10 things we learned at Electric Daisy Carnival
- Jun 18, 2012
Electric Daisy Carnival’s three-day electronic music festival saw over 115,000 people in attendance. With over 70 DJs on eight different stages, fan favorites of the night included performances by internationally renowned artists such as Kaskade and Steve Aoki. Below are ten things we learned while at one of the world’s largest electronic music festivals…
1) Bass makes the bitches come
With 100,000+ fans daily, one thing is clear: bass makes the bitches come out.
2) But seriously, guys…
Bass helps. It was clear throughout that those special moments when the audience started going cray and dancing their asses off were when the beat dropped and the bass dominated all other aspects of the music.
3) Don’t plan out your entire night
I know. Most of you probably attempted this at some point during the weekend. With an absurd amount of some of the most beloved electronic artists at one festival it’s hard to not want to self-indulge in all the sets you want to see. The only problem is that if your group is anything like mine was there were many scheduling conflicts. To avoid the messiness we all just went with the flow and didn’t plan out anything so that we could stay together and have a great time. This worked out perfectly.
4) Commuting was a necessary evil
The commute into and out of the festival is a necessary evil to get into the gloriousness of EDC. The commute from the strip to the festival took an hour and a half both ways for us. In a way we were lucky; there were many reported incidents of peoples’ commutes taking an addition hour or two.
5) High winds cancelled day 2
The weather the first and third nights of the festival were perfect: not too hot, not too cold, ravers could feel free to wear whatever they wanted all night long. On the second, DJs were told to clear the areas around the stages and cancel the rest of the night due to high winds. A small section of the carnival was designated with portable sound systems and left open until 5:30 am.
6) Markus Schulz: DJ, producer, and EDC hero
German trance artist Markus Schulz kept the party going on EDC’s second night, despite high winds stopping the festival partway into his set. Armin Van Buuren and Steve Aoki also helped out to ensure any fans that wanted to continue partying received what they paid for.
7) Cell phone charging station yet to be found
When I went to the bathroom my phone died and I was separated from my group for the first night. There are apparently phone charging carts somewhere within the speedway but none of the staff members I asked knew where they were. Luckily, there were many outlets available in the cool lounge to plug in any phone chargers that were brought in by anyone.
8) Save money: purchase a water canteen
The festival was great in providing free water stations to refill any attendee’s empty reusable container with water. You could either purchase one of their Insomniac branded water canteens that started at $10 or buy a plastic water bottle for $5 a pop. Ana Lopez from Arizona noted that although she used the canteen she purchased, she still ended up buying plastic water bottles throughout the night because the water stations were sometimes too far of a walk from where she was.
9) Your good friends Molly and Lucy came
Drugs were everywhere. With so many people in one area, it was just too hard for security to be able to manage this situation. I actually witnessed a deal go down in front of my very eyes while walking amongst the carnival rides. True story.
10) Insomniac events are the best
Literally. Insomniac announced on March 28 that they are the best promoter according to the 27th annual International Dance Music Awards. The company has made its mark as an entity that throws one-of-a-kind experiences that go far beyond the no frills dance parties of the past. Keep it up.
By Ryan Ban
