Two very eventful days proved to the entire electronic dance music community that Orlando, Florida's Electric Daisy Carnival is a force to be reckoned with. Insomniac Events went above and beyond to provide extravagant carny rides, zip-lining, charismatic dancers, incredible stage and lighting, delicious food, and over fifty talented artist, which brought forth some of the most spirited individuals in the United States. Tinker Field was at full capacity ready to take on the weekend's festivities.
The temperature may have been slightly colder than desired and the rain on Saturday night might have put a small damper on things, but nonetheless, festival-goers remained positive and absolutely stoked about what Insomniac had put together.
On Friday afternoon the gates opened and attendees quickly formed lines outside the venue to get through security. A plethora of festive totem poles, multi-colored fluffies, bedazzled gettups, intricate body paint and facial art, but most importantly, an overwhelmingly beautiful spirit among the crowd livened EDC Orlando's audience beyond belief. It may have been too early to tell if this spirit would carry on for two whole days, but by the looks of it, the chances were excellent.
Throughout the early afternoon we had the Bassrush family coming in hot with MUST DIE!, Protohype, Flinch, Planet Of The Drums, Antiserum vs. Mayhem, Ookay B2B Kennedy Jones, Dirtyphonics, Brillz, Noisia, Datisk and Flosstradamus. If you were in the mood to have bass to your face, literally, the stage to stake out was circuitGROUNDS. Some truly memorable performances came from Ookay B2B Kennedy Jones, Brillz, and Flosstradamus. It was definitely a wild area to be in with the best of trap, dubstep and dnb.
Over at kineticFIELD we had producers like David Steven, Max Vangeli, Ummet Ozcan, Arty, 3LAU, Yellow Claw, Cedric Gervais, Sander Van Doorn, W&W, Dash Berlin and Alesso. It was an absolute mad-house from start to finish. Max Vangeli ignited the hype and every performance afterward had the crowd pleading for each act to stay. Unforgettable sets from Sander Van Doorn, Yellow Claw, W&W and Alesso set the bar at an all time high for the next day. If you were in the mood for big-room, progressive house, electro and even some amsterdam trap, kineticFIELD provided the ultimate buffet.
Trance in its finest form was in full effect on Friday afternoon and on into the evening at neonGARDEN. Emma Hewitt, Myon & Shane 54, Cosmic Gate, Andrew Rayel, Aly & Fila, Orjan Nilsen, Indecent Noise, RAM, Arctic Moon and Illustrated spun the best of trance, progressive-trance and techno all day and night. neonGARDEN sustained an unbelievable amount of emotional fans eating up every moment of these acts. Emma Hewitt sang stunningly, Myon & Shane 54 blew our minds, Indecent Noise and Cosmic Gate dispensed exceptional tunes and Aly & Fila left us speechless. I hope next year's line up for neonGARDEN is just as amazing.
Saturday left festival-goers a little weary given the fact that the forecast was predicted to be pretty gloomy. I said it once and I'll say it again - NOTHING could have prevented our headliners from attending, rain or shine. The Insomniac team was ready to give attendees another extravagant night regardless of what the weather was summed up to be.
My personal favorite set of performers over the weekend could be found on Saturday over at neonGARDEN. A sexy blend of deep house, techno, and tech house was served in style. fishFOOD, Hunter/Game, Harvard Bass, Route94, Amine Edge & DANCE, Green Velvet, UMEK, and Claude VonStroke concocted a slew of indulging acts that lured a new species over to this groovy dance-floor. I and everyone else couldn't keep from dancing from the start of the day up until the last song of the night.
Saturday's kineticFIELD lineup consisted of Headhunterz, VICE, Paper Diamond, The Bloody Beetroots, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Richy, Dillon Francis, Showtek, Steve Aoki, and Knife Party. kineticFIELD was a melting pot on Saturday, dispensing everything from moombahton, to trap, big-room, hardstyle, electro, progressive-house, and more. EDC instituted a powerhouse by hiring these guys. From early afternoon until late evening the crowd remained wild and the DJs remained enthusiastically in tune with them in return.
If there was a unanimous vote for the best stage of the weekend, I would have to guess that attendees would have gone with circuitGROUNDS, day 2. MOTI, Oliver Heldens, Steve Angello, Above & Beyond, Henry Fong, Rebecca & Fiona, ALESIA, Isaac, Thomas Gold and Tritonal played some of the best sets that Orlando has ever experienced by far. Although a few of these producers don't necessarily like to categorize themselves into specific genres, a pleasant mixture of electro house, progressive house, deep house, trance, and melodic trance was disbursed adequately. A few remarkable performances came from none of than Oliver Heldens, Steve Angello, and sure enough, Above & Beyond. It was a day and night of incredible shows that we would never forget.
The 4th Annual Electric Daisy Carnival Orlando was one for the books. Insomniac Events prove time and time again that they can successfully throw some of the most extravagant parties in the world. It's safe to say that we can expect to experience another amazing weekend come 2015!
Photo Credit: Insomniac, Alex G Perez, and Marinade Photography.