Review | ‘Electric Mile’ reinvents the rave experience
The “Electric Mile” audiovisual drive-thru features seven varying light show themes for patrons to reimagine what a rave can look like — especially during a pandemic. Photos by KATIE REUL, News Editor
Time suspends within a psychedelic, LED-filled reality for car passengers driving through Insomniac Events’ “Electric Mile” pop-up event at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Senses are heightened by kaleidoscopes of flashing colors that strobe across fields of vision, the pungent waft of vapor from explosions of smoke outside car windows, the booming bass of an electronic-meets-house-themed soundtrack. All these factors work in harmony to create an experience that, for a few moments, feels like a new world.
During the middle of the journey, looking out the right side of the car, passengers catch a glimpse of an illuminated projection of a caterpillar sitting on what looks like a mushroom and smoking out of a pipe. A lone question is displayed above its head:
“Who are you?”
You may not be able to figure that existential query out from simply driving through the Electric Mile, but for 15 minutes, you will know at least one thing for certain: you are alive.
Advertised on its website as a “fully immersive, audiovisual drive-thru experience,” the Electric Mile opened its gates to visitors January 2021 and will remain open through the end of February. Attempting to replicate the feel of a rave in a pandemic-safe, theme park-like setting, cars drive through a maze of themed exhibits, costumed dancers and flashing tunnels — with a synchronized selection of music curated by Insomniac founder Pasquale Rotella. Users can listen in by tuning into a radio station specified at the drive-thru’s entrance.
Tickets are fairly expensive, starting at $69.99 per car, but for households or roommates looking for a break from our current pandemic-shadowed reality, the price is worth the complete immersion.
The overall theme of the show is largely unclear. But perhaps that’s the intention. Throughout the ride, passengers are treated to everything from an allusion of Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road to characters wearing bunny costumes with skirts and what look like masks from the film “V for Vendetta.” If you aren’t the driver of the vehicle, it feels as if you’re strapped into Disneyland’s “Mister Toad’s Wild Ride” after downing one too many beers.
Yet the visuals never excessively overwhelm. Event-goers can make their experience their own by paying an additional $60 to receive light-refracting glasses, styrofoam “light batons,” an Electric Mile pin, a to-go cup, stickers of various rave festivals and an assortment of snacks and beverages — all provided at the start of the event. At the end of the day, this Electric Mile and all its presumed 180,000 feet are whatever the passenger desires it to be.
