By: Paige Tomasello (@Bass_Rampaige)
We have this old tape from a video camera recording many years ago. In the video, I can be seen at around seven years old entering the other room. My Justice top is tied up in the front with a hair tie so my whole stomach is out. I’ve got the most serious face a seven-year-old could muster. You can hear me talking under my breath telling my five-year-old sister to start the music. I then burst into an over the top dance for my age, incorporating some bad hip-hop and hip-shaking moves. During the performance, you can see my blonde, curly-haired sister try to come in with moves of her own and me promptly shoving her out of frame. This is a video that until recently, I had no idea even existed but makes my whole family laugh until tears at the hilarity of it all.
Our First Show At Echostage, DC Together
There were a lot of moments like this growing up; my sister and I, just two and a half years apart, would spend hours making up dance routines or pretending we were on our favorite show, American Idol. We were very close. Music was a part of everything we did from church singing to the games we played. We shared a room and spent countless hours in the playroom together. For nine years of elementary, my sister and I were at the same school, rode the same bus, and loved the same things. As I began high school in another town, she missed me a lot, but I was all too eager to grow up and move forward. Our teenage years seemed to bring a rift between us as the drama grew and our interests changed. She ended up coming to the same high school as I had, but we remained separate. Music became something we had on our own iPods instead of what we shared.
When I left for college, it was a big change for us both. Though we had been struggling to get along in high school, being so far away pulled us closer together again. She visited me regularly at college and we started to become friends. We found a bond through attending concerts together and started to give tickets as Christmas and birthday gifts. We went to Jingle Ball, Justin Bieber, and Halsey. But college had changed me; I was an EDM diehard through and through with no other music able to fill my soul the way electronic music could.
I felt as though she was missing something amazing so I began to introduce my sis to the music I had discovered. Everything from the melodies of Zedd to headbangers from Excision I made sure to share with her. She fell in love just like I had when I discovered this limitless genre. After my first Moonrise in 2016, I knew I wanted to share that with her so I bought her ticket and surprised her for her birthday. This was the moment that raving became our thing and we became best friends. Now we help each other pick outfits, borrow rave clothes and try on our looks for each other before an event. When getting ready, she is the master of hair- everything from creative braids to mimicking any style I show her. And I am on top of makeup, with an endless supply of colors and glitter to put the look over the top. Together, going to raves is the absolute best. We are an amazing team.
Our First Moonrise Together in 2017
Since then we have attended countless shows together including Life in Color, shows in Philly, Atlantic City, and DC and two more Moonrises. I cannot wait to see what else we get into in the years to come. The most amazing thing to come of all this is that we grew a connection and I have seen it change us over time. PLUR means a lot to me, and I think my sister would say the same. She grew up shy, reserved, and was comfortable blending into the crowd. Now she puts together show-stopping outfits, dances her heart out and trades kandy with strangers. She’s grown and helped me grow immensely. When we dance together at raves, there is a part of my mind that goes back to the days when we choreographed full dances to Ally & AJ and Nicki Minaj songs.
Music is a beautiful thing that we share with each other. Over time, we developed a pretty unique genre and artist preferences from each other, but never forgot where it started. While she’s venturing into electro-pop and future bass, and I enjoy punk/metal EDM, I am so happy that this is something I get to share with my little sister.
Moonrise 2019 - Our 3rd Time Together