Electric Daisy Carnival 2012 Review

Posted on Jun 15, 2012 in Reviews

The EDM world gathered this past weekend at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival and, naturally, pure, blissful chaos ensued. A prime selection of the world’s finest EDM artists, eight stages, over 300,000 eager fans, and unprecedented festival theatrics made for a truly unforgettable weekend. The energy was contagious in Las Vegas, and for one week, dance music ruled the city. Here’s a rundown of some of the highlights through the eyes of this EDM fanatic.

On Friday, after arriving at the venue courtesy of transportation from our friends over at Powerhouse Entertainment, we entered the Cosmic Meadow, in awe of our magnificent surroundings, with the musical stylings of Thomas Gold to set the mood. Gold’s remix of Sander van Doorn’s “Reach Out” echoed through the meadow and instantly, we were immersed in the EDC experience. After dancing to other hits such as Gold’s remix of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain,” and his track “Alive” with Dirty South and Kate Elsworth, we headed over to Kinetic Field to catch the end of Afrojack’s set.

The dutch DJ icon cranked out a classic Afrojack set, and the energy was high as he dropped hits such as his own “Vancouver,” “Pacha on Acid” vs. Steve Angello’s “Be,” his hit “Replica” with Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” and the infamous Bloody Beetroots and Steve Aoki classic “Warp 1.9,” which as you can imagine, popped off hard. After Afrojack’s set concluded, Kaskade took the stage for one of the most talked about sets of the weekend in the midst of his Freaks of Nature Tour. He maintained a perfect balance of soothing big room house and heavy-hitting club bangers, and the crowd responded enthusiastically. When he dropped Nicky Romero’s remix of Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” with the vocals from his track “Angel on My Shoulder,” I could feel the entire crowd singing in unison. After hearing more hits such as the Nero and Skrillex remix of Nero’s “Promises,” and Sandro Silva and Quintino’s “Epic,” I started heading over in the direction of the Discovery Stage after hitting a few of the rides.

The true highlight of the night for me was at the Discovery Stage for Fabian Campos’ 3 AM techno and tech house set. The Discovery Stage was home to the winners of Insomniac’s Discovery Contest, where artists were invited to submit one hour mixes that contained at least two of their own originals tracks, for the chance to play at EDC Las Vegas. The Discovery Stage played host to a very talented class of winners, from artists such as Quintino, Shermanology, Bobby Burns, and I Can Give You House favorite, No Body, and Campos. With the techier acts of the weekend taking place on Saturday and Sunday at Cosmic Meadow, Campos provided a techno oasis for tech die-hards. Opening with the perfect intro track, Carlo Lio’s remix “Purple Bang” by Sian, and proceeding to bestow upon us a variety of gems ranging from “Pancho” by Supabeatz, the sinister Alan Fitzpatrick remix of Alex Bau’s “Noise A,” and my all time favorite, “Dihaiz” by Maxime Dangles, which i’ve raved incessantly about here on I Can Give You House. The crowd went absolutely apeshit for the techy vibes Campos was sending out, and even Playboy Icon Holly Madison couldn’t help but groove to Campos’ sounds, dancing on stage with an umbrella for a good portion for the set. It was truly an unforgettable set that was, in my opinion, the breakout performance of EDC. After Campos’ set, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the remainder of the festivities.

Fabian Campos performs at EDC Las Vegas. Photo Courtesy of Allie Foraker, SF Station

EDC day 2 followed up with a stacked roster of some of the most celebrated acts in EDM. We did not arrive to the venue until later than expected, but walking in to the sounds of minimal techno legend and protege of Richie Hawtin, Gaiser, immediately got us into the festival spirit. Shortly after stopping by Gaiser’s Cosmic Meadow set, we dropped by the Discovery Stage to catch Shermanology’s set. The energy was high as Shermanology performed a variety of the biggest hits of the moment for a crowd of highly enthusiastic fans. The most shocking appearance of the night, however, was the surprise guest-the extremely high winds that temporarily brought the festival to a halt as a safety precaution. For a few hours it was too unsafe to continue with the weather conditions, but this was merely a small blip in an otherwise perfect weekend. I applaud Insomniac for making the right decision to keep everyone’s safety as their first priority during this chaotic time, and throughout the entire event. I headed home early to prepare for the final day of the event, but the weather conditions didn’t prevent the party from stopping altogether. As soon as it was safe to resume, the music started up again and artists such as Gareth Emery and Steve Aoki with Blue Man Group still managed to throw down reportedly killer sets, much to the delight of the fans.

On Sunday, if you were looking for me, you could find me posted up exclusively at the Cosmic Meadow stage for the INSANE techy lineup at the Carl Cox & Friends Stage. Although I typically consider myself a well-rounded EDM fan, I had already had the pleasure of seeing many of the acts on the other stages previously, and quite frankly the Cosmic Meadow lineup was simply too good for me to pass up. When I arrived, I rolled up just in time to catch the end of Nic Fanciulli’s set, which was simply magical and got me really pumped up on the night. Then, the woman who I consider to be the first lady of techno, DJ/producer extraordinaire Nicole Moudaber, took to the stage and left the crowd absolutely speechless with her incredible set. Next up was the legendary Green Velvet, who mesmerized the crowd with his musical sorcery, much to no one’s surprise. As many of you may already know, I am absolutely obsessed with 16.05 label head Umek, and I had the pleasure of witnessing him perform live for the first time on Sunday and the experience was positively spiritual. With hit after techy hit, the crowd was grooving hard. John Digweed is one of my favorite acts of all time, and his set certainly lived up to all my wildest dreams and more. Groovy, a little sinister, and a little exotic, Digweed performed a breathtaking set, true to form. The title of my favorite set of the weekend, however, goes to Carl Cox. This man kept the party pumping harder than ever for over two hours, throwing down a hard and highly danceable tech set. As confetti rained down and the sky started lighting up, I could not think of a better way to end a truly magical weekend. I left EDC Las Vegas 2012 with a wide smile, a head full of music, unforgettable memories, and not a single regret.

It was an absolutely incredible weekend that will be forever cemented in my memory as one of the greatest experiences of my life. A big thank you to Insomniac for throwing an incredible event and maintaining a diligent concern for the safety of all those at the festival, as well as all of the artists and performers who made this past week the most spectacular event it could be.

For those of you who are suffering from post-EDC depression as much as I am, I come bearing good news. The fun doesn’t have to end now, you can still get your Insomniac fix at events such as Wet Wonderland at Marquee Las Vegas with Zedd & Tommy Trash with Tara Brooks on June 17th and Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano with Peace Treaty and Tatiana Alvarez on June 24th, Electric Forest Festival from June 28th through July 1st, and for all my fellow Angelos, I know i’ll be seeing you tonight, Friday June 15th, for Carl Cox with support from Trent Cantrelle at Exchange LA, and on June 22nd for the grand opening of Insomniac’s weekly trance and progressive series, Awakening, at Exchange LA. The inaugural event will feature Tritonal with special guests Richard Durand & Leon Boiler alongside Kristina Sky. The I Can Give You House crew will be in the house for these events and we hope to see all of you there! More coverage of these LA events to follow. For more information on these events and to purchase tickets, visit the Insomniac events webpage.

STARTING A WEB SITE? Get $5.99 .COM domains.