Diamanté Blackmon, better known in the EDM scene as DJ Carnage, was set to headline a drive-in festival, Road Rave, Saturday at Orlando’s Central Florida Fairground, but he’s postponed it to July 20 to keep light on “powerful movement for equality.”
Taking inspiration from the Germany World Club Dome drive-in rave, Carnage looked to give back to his fans with a similar show, so he upgraded for a festival. Coordinated with Disco Donnie, the teams planned and announced the first Road Rave festival date in Orlando, which sold out in the first 24 hours at $50 per car ticket.
On a May 28 Zoom call—before cities across the nation joined Minneapolis in protesting the mistreatment of Black people by police and a night before the first Road Rave in Houston—Carnage told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that, “I don’t know how it will feel until I am out there, but it’s gonna be history.”
The traveling festival features a full-sized festival stage with massive LED walls and special effects, according to Carnage. Rows of speakers will be added away from the stage, in addition to the stage speakers, so festival-goers can hear better.
Carnage said he is a fan of every artist on the lineup, which consists of Riot Ten, Blunts & Blondes, Nitti Gritti and Gravedgr. For Carnage, Road Rave is just a temporary solution to the cancellations of festivals and concerts.
“I don’t want to do drive-in festivals forever,” he told CL. “This is just until we get back to regular shows and festivals.”
“I have been just hanging out with my mom and my dog,” Carnage said when asked what he has been up to during quarantine. But since the stay-at-home orders took effect he has been keeping busy with projects that include an Instagram Live game show called “The Wheel of Carnage,” where he engages directly with fans; he has continued working on his album Papi Gordo ll, and he performed on a livestreamed DJ set with Diplo on May 22.
Over the weekend, two Road Raves took place in the form of back-to-back shows in Phoenix. The Sunday show held a moment of silence for George Floyd.
As far as the Orlando shownow set for July 20, many precautions will be in place to ensure that CDC guidelines are met and that the festival runs smoothly. While facemasks are not required, they are recommended. And all festivalgoers must turn their cars off once they are parked, with no exceptions.
The capacity of the Orlando festival will be limited at 513 cars allowing for “the occupants to hang within the space allotted and practice social distancing,” Shawn Krauel, CEO of Central Florida Fairgrounds, told CL. This spacing will allow festival-goers to view the festival from outside of their cars.
Krauel added that an increased number of roaming guards and event staff will be onsite to ensure that lines, including bathroom capacity, do not become an issue for social distancing.
In an email, Adam Richman, co-founder of promotions company Medium Rare, said, “The biggest challenge in planning The Road Rave was that we literally were doing something nobody else has ever done.”
Carnage streamed the Sunday Road Rave in Phoenix on his Instagram Live, so people who were unable to purchase tickets to the Orlando festival may be in luck.
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