Electric Daisy Carnival: On Low

Despite the aggressive disposition of the LAPD’s riot-gear-ready Rave Response Team last New Year’s Eve (“Put the teddy bear down!”), all-night raving has become as mainstream a rite of passage as concert-going was a generation ago.

The Electric Daisy Carnival at the Shrine Auditorium proved that much Saturday as security was tight and the experience was predictable. There were rides and candy vendors for the 3,000-plus crowd. The deejay performances were conservative, with jocks sticking to a thump-a-thump formula that has become a sonic stereotype for the digital age.

Indeed, like rock concerts, the “corporate rave” has become victim to its own successful formula. The audiences react, likewise, like Pavlovian dogs, jumping up every time there’s a drum-roll crescendo.

Rabbit in the Moon, from Tampa, Fla., went against this grain with moody, emotional techno. But this one-man computer band fell short. Rabbit’s show had too many slow interludes and long intros. Yawn.

The only thing fresh about this event were the legions of teens. But as more youths embrace techno culture as their rebellion of choice, promoters will have to encourage new sounds to keep the scene from dissipating--to keep it under one (safe, secure) roof.