Chef, TV personality, and noted punk rock aficionado Anthony Bourdain has never been too shy to speak his mind, particularly if he thinks culture is going down the toilet. The latest target of his ire is electronic dance music, whose fans he doesn’t exactly hold in any kind of reverence, let’s say.
“Come ye lords and princelings of douchedom,” proclaims Bourdain. “Hear my clarion call. Anointeth thyself with gel and heavenly body spray. Maketh the sign of the devil horns with thine hands. Let there be high-fiving and the hugging of many bros, for this is the kingdom and the power.”
He dislikes dance music so much that he dedicated three minutes of a Las Vegas episode of his CNN show Parts Unknown to the subject, discussing how where once Sin Ciy’s venues were being top-billed by the golden croons of Wayne Newton and Danny Gans, they’re now helmed by DJs.
“It’s a DJ’s world,” says Bourdain, “and where once they used to say, ‘Cocaine is God’s way of saying you have too much money,’ now, maybe EDM is.” Enjoying some sushi with magician Penn Jillette, Bourdain asks if their dislike of EDM is a result of being old, “Or are we non-douchey?”
“You want to spin the latter, I’m afraid it might be the former,” says Jillette, who’s been a Las Vegas performer for over 20 years. In his quest to better understand the dance music scourge, Bourdain speaks to local DJ Jason Lima. “You just press a button and people respond?” he asks dryly.
Watch: Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown – EDM in Las Vegas
