Day one of the fourth edition of Electric Daisy Carnival New York is in the books and we are ready to celebrate some of the best moments of the day. Encompassing everything from the best people to the best sets, we give you the lowdown of what happened at Metlife Stadium at day 1. The 10 best things we saw are in no particular order.
1. Jack Beats: Given a slot on the Kinetic Stage—the second main stage—after Martin Solveig at 5 p.m., there was some pressure for Jack Beats to deliver an outstanding set. The pair delivered and more, easing the crowd in with some remixes of popular tracks and then adding rap and pop instrumentals over the booming four on the floor house beats, before exploring some weirder sounds.
2. Armin van Buuren: Mr. van Buuren faced still competition to cap the night going up against Hardwell, Bassnectar and Carl Cox. Much of the initial set was designed for the main stage he was on with 128-132 bpm heavy, electro-tinged trance. As is Armin's signature, he built up his set in bpms to some serious uplifting stuff, including a remix he occasionally drops of John Lennon's "Imagine," which is incredible on two levels, because you can start a sing-a-long to one of the most powerful rock songs ever written and accomplish your goal of a state of trance.
3. Long Hair, Don't Care: In a genre where most of its performers either have neat combovers or sport the latest haircut trend, there are a few individuals who rock long hair and it has become synonymous with their imagine. Tommy Trash is one of them, but he was not on hand this year. Two other notables are Bassnectar and Seven Lions, who both performed at the Cosmic Meadow stage, headbanging to their heart's delight and bringing some pretty heavy bass while they were at it.
4. Fireworks: EDC is known for its big production and part of that is a lot of fireworks. Around 9:15, in the middle of the festival grounds, a nearly 10-minute long firework show just abruptly commenced, dominating the skyline with a bevy of different colors and shapes. The two main stages were equipped with the fireworks, but the Cathedral stage had by far the most and shot off more and more as the night wore on.
5. Dyro: We had a chance to speak to Dyro before his set and he was excited about being back in New York at EDC and it showed. Though he had to fly out to a gig that night in Miami, he was completely focused on this set at Metlife Stadium. Drawing primarily, from his own tracks and those from his label, the Dutchman cast a shadow over the Cathedral with his blend of dark electro tracks. As he hinted to us, there were whole host of IDs, including possibly some with Conro, The Bloody Beetroots and Headhunterz.
6. Krewella's band: Ever since the two Krewella sisters split with producer Kris "Rainman" Trindl and the ensuing battle is currently being fought in court, the pair have taken the group in a direction towards a more involved live show. The new show added a drummer and a guitarist, while the two sisters, Jahan and Jasmine take turns singing their tracks. This was brought out on Saturday and for a festival with all DJs, it was nice to see a drum set and a guitar on stage being used.
The LED panels in the front made it pretty awkward to set up a band, though they made it work.
7. People Above 30 Having A Blast: It is no secret that raving is a young man's game. The hours of dancing is not good for an old person's knees and creaky joints and after the new wave of fans that has flooded the market in the United States over the past five or six years, crowds at shows are still pretty young. This leaves a special group on individuals who remember when the parties were mostly illegal, the pants were bigger and the DJs weren't able to rent private jets with their fees. They were out there around the festival—at Martin Solveig, at Martin Garrix, at John Digweed—having a blast and should be celebrated for doing what most of us wouldn't be able to do later on.
8. Rides: EDC is not just another random concert. Otherwise it would just be Electric Daisy. They take the "carnival" aspect of the production seriously and though the lines can be quite long, the rides are fun, with swings and a ferris wheel. To get the full experience one must take advantage of all three letters in EDC.
9. John Digweed: Digweed has been around for quite some time. When he was with Sasha as Sasha and Digweed, the UK DJ was one of the biggest in the world. He may not be as big in the mainstream public eye, but that has not diminished his talent or his stature in the least. Though he only had an hour and a half to work his magic in the Neon Garden tent, Digweed managed to make that time pass by in the blink of an eye with a mix of hypnotic progressive melodies and tech beats.
10. Martin Garrix: The wunderkind of the EDM scene got a major headlining slot from 9-10 just before the two-time DJ Mag number one DJ in the world, Hardwell. Garrix did not waste the opportunity, showing off a few of the unreleased tracks he has stored away in his treasure chest. He was thrust into the spotlight with "Animals" and has shown he isn't just a one hit wonder. He has gone a decidedly more melodic route with his music, though plenty of his older, heavy festival-driven music was used during his set.
© 2024 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
