The 9th Annual Electric Zoo: The 6th Boro Was Wild [Event Review]

The Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. The Greatest City in the World. There a lot of nicknames that the five boroughs of New York City have been given, and there are good reasons for them all. For the ninth annual Ezoo hosted by LiveStyle and Made Event, they created another world of sight and sound, filled with animals of all colors, shapes, sizes, and tastes called Electric Zoo: The 6th Boro, showing not what New York City is made of, but what New York City can be.

With over 90,000 fans over three days, Randall’s Island is the perfect oasis in between the Harlem and East Rivers, with easy access to arrive, and also to scatter thereafter to the uncountable amount of pre-parties and afterparties throughout the boroughs each day.

With five stages that included internationally acclaimed brands such as Awakenings, Elrow, Dada Land Compound, and Off The Deep End, it was a harmonious blend of nearly 100 DJs/producers. With a 360-degree view of bridges, skylines, and landmarks, no other festival in the world compares with its location. Ezoo also brought in a ridiculous amount of top notch food vendors, serving up everything from sushi, tacos, burgers, pizza, noodles and everything else in between. It doesn’t get much better than that.

As we deboarded the picturesque ferry ride on day one, we were welcomed onto the beautiful grounds with a massive Electric Zoo wall backdrop for taking obligatory “we have arrived” photos. Upon passing through security, brightly tricolored zoo animals (and no we don’t mean festival goers) consisting of rhinos, giraffes, horses, bears, apes, zebras, greeted everyone for outstanding photo ops. Vendors lined each side of the main path, offering up scrumptious morsels and drinks to get your blood flowing even stronger.

As you entered the main zoo enclosure, the central festival grounds open up, with a row of three stages to your right, and the Mainstage at the far end. A massive black and white elephant marching through the city blocks of New York City. With enough lights to illuminate most of Manhattan, the elephant’s ears and buildings adjoining it lit up nearly the entire grounds at night. But it wasn’t only the stage setup that would set you in awe, but the real deal, the Manhattan skyline which was appropriate backdrop for the stage itself.

Out of the entire weekend, some of our favorites were Friday night as Seven Lions brought the heavy bass while beautifully mixing in favorite tracks of his own along with the likes of Above & Beyond, whom themselves pushed through the rain as all of their fans did for a challenging, but worth-it-all set closing out Saturday night. Kicking off our Sunday afternoon with NGHTMRE energized us for the rest of the day, but it was was closing set of the Mainstage with Deadmau5 & Eric Prydz that really captivated tech fam. Mixes, mashes, and originals that included Cirez D, Morgan Page’s “The Longest Road,” vocals by Rick & Morty with “SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT,” Kiko’s “Running In The City” overlayed with vocals from “Bad Selection,” and finally closing our Cirez D “On Off” followed by Deadmau5 “Arguru” and finally climaxing with Pryda “Mirage,” the silky smooth transitions and incorporations worked magically.

The first two days of the Hilltop Arena saw the Dada Land Compound on day one, and day two saw a blast of dubstep and electro house throughout. However, our favorite theme for the weekend was Elrow on day three at the Hilltop Area. If you’re unfamiliar with the Elrow Family, it is a collection of entertainers that have been around since 1870. For six generations, the Arnau have bought spectacles of color, music, and happiness with a simple and clear goal: to entertain and make people have fun. Sunday’s Elrow theme was Bollywood. The ceiling was covered in color with suspended flying-carpets, streamers, genie lamps, slippers, sitars, and tapestries blowing in the wind.

Performers on stilts danced through the crowd, dressed in traditional turn-of-the-century outfits and hats, passing out hilarious fans, masks, hats, and toys to make everyone feel and become part of party. Air cannons blasted, cooling everyone off, while blow up toys of all shapes and sizes flew into the crowd. Life-size blow-up palm trees, oversized beer mugs, and mini sun all added to the fun. Some of our favorite acts that blessed the stage included the Chicago native The Black Madonna, absolutely killing the tent with her on-point selection of techno, house, and disco beats. From “Let The Sun Shine” by Milk & Sugar to hard hitting techno with Dense & Pika’s remix of “Louder Than A Bomb,” she delivered. After she closed, we didn’t need to move, because with his Ventian-era mask, white gloves, and top hat, Claptone kept the energy and dancing going. Elrow was a world apart from the rest of the festival, with the most joyous crowd, which is saying a lot when Above & Beyond is in attendance.

Riverside on Saturday came in as a close second as our favorite stage for one day, with a smashing lineup that was impossible to beat. What may have attributed as well, was that situated right next to Riverside was the “Little Italy” outdoor cocktail lounge, which had a perfect view of the DJ and stage, so you could get your cocktail on while you cut a rug, and with only the big kids.

Blackgummy, No Mana, Brohug, Wax Motif, Rezz, Drezo, Malaa and Oliver Heldens all in a row, all in one day. Rezz played her eccentric sound of deep bass wubs, and dropped numerous unreleased tracks. Malaa played true to his style of gritty house riding along a mix of rap samples. Oliver Heldens surprised us with one the best sets we’ve heard from him since his start. Dropping in classic tracks like Fedde Le Grand’s “Put Your Hands Up For Detroit” and everyone’s favorite Heldens classics “Gecko.” You could camp out the entire day at Riverside and be completely content with your decision in doing so.

In short, every single enclosure, no matter what genre, gave all species the sights, the sounds, and hype that they wanted. As the zoo continues to grow with unique parties, world-class artists, and fans from all over the world, we have no doubt that next year’s 10th anniversary is going to be historical.

All Photo Credit: aLIVE Coverage on behalf of www.electriczoofestival.com

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