Once something reaches critial mass, new oppertunities are born.
You won’t catch me at Govenors Ball, also in NYC, last time I went was 2013 to see Grizzly Bear, Beiruit and Deerhunter. Since then they opened up to more genres, more mainstream artists, it’s totally different. Especially in New York, where there's already an inclination toward a "fuck out my face" attitude (trust me, I have the resting bitch face that would keep a subway Showtime dancer from flipping in front of me), huge crowds of people imbibing only with their crew can turn what could be a joyful human connection into content. Yet another story, another reel, another piece of evidence that you're having the time of your life.
I went to Dark Side of Da Moon in 2023, this is a new black hardcore festival created by black bands, no fucking major sponsors. It was fantastic to mosh with people who look like me, with the kids from Knife Wound and Move. To be picked up when you fall, to be lifted up for the pile on during a chorus. I went to another Hardore showcase later that year and ran into people I met at Dark Side and there’s that synergistic understanding when you lock eyes with someone you shared a cultureally relevant and intimate moment with that is just delictable. It’s the shared meaning of something niche that fills you. I’m not sure if sheer numbers breaks a subculture but it’s clear at some point people stop learning the etiquette and history of scene and then the breakdown begins.
This isn't an argument against newcomers — I was one last year. It's an argument for stewardship. I know there are smaller EDM/Jam festivals around the country that have the vibes of yore, so to speak. I hope to find them someday.
Part of why Forest meant so much to me started years before I ever went. When I was at Baja Beach Fest Mexico in 2021 I saw someone dressed emaculately stunning, sexy and in themsleves. I mentioned to my friend that, that was me if I didn’t have my social programming, and he basically said you should just do it, stop waiting.
I remember peering over my boyfriends phone while he scrolled on IG and saw the EF ad of the 2025 lineup and I saw Justice and Nia Archives and I said, “We’re going”. Before Forest, I had only one other camping festival experience, JetLAG 2023, otherwise the multiday fests were off site lodging like festivals previoulsy mentioned plus other like This is Hardcore in PA, Tied Down Fest in MI, Black N’ Blue Bowl, Punk Island, Triple B/Streets of Hate showcase in NY. I was incredibily hype to go to a festival with a different vibe. So here comes EF 2025 and I went bananas on outfits and kandi, so excited to feel more aligned with myself and interests, not colored by judgement from my formative relationships or weighed down by commitments and responsibilites to others.
Boyfriend and I have broad music tastes so even though we didn’t know many people on the line up last year I knew we would have a blast. Last year I came for Justice, Sara Landry, Notion, Subfocus (missed), Tiesto, Nia Archives, Tape B, Zeds Dead, Jade Cicada, Khruangbin, Hamdi, and Wonky Willa . I discovered Mersiv, Worship, Barry Can’t Swim, Of the Trees, Riodan, Lily Palmer, Taiki Nulight, and Loofy.
On first impressions, being from NY, boyfriend and I were so pleased with how kind everyone was — staff and attendees. Unfortunaetly the pizza was not to our standards but I always give places a pass, sorry but it’s not really pizza if it’s not from NY, NJ, or CT, its something in the water. The other unfortunate was boyfriend impusively bought K and was then the set and setting of the fest was not right for him so I ended up missing some acts because it was more important for me to be with him instead.
Thankfully, Pizza Nova by the Ranch redeemed Electric Forest pizza this year. They just have to throw that ish back in the oven to get crispy (krippy) (and yes, we ate more than pizza all weekend).
This year I told him I was leaving him behind if he didn’t get his shit together, haha! This time I came for Alleycvt, Effin, Ganja White Night, Night Tapes, Casey Club, Daily Bread (missed), Griz, Ivy Lab, Mild Minds, Nikita the Wicked, Sammy Virji, Swimming Paul, Teddy Pain, Sam Gellaintry, Kaskade (missed), Mary Droppinz, MPH (cancelled), and Oppidan. I discovered Starjunk 95, Snow Wife, Sippy, and LSDream.
It was nice to see Excision again after so many years. I first saw him in Albany in 2011 touring X Rated, then again in NYC in 2015. He was one of my favorites before his sound evolved into what I’d call Beatdown Dubstep—or, more commonly, Brostep. In hardcore, beatdown is a style built around simple, heavy grooves. It catches a lot of shit from the more technical or “serious” corners of hardcore, but it has its place. To me, Brostep occupies a similar place in EDM.
I am a dubstep fan, but I didn’t love the Bassrush lineup this year—too much Brostep. It’s fun for a minute, but not when it’s five artists who sound similar and every other drop is a flip of a dad-rock song. It reminds me of bro-country or stadium country: music that unifies your crew more than it invites you into the broader crowd. That’s not inherently bad, nor was it my only experience during those sets, but it can bring a different energy than the future bass, experimental bass, glitch hop, UKG, jungle, and house sets where I find myself dancing with strangers instead of just beside them.
That said, I appreciate that artists tend to stretch outside their lane at Forest and weave multiple EDM genres into their sets, so I still really enjoyed Excision.
I’m pretty sure I had a religous expierece during Casey Clubs set, gimme the weird sounds plz. He flipped Pola & Bryson’s “Tell you what I did” (already a fire sample from Tweet and Missy Elliott) and “Phoneline” — so slowly and layered — and I was taken over by the spirit. My apologies to anyone who was in my berth while I was dancing. Also Nikita, The Wicked and Ivy Lab destroyed it, I missed Daily Bread because I was rooted at Tripolee. SO dissapointed in missing MPH due to the damn storm but so thankful to have caught the half set Oppidan played beforehand and that Mary Droppinz got pushed back to later. LSDream filled my little Emotional Generator heart. Dancing on the wet muddy grass barefoot with those who stuck it out was beautiful.
There’s still so much I haven’t explored! All the quests and activities, playing games on Main Street, spending more time in the Chapel. It’s unfortunate that you need to use the app or social media so much to find special or secret events and last-minute changes. I leave my phone in my bag. I have fewer than 10 photos from the weekend—a few funny tapestries, outfit photos before heading into the venue, hammock selfies with Boyfriend, and a snail riding photo. I understand that’s my choice.
My EDC is a cellular Apple Watch and I don’t post my life on social media, so I know I’m limiting myself in that way.
I truly hate going to shows where everyone is on their phone. Like, you’re really going back to watch that shaky video when there’s almost certainly someone recording the set professionally? If that’s your livelihood, get a goddamn press pass and gtfo. Nobody wants to stand under your sweaty armpit while you get your shot (I’m 4’10”).
Maybe every scene goes through this. Maybe commercialization is inevitable. Maybe every generation thinks they caught the last “real” version of something. Maybe I’m romanticizing it.
I don’t know.
I’ll probably be back.
Because despite everything, I was able to glean the spirit and frequency of sharing space with so many beautiful people at Electric Forest this year and last year. I hope those of us who love it keep teaching the culture that made us fall in love with the scene in the first place. Let’s keep the PLURR alive.