Electric Forest 2015 Review: Best Sets & Highlights

Now that the dust has settled and America has celebrated its birthday, it’s time for iEDM.com On Blast’s Electric Forest 2015 Review.

I’ve attended many Electric Forests in my day and I’ve experienced it in many ways. I’ve done GA Camping, the RV, the VIP hotel package. I know every year comes with its ups and downs, so it’s hard to surprise me as such a seasoned vet. Knowing this, I decided to splurge on the VIP camping experience and enjoy all the amenities the festival had to offer.

This kicked off with being granted early access to the grounds, giving me the ability to explore the space before the festival opened to the general public and experience the calm before the storm. The day-early VIP’s were greeted with a welcoming party and late night pre-party. Among the perks of the parties were free beer, food and an intimate set by Cherub that set off a relaxing vibe that would last for the rest of the festival.

The aesthetic of the festival complimented these vibes, with completely revamped stages that were consistent in theme and beautifully executed. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I got to quickly enter Sherwood Forest through one of the VIP entrances (*side smile emoji*).

There were some must-see sets this year, and at the top of my list was Galantis. I remember finding myself in the center of the crowd and being surrounded by a sea of Galantis fans sporting amazing all over print clothing with Galantis’ album artwork. The popular duo didn’t disappoint, keeping the audience singing along with their catchy tunes, making for a great start to the first day of festivities.

Odesza and Kaskade were the big sets for the opening night and we took full advantage of our VIP viewing privileges for both. These viewing areas were even bigger than last year and there was plenty of space to dance or just relax. Both of these artists killed it and really did a fantastic job of layering their own tracks in with a lot of song that are popular from other artists at Electric Forest. I found myself really dancing my ass off until the sun rose. Literally.

The festival’s second day seemingly came and went until the late night VIP Show. At 2:30 AM VIP’s were treated to a jaw-dropping lineup of Crizzly, Datsik, Snails, 12th Planet, Vaski, and Skrillex. The DJs started pouring onto the small VIP stage. Instead of playing individual sets, they collaborated for the entirety of the set, which went on past sunrise. It was an insane merger of worlds that will live on in EF legend.

After an insane late night session, the third day of Electric Forest 2015 offered time to admire the immersive-ness of the festival. There were stilt walkers, hoop troupes, actors, and other performance artists that kept you on your toes, and made sure they got a smile out of you.

The main act that performs nearly every day of Electric Forest is The String Cheese Incident. Even if you don’t listen to their music, you absolutely have to go to their Saturday performance. It was a three and a half hour set full of playful string music, aerial and hoop troupe performances, fireworks, and more, that culminated in a silk performance from off of a hot air balloon.

The winner of the best set on the final day of EF goes to Wiwek of the Barong Family. He comes as a sort of dark hose, sharing a time slot with the more popular Big Grizmatic’s set. Wiwek supplied some hard style, jungle beats, and played several mixes of his Jungle Terror EP. I was so impressed with his set, and even though it was the last performance I got to see it was by far my favorite set on the Electric Forest 2015 lineup.

Electric Forest 2015's VIP experience delivered in a big way. With several unforgettable sets and amazing displays of artistry - both by performers and attendees - it’s my festival of the year so far. The vibe among the community was great and even spread out to the neighboring communities, who had “Happy Electric Forest” signs (and things of that nature) posted on their storefronts that you could see both as you arrived, and as you drove back home.

Nicholas DG and Lindsey Frederick | July 07, 2015