EDC Las Vegas 2015: Review & Highlights

While it’s hard to truly articulate such a whirlwind series of days, experiences, and face melting sets like Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas - I must.  After basking in the afterglow of such a journey of endurance and sensory overload, it seems almost vain to make an attempt to encapsulate it all into a review. Yet, being on the front line of On Blast! - a proud soldier for the new iEDM.com blog annex - has its perks. One of these perks being the ability to be shipped (like EDM gear you may buy off our site) to some of the biggest parties of the year. In this instance the party was Electric Daisy, and it would have been terribly silly of me to stifle this opportunity to cover the ultimate EDM celebration.

While it was neat to cross visiting Las Vegas off my bucket list, it wasn’t Sin City that I was excited to indulge in. In fact, I didn’t indulge in any sort of casinos or strips. I had to save all my fuel for the carnival at hand, and the spectacle that I was being primed for: Electric Daisy.

Vegas being a place that is recognized for its city-wide next level displays of grandeur, what with all the casinos and fountains and showgirls; its Electric Daisy installment takes this reputation and reps it to the fullest. The first thing I noticed and appreciated about EDC was that unlike the city of Las Vegas itself, which reappropriates famous architecture like the pyramids of Egypt and the Eiffel Tower, EDC offered up multiple originally themed stages. These stages were so huge and boisterous that they dwarfed the audience. This sometimes worked against the festival, which at times felt more focused on the quantity of big attractions as opposed to the quality of the production. It’s a nitpicky thing that stands out among my initial feelings towards the festival and its themed stages, which didn't seem to be celebrated by the audience as much as I hoped. 

The focus on production, too, may have been the cause for some super simple oversights. For example, the unmarked parking lot left many festival goers (myself included) troubled and lost as they rummaged through a sea of cars, probably under at least one influence, in search for theirs.

This nightly jaunt for a way home was always dreaded as final sets of the night wound down - an unwelcomed clash of vibes among some killer sets.

Speaking of sets, it’s pretty safe to say EDC delivered where you wanted it to (or needed it to, depending on how intense of an individual you are). Even those less noteworthy were heightened by the stages that they took place on, namely the Bass Pod stage, which felt like if the cartoonishly outrageous equipment from the Brutal Legend video game had a baby with the set of Tron: Legacy. Despite this stage being my favorite set up (the pods shot fire out of their tops for chrissake!), it was the Cosmic Meadow that I would say played host to the most memorable sets, with acts like Flosstradamus and Seven Lions. This stage was probably owned most emphatically by Alison Wonderland, who delivered one of the most memorable sets of the entire weekend on EDC’s final day. The young Australian DJ, whose roots are based in classical cello, turned heads and put a cap to a pattern of younger and fresher acts with future bass sound stealing the show.

With that being said, Bassnectar truly did turn up the joint with his Cosmic Meadow set. Although, this is to be expected by the “God of Bass” who truly rallied hundreds of thousands of fans into one amoebic dancing and vibing machine.

It was awesome to bear witness to some legitimately newsworthy performances, like Above & Beyond - who lived up to their names in terms of how far they went to crowd please when they brought out Walter White himself, Bryan Cranston. It’s stuff like this that will go down in the history of the EDM genre, which continues to be portrayed with increasing accessibility thanks to celebrities/high profile names like multi-time Emmy Winner Bryan Cranston involving themselves.

Cranston proceeded to make us all his bitch, cautioning us to say his name before pressing the button:

The extravaganza would not relent.

I give credit to the energetic audience, performers, and show producers for this achievement. The fun was consistent enough that it almost made you forget that fact that crazy, dangerous temperatures were being endured - with the heat getting up to in the 120 degrees ballpark. 

Almost isn't quite good enough, though, is it? By the final days of the the festival, the wonderland we had arrived to had fallen. Trash was piling, cars were stuffing the parking lot with such disarray you were better off being shuttled to the event, and the heat was sapping the life out of me.

All in all, the glitz and the glamour of EDC Vegas is just all too similar to EDC NY (my hometown) to feel worth the trip. Maybe I can go to Vegas and enjoy it for Vegas, but despite all their efforts - it just felt too forced, and too damned hot to feel worth it. 

Check out iEDM's collection of the artist's performances from EDC Las Vegas, HERE!!