Dusk till dawn. Three days. Three letters. E – D – C.
The EDC Experience
This monumental festival is praised and applauded by every electronic dance music fanatic across the world. The massive line-up, the interactive environments and the aura of ‘good vibes’ makes this festival — created by mastermind Pasquale Rotella, owner of Insomniac events — stand out as one of the most unique and memorable musical experiences imaginable. The recent explosion of dance music created a high expectation for the event — it was unquestionably met this year.
This year a whopping 35 million dollars was budgeted to create the “EDC Experience.” Illuminated art sculptures graced the landscape with pieces like the 50 foot electric daisy. Rides like traditional carnival swings, multiple Ferris wheels and even a small Crazy Coaster kept festival goers entertained all night.
The carnival theme followed through to every detail. There were over 10 food stands across the grounds that served everything from fried dough to sushi. Special effects and massive fireworks shows were strategically timed within the 12 hour festival, and fired-off over 20 headlining acts.
Seven uniquely styled stages: Kinetic Field, Cosmic Meadow, Circuit Grounds, Neon Garden, Bass Pod, Bass Con and the Discovery Project, dedicated to every genre of EDM dotted the raceway landscape. The main stage, Kinetic Field, was host to the headliners of the festival. This year, Tiesto, Avicii and Hardwell were few of the many who rocked the crowd under the wings of a giant 100 foot moving owl. Kinetic Field alone is estimated to have grossed an 80,000 person crowd over all three nights.
Stand Out Performances
Armin van Buuren – Noted often as the king of trance, Armin is a global phenomena and certainly wowed the crowd the first night of the festival on the main stage. The Dutch producer brought beautiful melodic tracks from his hit new album, Intense with songs like “Alone” and “Forever is Ours.” Armin even threw in some electro mixes including his opener of the hit remix with W&W, “D# Fat.” Fireworks filled the sky and accompanied his hit “This is What it Feels Like,” which got a 50,000 person crowd singing together in harmony.
Tommy Trash – His energy and hair rocked the crowd the first night as the Australian native brought the noise to Circuit Grounds. The electro house was bumping all night as Trash spun remix favorites of Deadmau5 and Steve Aoki like “Ladi Dadi” and “The Veldt.” The producer also threw in his new hit remix of Destructo’s “Higher” as the fast paced beats and bass blew through the roof.
Porter Robinson– He may be young, but the up and comer wowed the main stage on Friday night with his incredible mixes. Robinson tossed in crowd favorites like “Easy” and “Language” but also enhanced his performance with a variety of sounds including dupstep and trance. His transitions were smooth but it was the high energy beats that allowed the crowd to react positively to the hour long set.
Major Lazer – This electronic trio graced the crowd with their presence the second day of the festival bringing every sound from hard electro, dubstep and reggae. Member and notable producer, Diplo, threw in hit singles like “Telefon Don” and “Jah No Partial” to the mix. Flags flew and Diplo personally requested that the crowd “wave their shirts” and “get on somone’s shoulders” – this was one party that got the crowd moving.
Final Thoughts
Interactive performers to pyrotechnic special effects — all aspects of EDC were specifically designed to make this festival stand out from the others. The sold out crowd embraced the music under the electric sky as another Electric Daisy Carnival rocked the worlds of music lovers, yet again.
Follow Elizabeth on Twitter @elizzz15
