All Were Welcome, All Were Beautiful, All Had the Time of Their Lives at EDC Las Vegas 2017 [Event Review]

Three beautiful days of performances, art cars, surprise special guests, friends of old and new, amazing fireworks, carnival rides, lights, and what we all came for, music. And if you loathe yourself like we did because of no sleep due to pool parties everyday, you’re not alone. But it’s well worth it, because this was EDC Las Vegas. Insomniac’s flagship festival went off yet again, bringing Headliners into a realm of like-minded rave souls, all encompassed in a massive motor speedway turned musical wonderland for three mesmerizing nights.

Most festival goers take up residence on the Las Vegas strip during EDC Week, leaving you a few options to get to the festival every night. Drive with a designated driver, Uber/Lyft/Cab, or buy a shuttle pass. Insomniac this year got rid of all third party shuttles, so you had to buy your shuttle pass specifically through them and only them. However, they also decided to add ID and security checks at all shuttle stops, rather than once you get to the speedway. This was the one problem of the festival. Because of the ID and security checks at the shuttle stop, they didn’t have nearly as many lines to check IDs and go through security, which led to an incredible slowdown in the process to get on the shuttles. The bottle neck this caused was massive, and it took some festival goers hours to get out of the massive line and onto the shuttle. However, keep in mind that this is the first year that they tried this approach, and every other year at the Speedway has gone smoothly. We’re positive Insomniac will learn from this valiant effort at trying something new and implement a better system or just return to the old and efficient way that it used to be for the past five years that we have been covering EDC Las Vegas.

Now that the negative is out of the way, lets get to the positive. This is EDC Las Vegas after all. Brilliant lights and sound every which way you look. Literally. The amount of time and effort put into this festival is mind blowing. Bright spinning rides flying through the air, lights strung across the entire circumference of the speedway, the long walkway stretch of Memory Lane playing clips from previous years, with top tracks from that year to accompany you on your small journey through the past, etc. The amount of experiences and journeys that you can take without even stepping foot at a stage is incredible.

Lest we not forget, the art cars that every year continue to make a statement of their own. A mobile pirate ship creeping up behind you bumping future house while a gang of the EDC performers smile, dance, and wave as they float by, or approach the parliament art car with it’s twisted illuminated vines, and a dance floor you can walk up onto, only to be greeted by a monstrous owl flapping it’s wings with your vibe. So many extraordinary things to be seen and taken in, hand picked by Insomniac’s best, in hopes of giving you, the headliner, the experience of a lifetime.

Don’t even get us started on the fireworks. At this point, we’re sure you’ve heard about EDC Las Vegas and their infamous fireworks show. Hell, we could write a review on the fireworks show from all three nights. They’re THAT good. Whether you saw the fireworks during Porter Robinson, Seven Lions, Zomboy, were making a pitstop in the Vendor Village, it makes no difference. Burns of energy, flying into the dark, spraying the sky each night for seven minutes with a display that makes the 4th of July in New York City or Washington, DC small by comparison. A bright smiley face, or EDC written in the sky, the ingenuity and ever changing surprises every year never let the Headliners down.

And that’s exactly what Insomniac did. From the lights, sounds, and sensory overload, to the amazing artists they brought in to set the entire festival ablaze, it was another year of exploration. Friday saw the likes of the trending duo Solardo throwing down tech house at neonGARDEN, while we witnessed gorgeous devil horned women doing aerial acrobatics from the ceiling of the tent.

Add in lasers, a disco ball bigger than Hodor, a spanning visual screen the entire back side of the tent, and you were delivered a stunning world hosted by Factory 93. Other incredible performances that we witnessed were Nicole Moudaber b2b Chris Liebing, Jamies Jones, Alan Fitzpatrick and Adam Beyer. neonGARDEN was the place to be all weekend.

Switching things completely on it’s head, we have upside-downHOUSE. Bringing a unique blend of styles and genres, upside-downHOUSE was a breath of fresh air, switching your genre bending flavors up a bit. Artists like Dombresky bringing the future house tunes, representing Tchami’s label Confession. Or Low Steppa, bringing you up with the bass house vibes, and right back down with his tech house originals and remixes. A dazzling array of genres also brought by Jayceeoh, Bonnie X Clyde, Born Dirty, Angelz, Will Clarke, and many more, taking you from festival to house party in a snap.

Need some booty shaking jams, maybe a good shuffle session, or even some head-banging, sing along tracks? You needn’t look further than circuitGROUNDS. One of our favorites of the weekend was the head tamer himself, Seven Lions. The crowd endlessly held back tears with heartfelt tracks, while the next minute everything had their heads halfway off their shoulders with bass and psy-trance transitions that Seven Lions has mastered. circuitGROUNDS also brought Audien B2B 3LAU, Excision, Don Diablo, and Rezz playing some unreleased music, putting us into a complete underground zone for 60 minutes straight.

And finally, the mother of all stages, kineticFIELD. This year, kineticFIELD was completely revamped with a whole new appearance, and it was one to revel in. kineticGAIA as it was coined by Pasquale himself, was a beacon of what this festival stood for. Gaia in greek mythology is the ancestral mother of all life: the primal Mother Earth goddess. Promoting earth and positive energy, in an effort to remind us that we are equally one. No race, no color, just human. Arms outstretched wide and a large beating heart dead center, welcoming every headliner in to be themselves and let it all out for three epic nights. kineticFIELD also brought some of the biggest names in dance music today including Kygo, Tiesto, Afrojack, Martin Solveig, Alison Wonderland B2B Diplo B2B Jauz and Dillon Francis, who smoothly moved between his signature moombahton sound and upbeat tracks that will take you anywhere, into a full rap-along that has the entire crowd feeling like they’re Eminem.

An honorable mention must also go out to quantumVALLEY, the newest stage installment at EDC Vegas this year. That tent was incredibly on point with amazing vibes and a light show that was on par with the main stage. We watched John O’Callaghan play an incredible set, and even dropped in a trance remix to Green Velvet’s – Flash that completely left us wanting three hours more. Many other trance veterans including Ferry Corsten, Paul van Dyke, and more had the #trancefam living here all weekend long.

We have officially written our passage in the history book that is EDC Las Vegas 2017. Three wonderfully sweaty and joyous nights have yet again come and gone, leaving us in awe and wanting more every time.

We’ll see you next year at the Speedway, you beautiful Headliners!

Connect with EDC Las Vegas:
http://lasvegas.electricdaisycarnival.com
https://www.facebook.com/electricdaisycarnival
https://twitter.com/EDC_LasVegas
https://instagram.com/edc_lasvegas

---

Share On