With this being my first trip to the Orlando installment of Electric Daisy Carnival I was extremely excited to see what all the hype was about. I have attended numerous EDC Las Vegas festivals and I was sure this great Insomniac event would follow suit.
Day 1 started off with one of the fastest entries into a festival that I have ever seen. It only took a short five minutes to get through the gates into the amazing adult playground. Right on entry you walked right into the main stage. This year’s main stage was identical to the EDC Las Vegas 2015 stage minus about 100 feet on each side.
After soaking in the sounds for about 20 minutes I decided to explore the festival grounds before my first must see set at Neon Garden. The next stop was Circuit Grounds. Insomniac did a wonderful job on the magical arches many festival attendees call home. The open steel structure was complemented by what seemed to be 100 moving heads and an extremely vivid screen directly behind the DJ. Even with the sun shining bright, the stage lights looked amazing and I could only imagine how impressive it would look at night.
After exiting the megastructure I started my walk to my favorite stage, Neon Garden! This stage was a completely different design than the UFO styled dome at EDC Las Vegas. First thing you noticed was a 50 feet tall Buddha sitting perfectly between two stacks of some of the clearest speakers I’ve heard to date. The bass was superb, the lows were outrageous and made you feel as if you were sitting inside them. Jason Ross was the first artist I had the pleasure to hear. This was the first time I’ve heard him live and I was taken on a perfectly balanced melodic set with subtle hints of Anjuna sounds for the next hour. Ben Gold was next and I was ready to see what he had to offer. This set was extremely energetic and truly one of my favorite trance sets I have heard in quite some time. The song choices throughout this set were pure magic. Ben took me on a ride of some of my favorite sounds and styles of trance which set me and the crowd into a frenzy. Within one hour he became of my favorite DJs! Ilan Bluestone stepped up to the CDJs after Ben Gold finished destroying the crowd. Ilan’s style while playing is so enjoyable to watch, with a calm demeanor and devilish smirk he sent beautiful sounds directly into your brain. Another stellar set and I expected nothing less. Ferry Corsten started in next and the stage really came to life. The strobes and lasers danced in unison as this mastermind took us on a journey. Ferry is so incredible and makes you feel emotions that draw you deeper and deeper into his musical story.
The legend Paul Van Dyk then graced us with his genius. Watching Paul twist and contort sounds live was such an amazing site. He played and had so much fun with the crowd you couldn’t help but to keep a smile on your face for the time he was on stage. As many of you know, Simon Patterson is one of my top Psy-Trance DJs and when he took over I knew he would bring blazing tracks for the rest of the night. From the get go Mr. Open Up went so dark and deep it took you to a different universe. I was so happy to hear many of my favorites and a hand full of new tracks. Simon Patterson to me defines a closer!
After a short but very refreshing sleep it was time to head back for Day 2. With no set game plan on who to see Saturday I went with the flow the entire day. I first went to Circuit grounds to check out DallasK and what a perfect way to start the day. His deep and groovy beats were right on point and got me in the mood to have another epic day. Before I knew it a few hours had passed and Dannic was about to hit the main stage. I had the pleasure to chat with him for a few minutes before he hit the deck and can say Dannic is one of the most polite people I had the chance to talk to while at the event. After a few vocal big room tracks to start he began shredding the crowd with some booming electro. The set was a perfect balance of vocals and pure energy which left me feeling super satisfied up until the very end. I then ventured around the festival exploring all of the amazing stuff Insomniac puts out for everyone to enjoy until 4B took hit Circuit Grounds. The next hour was filled with stunning visuals and some pretty insane bass. You could almost see the energy in the air, 4B definitely delivered! Audien was next up at the main stage. This set was pretty thunderous and it felt like the stage came alive. Audien covered everything from hard house to trance and everything in between. The crowd was the wildest I have seen it the whole day and was perfectly complemented by the visual explosion that lite up the sky!
EDC Orlando 2015 was everything I expected and more. The layout was perfect, lighting and sound was on point and the sets that i saw were incredible. I cannot wait to do it all over again next year!
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