Being a Promoter in the PLUR Community:

The air is filled with excitement and anticipation. It’s an hour before the show begins, and all the promoters have gathered in the foyer outside of the Shaw Conference Center hall. The stage is set up, the lights are going through their final test and the room is buzzing with energy. Almost everything is in place, the crew are simply putting on the finishing touches to make tonight a night to remember.

Already the opening artist is setting up and getting settled before the doors open. Get Together 2017 has an amazing line-up, and the two-day event is completely sold out. Fans from all over Alberta have bought tickets and are willing to drive lengthy distances just to come enjoy the music and the community.

This event is being co-hosted by two different companies, Boodang Music Canada and Blueprint Alberta. Each company is having a separate meeting with their group of promoters, going over the rules of going backstage and getting their “plus-one” checked in.

Marcos Omar, former Blueprint Alberta promoter

“Promoters” are employees that get the word out about the shows, sell tickets, and handle refunds. They advertise for the upcoming events on their social media pages, and, if they sell enough tickets, get to go to events that their company hosts for free. They can get discounts on merchandise and can even have a plus-one for events as well. It’s a pretty fun job, and as a promoter one meets many different people and makes a lot of new friends. Getting paid to meet new people and go to free shows sounds like a pretty decent gig.

For Marcos Omar, working for Blueprint Alberta was like working with “a small family”. Omar was a Blueprint promoter for 2 years, and he took part in many shows during that time.

He found that the decision to join Blueprint was easy, “I was going to shows for at least 5 years and I was coming from Grand Prairie every time. Once I moved to Edmonton I decided to join the group. One of my good friends was running as manager so he was a really good guy, and I decided to join the team.”

Omar has always loved electronic dance music and getting a chance to work with the rave community sounded like a lot of fun. He decided to become a Blueprint promoter because he “loved the energy and the people working there.” 

Marcos Omar and Daniel Raymant at Get Together 2017

To Omar being a promoter meant that he got to see lots of different kinds of edm shows, he got to meet lots of new people and artists, and he got to experience new kinds of music that he had never heard before. He met a lot of people throughout the industry and made many new connections.

“My favourite parts of the PLUR community are the fact that you can be yourself. There’s no judgement. There’s a lot of the gay community, people that are shy… There are all kinds of people with different styles, and I really like it.” Said Omar, “I think that everyone should at least give it a try one day. Sometimes you think that it’s all about partying and letting loose, but it’s actually a lot about community. And if anybody has a chance to ever go to a show, give it a try. There are a lot of free shows that you can go to and check out for yourself, so I would definitely recommend to everyone to at least try it once.”

Marcos Omar and partner, Justin Lawrence

But Omar noticed that as time went on things began to change from when he first started in the rave community to when he decided to leave Blueprint. Omar commented, “I think there’s been a change. I think some people are starting to go to shows for the wrong reasons, and it’s becoming a little more - it’s not as PLUR (peace, love, unity and respect) as it used to be. Not all the time, but most of the time. The crowd is getting different from when I started. I think it’s because some DJs are getting very mainstream. You hear them on the radio, so people are starting to hear their songs. They don’t really know the DJ, but they know some of their songs. So, they’re starting to go to shows just to see who this person is, without really knowing the person.”

Omar doesn’t mean that new people shouldn’t go to shows, as that is a good way for people to experience new artists and hear new music, but when people that don’t understand the PLUR community or what the PLUR community stands for then things do start to change. The magic and passion that are such a huge part of the community can get lost. The rave community is built on being friendly and compassionate. PLUR - peace, love, unity and respect, is an integral part of the community. And the more mainstream shows become, the more PLUR starts to disappear.

Part of the reason that Omar ended up leaving Blueprint was because of how the crowd was changing, and how the attitudes of the community have changed over the years. But the biggest factor for him was the time commitment.

Blueprint Alberta logo

“It was more about the music for me, more than about the money… It takes some of your time. You have to make posts, you have to invite people and sell tickets. Look around, the more people that get into the scene, the more promoters you have to compete with.”

But Omar hasn’t ruled out going back to Blueprint. He wants to give it a little time, as he hopes that “the passion will come back” and if it does, he will definitely return to Blueprint.

Listen to the interview: