EDC NY 2013 in Review

By: Max K.

Out of the corner of my eye, tucked slightly back from the front right security rail, a dance circle caught my attention-- one of the best things a festival-goer can hope for.  While dance circles are usually about showing off your fierce dance moves, "PLUR circles", as I like to call them, are anything but a talent show of back and forth competition.

PLUR circles are about encouraging others to let loose, whether you're a spicy shuffler or have the rhythm of a zombie, everyone is welcome and encouraged to have a good time.

At this circle, PLUR was strong and it reverberated throughout its participants and spread to the surrounding people like the most infectious of diseases. Shy people had no choice but to let down their guard and celebrate their turn in the circle.

Dance circles were only one of the many enjoyable moments we shared at last weekend's Electric Daisy Carnival in New York’s Citifield. For two days the Mets' home parking lot played host to 5 stages of electronic music bliss.

The tunes of Morgan Page were the ones that gave rise to the aforementioned dance circle, yet the artist most likely never saw it. The reason being that the dance circle was tucked away to the far left of the stage.

EDC's founder, Pasquale Rotella, promotes the idea that the attendees, not the artists, are the headliners of the Electric Daisy Carnival. In Pasquale’s eyes, the people are what make a festival a joyous event that people remember for generations.

It’s a new concept for festival producers but it was on full display at EDC NY. At every corner, Insomniac events, the festival company responsible for producing the large EDM Festival, had festival interactivity for its attendees which numbered 40,000 on Friday and 50,000 on Saturday.

Insomniac upped the ante when it came to crowd interaction. In addition to carnival rides sprawled across the EDC festival grounds, Insomniac added visually appealing art installations and a new stage.

The Discovery Project, as Insomniac calls it, is their way of displaying up and coming talent. Instead of having these artists open for major artists, Insomniac created another stage called the Wide Awake Art Car to host a full evening of upcoming talent. The funky stage that looked like a pirate ship was captivating and had a glow-in-the-dark dance floor placed in front of it. Insomniac created a different experience at this stage that proved to be more than a just a stopping point for EDC-ers.

Fun new art installations brought a new, visually appealing aspect to the festival. Massive installations in the shape of an octopus and caterpillar were crowd surfed across the main stage audience on both days of the festival. On Day 2, we also saw this type of interaction taken to the next level during Porter Robinson’s closing headline set when giant inflatable balls housing glowing orbs surfed the crowd. The hands on interaction Insomniac gave the fans with the festival added depth to the festival and prevented EDC from blending in with the mass of “other” festivals that have amassed the market.

One of the best things about EDC is the enthusiasm of the attendees to dress up for the carnival theme. This past weekend, daisies decorated every inch of women’s bras as if they were covering a float in a parade. Not to mention there were attendees dressed as our favorite superheroes and a prolific amount of kandi kids in attendance. These nuances are important to the event because they set the PLUR vibe at the onset of the day as opposed to a random group of people congregating to listen to music.

The main stage wasn’t the only place where you could find good times. The four other stages at the festival presented unique sounds to satisfy the widest genre tastes. The Basspod was a stage dedicated exclusively to blasting your brains with bass. More underground attendees enjoyed a full lineup of groovy, deep, and tech house at Neon Garden. Cosmic Meadow and the Kineticfield amassed big name artists from various genres like progressive, trance, and electro.  Although EDC NY lacked depth in some of the eEDM sub genres, the two day festival reached incredibly deep for the short duration it spanned.

Some of EDMBoston’s favorite sets from Friday included Seth Troxler, Mark Knight, Danny Avila, and Figure. Saturday saw winning performances from Quintino, Carl Cox, Afrojack, and Bloody Beatroots.

The New York stop on the road to Vegas was a welcome festival for the Northeast. While the festival wasn’t mind blowing, it was riveting and worth more than the cost of admission and travel from Boston. For this we say: make plans for next year Bostonians!

Stay Tuned to EDMBoston.com as we Will Have More EDC NY Coverage on Monday

including:

-Our Top 15 Pictures from EDC

-Lauren's Neon Garden Expose

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Armin Van Buuren Streams 3 Hour Essential Mix Today

It's no secret in Boston, that Armin Van Buuren is coming to town on Sunday. After a massive week which saw Above & Beyond, Knife Party, Steve Aoki, R3hab, and Quintino come to town, Ocean Club is capping the week off on a high note with the dutch trance legend.

To help everyone get amped up for the show you will be able to listen to a special edition three hour Essential Mix.

"With the current trend of giving DJ's only one hour slots at big festivals, I was...

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