Hundreds of decibels of pounding bass.

Thousands of watts of flashing lasers.

Tens of thousands of sweaty, enthusiastic fans.

Three days.

Immeasurable memories.

One community.

This past weekend, I attended Spring Awakening Music Festival at Soldier Field in Chicago.

My brain still cannot fathom the insanity the weekend featured.

This is the second year Spring Awakening has taken place, and, for three days, it was home to some of the biggest names in electronic dance music and all its loyal fans.

Fans traveled hundreds of miles to fill their ears with the music they love and respect in a way many people simply do not understand.

The atmosphere of the festival is difficult to describe when looking back at it.

The word that comes directly to mind to sum it all up is “unified.”

This group of people is truly there for the sense of community and wants to share their enthusiasm with everyone around them.

They are a unique kind of people – people who truly embrace music and express themselves entirely, not caring what anyone else thinks of them.

Crazy outfits, including an excess of neon, fur, colored sunglasses, flowers and glitter, are normal.

I watched everyday Chicagoans give these “ravers” perplexed glances as they moved in a mass migration from the suburbs and hotels surrounding the city to Soldier Field, creating a sea of creative expression.

They might not understand fully what the electronic dance music (EDM) movement is about.

They might frown upon this generation in a way the adult population frowned upon the young hippies in the days of festivals such as Woodstock.

But they aren’t in the middle of a crowd full of happy fans, dancing and jumping around under diffracted lasers as the Chicago sky opens up during the set of Saturday night closer Bassnectar and rain pours down.

The rain doesn’t matter. The sheer exhaustion from being outside in the sun all day doesn’t matter.

There comes a time when the physical state is gone, and the mental and emotional state is literally all that matters.

The rain adds to the insanity and the unity felt in the middle of a crowd of people you’ve never met but still feel completely tied to.

It’s pretty much impossible to explain unless you’ve been there, right in the middle, experiencing it firsthand.

Returning to the real world early Monday morning, physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted was rough.

For all the money and travel time the journey cost, the sense of community I gained from the EDM community is completely priceless.

Feeling so close to a group of people – complete strangers, essentially – is something that cannot be purchased.

We might be the biggest group of misfits of this generation, but we’re unified in our oddities, and we’re OK with that.

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or redexter@eiu.edu.