It’s easy to write a review the day or two after an event but sometimes letting some time pass for everything sink in can really help you appreciate what you experienced. I’ve been attending electronic music events for 15 years and I can honestly say that Insomniac covered everything perfectly inside of the festival with the 2014 edition of their flagship festival, Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas.
Once you arrive inside the Las Vegas Speedway and walk through the tunnel or up the ramp and see the massive festival grounds with stages, lights and rides everywhere you instantly forget about any transportation troubles you had getting there. You forget about any stress you’ve had in your day or even weeks and months prior. You forget about the daily grind of your day job. You’ve just entered a ravers paradise.
Starting with the main stage, KineticFIELD, Insomniac constructed the biggest stage ever constructed in North America that was 440 feet long and almost 80 feet tall. The biggest surprise of this stage was that no information had leaked out until a day prior and at that point most of us were already in Las Vegas and the surprise wasn’t spoiled. A year prior a number of pictures had spoiled the surprise (and we’re partly to blame for that) but this year strict guidelines inside for the workers prevented this and it paid off. The stages were all a surprise the first time you saw them. The stage was so big that it was almost hard to notice that there was a water feature as well under the two massive owls.
ProTip: The left hand side of the stage was almost always wide open all the way up to the front. This was the same case in 2013 as well. Try and remember this for 2015, it’ll be back to being a secret at that point!
All of the other stages were bigger and better than previous years as well and they weren’t just popup stages constructed from a trailer. A lot of thought and design went into making them a reality.
CircuitGROUNDS was the largest mega structure ever constructed in length.
bassCON had a massive Mike Wazowski looking character surrounded by shipping containers covered in graffiti.
bassPOD featured a triangle-shaped structure covered in lights with fire towers on the dance floor that generated instant sweat when the flames shot into the sky.
NeonGARDEN was it’s typical shorter mega structure but with improved lighting behind the stage and hanging from the ceiling. The crowds often extended well beyond the last arch.
CosmicMEADOW was another massive structure with amazing views whether you found a spot on the grass, in the stands or off to the sides.
There was also the stage7, also referred to as the 7Up stage, that was setup like a small club with a giant disco ball, great lights and an intimate vibe inside.
And then there’s the art cars like the giant Boombox, Dancetronauts, Wide Awake Art Car and the Mayan Warrior Art Car.
There was also the DiscoverySTAGE featuring up and coming talent playing on a stage worthy of established artists.
That’s 11 stages of music spread throughout the Speedway. As you walked from stage to stage there could be 10 to 15 feet of sound bleeding but a quick stride and you were already passed that and dancing to some new sounds.
The amusement park rides were spread throughout the Speedway as well between KineticFIELD and bassPOD creating a fairway of rides worthy of a County Fair where most of us live. There were food stands for those who had an appetite to eat and it was delicious and affordable. The four free water refill stations were often busy but never longer than more than a few minutes and if you didn’t want to wait or walk to the free water stations there were vendors everywhere selling bottled water.
It’s hard to imagine the logistics that are involved with planning an event of this size. Construction crews, amusement rides, food vendors, sound, lighting, security, transportation, medical and the list goes on. There was very little space that wasn’t put to use in some way whether it was with music, food, rides or art.
A lot of music events have one giant main stage and the rest setup as popup stages but that isn’t the case with Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas. Every stage is a destination and every step walking from stage to stage provides something to listen to or look at. Insomniac has their work cut out for them to top what they were able to accomplish at EDC Las Vegas 2014.
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