deep story nr. 179 | a new fellow traveler | by Michael Dietze

My feet strayed from left to right and I moved slowly and relaxed
to the ‘Schneckno’ music. The low BPM just felt right for my body
at that moment. After the hectic and tightly organized weeks at
ComRa, this spontaneous slowness was the pinnacle of
deceleration. I enjoyed this state of mind and let myself drift
across the grounds of the Open Air. With my eyes closed, I
wandered through the groups of people, bobbing from one leg to
the other again and again. This playful dance painted a grin on
my face. At some point however, I stumbled and clumsily crashed
down on the grass. I tried to make it look like it was part of my
dance routine and continued to move my legs while lying on the
ground like a ladybug. The people around me were visibly amused
by my spontaneous improvisation and another dude actually laid
down next to me and mimicked my movements. Soon a small colony of
ladybugs had formed, and they celebrated the music for some time,
while lying down. Soon after, a roar of laughter erupted and
everyone curled up on the floor laughing.


Following this spontaneous performance, I got invited for a drink
and sat down in a circle of strange faces. But after a short
while, my gaze kept lingering on one person. He also seemed to
recognize me and we started talking. It soon turned out he was
the guest who had collapsed at the last ComRa event and whom I
brought back to its feet back then. In the meantime he was doing
well again. He repeated his story that he was pushed by the other
guests and especially by ComRa staff to keep going. After our
meeting he was accompanied by my colleague ‘Lighter’ to the bar
and actually got water there. Lighter had also been kind and
understanding, but he had to leave at some point. Before he left,
he radioed his colleagues. These had been unfriendly from the
beginning and had urged him to go home soon. One of them is
believed to have said that without energy to dance, he had no
more value for the event. We talked for a long time about the
evening, but also about other raves and we started to connect the
dots. Meanwhile, time flew by and the DJs took turns. It was
already getting dark and the volume of the music had been turned
up. Also the bpm had gradually increased and almost all people
are now dancing. Also my interlocutor and I decide to participate
in the colorful hustle and bustle again actively. On the decks
was an old acquaintance of the local scene. He had been around
for what felts like an eternity and still knew how to convince
the audience with his excellent mixing skills. We let the evening
end with the best music from the legendary Michael Dietze.