Is it me or does there seem to be a lot of pop-up DJ booths in this post-pandemic world we find ourselves in? For the last three years they have sprung up everywhere. It could be outdoors on a walking mall, in a coffee shop, or up on a mountain during a ski day après. Sometimes I’ll be walking in public, minding my business, and when I double back to where I started, I find DJ Evil Clown spinning records and mixing music. You think to yourself where in the motherfuck did this come from and how did this guy set up so fast? One moment it is a quiet street corner or eatery and the next there’s a crowd of 50 people raving to a local DJ in the middle of the day. How did this come to be?!?
I never got into the rave scene. I didn’t grow up on the East Coast, never rolled on molly at a rave, never dabbled in that culture. I always figured that electronica was reserved for hard chargers that partied hard till 6 am in dark rooms with neon lights. Now it’s in the public square from 1 pm until 7pm where the kids bounce and chill step to Daft Punk. I find the pop-up DJ booths that are taking over ski resorts and mountain villages are Eurotrash infiltrating our sacred American landscapes. It’s easy to set up a pop-up DJ booth and attract a local crowd with a mesmerizing flow state. If they can set up shop that easily in coffee shops midday, then they can do it anywhere. Be advised, you could be walking anywhere in the world and before you know it, you’ll find a DJ resampling and remixing some sick beats while the ravers reverberate.
Hiking in the backcountry of Moab, Utah last week I find what Edward Abbey described as desert solitude. Seeking out the arches along miles of slickrock, Eastern Utah is truly an inspiring landscape. Getting ready to have a nice quiet picnic with my fellow hikers the peace was shattered when DJ Jack Mormon Mafia decided to start blasting out his dub tracks that sounded like auditory diarrhea. I thought we were in the middle of nowhere but somehow a DJ hiked in his mixing equipment and 30 people showed up to his set. Now the sound is bouncing around the canyon walls and upsetting the delicate ecosystem. This once sacred space has now been violated by the likes of a bunch of pussy ass little ravers.
Needing a morning pick me up, I decided to get some breakfast at the McDonalds inside Walmart. After ordering some sausage egg McMuffins with cheese and hashbrowns I am startled to find a DJ set up behind me and starting his mixed track version of some Cardi B song. Before you know it both the McDonalds employees and patrons start throwing those dem hands in the air. Needless to say, I’m miffed and my breakfast is no longer fast food but rather slow-ass food, courtesy of DJ Mac Don Juan throwing it down at Mickey D’s in a Wal-Mart at fucking 10 am! Doesn’t this so-called artist and his fan base have anything better to do or better places to be?
Driving around in the next town over, for some better shopping options, I make my way over to the commercial zone part of town. Low and behold, cruising by the local Planned Parenthood, some hipster jerkoff has set up his spinning booth outside on the sidewalk next to the protestors. Playing his version of the Adele classic Rolling in the Deep he has attracted dozens of high school kids and young adults. It’s all legit since DJ Vasectomy got a permit through the city. And now he can play a 3-hour set next to the building where women go to euthanize the unborn.
Coming back from Montana the other week, I stopped by the highway rest stop south of Butte to drain the main vein. The rest area looked dead, but once I stepped foot in the men’s room there was a DJ booth and a crowd of 20 people jamming out to the latest trance hits. I couldn’t believe it. DJ Etadik was hypnotizing his immediate audience, and I simply had to leave since I tend to freeze up when I’m around people trying to pee. The sanctity of a highway rest area men’s bathroom had been violated and the shitty music defiled it.
Watching a dispatch from the killing fields of the Donbas, an embedded reporter is in the trenches with the Ukrainian Army. The senseless slaughter has gone on long enough ever since the NATO encirclement of Russia provoked a response from the Kremlin. During an artillery bombardment, followed by waves of Russian conscripts being mowed down by Ukrainian machine guns, a tight pants wearing hipster with an affinity for EDM snuck onto the battlefield and started spinning. Setting up his little DJ booth smack dab in the middle of a kill zone, the voiceless music resonates with the combatants. Ukrainian and Russian soldiers alike put down their guns and start dancing with each other. With the sun going down, glow sticks are introduced, and ecstasy pills are passed around to keep the combat killers rolling until the next sunup. This real-life scenario echoes the horrors of both WWI and WWII but with a DJ booth on the battlefield it helps lighten the mood.
At Everest base camp, on the Tibetan side, mountaineers from around the world and their climbing guides are jocking up to climb up Chomolungma. Taking inventory of their precious climbing equipment and checking their oxygen bottles one last time, these men and women are determined to make summit and safely descend. Writing last wills and testaments to loved ones, in the event they don’t make it out alive, reality takes ahold of this base camp. Fortunately enough for them, DJ Khaled has set up his turntables and starts mixing covers from 90s hip hop songs. Sneaking past CCP border guards and somehow lugging his musical equipment to altitude Khaled puts on the ultimate performance for the Western climbers and the porters. Making their way out of their monasteries, the Tibetan monks and several local goats converge on the set. Dishing out yak milk that’s spiked with ecstasy, the party goes on and on until first light of the next day.
In the Western Pacific, 2000 miles southwest of Hawaii, American stealth submarines are probing the Mariana Trench for signs of secret alien bases underwater. Intelligent extraterrestrial life is here on earth, and they keep to themselves thousands of miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Looking through the ship’s sophisticated onboard cameras the commander sees evidence of some sort of port at the entrance of a cave. Upon closer inspection he sees some sort of underwater rave where DJ WASP WAP is going to town on her booth, sheltered by a prismed air bubble. Displaying decadence on the ocean floor the octopus aliens consume copious amounts of drugs, engaging in same sex make out sessions. Spotting James Cameron at the event, the Avatar director is enjoying himself as he is seen deep throating an alien tentacle. Realizing that this defies the laws of physics, the submarine commander is able to confirm that DJ booths can be set up anywhere in the world and churn out music for every bass head douchebag that walks this earth.
Pop up DJ booths. An amazing anomaly or a magnet for douchetards and cunt muffins? I will never know. I do have to give these DJs credit for their quick setups in public places and majestic backdrops. They’re like magicians. One minute, you go by a place with nothing there and the next there’s a full-on rave with DJ EZ Dick Cheney cranking out some top-notch beats. I’m not much of a fan of this scene or culture but I’ll give props to those hard-working DJs out there that get contracted for a gig and show up out of thin air. So, the next time you are in random ski village or an abandoned warehouse housing meth heads, always be on the lookout an impromptu pop-up DJ booth. They make the world go round.
Brian Ss















































