This year’s EDC Las Vegas was my first. And it will honestly be my last. Not because it was terrible or anything of the sort. Partly, it’s because I don’t want to have anything else to compare it to. This experience was such a singular one that I feel doing it another year would somehow taint it. Perhaps that’s some really weird logic, I wouldn’t particularly argue with you on that point. But it’s my logic, and I’m sticking with it.
Another reason is just Las Vegas in general – the city just isn’t for me. I drank sips of alcohol on Friday and had a bit of champagne on Sunday for a friend’s birthday and that’s it. The rest of the time I was drinking water and hydrating. Hell, it rose up to nearly 120 degrees Fahrenheit over the weekend.
I learned that Las Vegas uses reflectors to separate lanes on the highway instead of paint because the paint melts off the asphalt in the summer. It gets that hot!!!
If I go to Vegas next year, it will be for EDC week with strictly day and night parties, but that’s a really big if.
This year’s lineup was vastly different from last year’s in a couple ways. One of the most obvious differences was the increase in number of B2B sets at the bassPOD and elsewhere. Carl Cox alone played two B2B sets this year, but there were an additional ten B2B sets at the bassPOD and one at wasteLAND, totaling THIRTEEN B2B sets this year versus last year’s one.
Another very striking contrast was the difference in last year’s and this year’s main stage acts. Last year, as a bass head, I could have ventured to the main stage and had a blast. Acts like Borgore, The Glitch Mob, Krewella, Paper Diamond, and Andy C kept bass alive at kineticFIELD. Not this year. Aside from DJ Snake, this year’s kineticFIELD featured only the best of the best predictable producers in the game. The lineup for this year’s main stage was so painfully obvious that it was hardly a question as to who you could expect to see. Acts like Sander van Doorn and Martin Garrix moved from last year’s circuitGROUNDS to this year’s kineticFIELD, and they deserved it. However, acts like Tiësto, Hardwell and Calvin Harris were obviously found under the electric sky. This year’s kineticFIELD offered absolutely no pizzazz, no surprises, no creativity. It was one of the most disappointing factors of all of Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas 2015.
However, EDC featured more than just the artists on the lineup. Secret sets were abundant this year, featuring surprise performances from Hardwell, Martin Garrix, Dillon Francis, Dirtyphonics, Hot Since 82 and a few more. Not to mention Bryan Cranston pushing the button. For one of the largest festivals in the world, not even mentioning the largest in electronic music history, secret sets on top of such a packed weekend is just like icing on an already fattening cake: Sure, you can eat it, but maybe the sugar rush you’re feeling is a sign you should stop.
Medical calls totaled out at 1,426, including 27 attendees that were taken to the hospital during the festival from Friday to Sunday and 512 between Sunday night and Monday. Thirty-one of the felony arrests were made between Sunday night and Monday morning as well. The majority of which were drug related.
One person died so far that we know of. We pray that number doesn’t change. The fact that deaths are an inevitability, something to account for, at festivals, is an atrocity in and of itself. Deaths are unacceptable and we should do everything we can to prevent them. Alas, people will do as they will, and we cannot prevent anyone from abusing their bodies; likewise, it’s difficult to help those in danger who do not ask for help. Friends of mine working the Info Booths at EDC told me of more than one occasion that they helped a struggling raver, either too drunk or too fucked up what have you, tried to get them to the medical area, and were suddenly told, “Oh! Look at that, I’m fine!”
RISKING YOUR LIFE IN PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT FESTIVAL IS STUPID AND DOWNRIGHT SUICIDAL. IF YOU NEED HELP, GET HELP. DON’T TRY TO DANCE IT OFF.
Alas, at the end of the day, people will do as they will.
For the most part, I was neither impressed nor appalled with the actions of others around me at EDC. It was as normal a festival as most – even with the copious amounts of kandi.
And so while I’ll always remember my first and potentially last EDC, it has not ruined other festivals for me. Not in the slightest. This music is in my blood. This music is my livelihood. This music is how I’ve made friends, made enemies, supported myself for the last year and a half. This music is my friend. This music is my soul.
This music is me.
See you next time #UnderTheElectricSky.
Image Sources: Insomniac Events // DTM Photography // Jordan Billings Photography // RPerg Photo
