As we slowly come back to realty, we can’t help ourselves from replaying some of the best moments from Labor Day weekend where we got lost among our fellow party animals at Electric Zoo: Evolved. Lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) congregated on Randall’s Island for the three day festival to boogie down with their rave fam. As is tradition for many, the weekend kicked off as we crossed the waters on the ferry and were greeted with iconic views of Midtown and New York City’s East River. When we made our journey to the island for the first time Friday afternoon and the lights of the main stage came into view, we knew it was finally time to let our inner animal fly.
DAY ONE
Upon entry, we immediately headed over to the All My Friends stage to start off our day with rising Dirtybird artist OMNOM. He got the shuffle circles kicked off with original tracks like “Number One Fan” and “Know I’m Bad” from his 2018 EP Goin’ Dumb. Throwing out some love towards other Dirtybird players with mix in’s like Fisher’s, “You Little Beauty”, and Bruno Furlan & DJ Glen’s, “Another Planet,” it didn’t take long for fellow the flock to form.
Over at main stage we stopped in on Whethan’s highly anticipated set to get a taste of his iconic future bass sound. Whethan would perform a Louis The Child-esque set dropping originals like “When I’m Down,” “Sleepy Eyes,” and “Savage.” That paired with a bunch of remixes and ID’s landed Whethan’s set as one of our favorites. Next up was Oliver Heldens who threw down a performance that reminded us of 2013 with hits like “Last All Night,” Swedish House Mafia’s “Antidote”, and a sweet throwback to the Dirty South & Axwell remix of “Sweet Disposition.” Kaskade took the decks next to bring us a sunset set that was a feels overload. He played his classics like “Disarm You,” “Eyes,” and “Us,” while also mixing in some of his Redux gems and 2019 hip-hop favorites.
Closing out the night was the Eric Prydz, which was nothing short of epic. Partnered with stunningly gorgeous visuals, he took us on a journey to another world. While this was the first of his many performances for the weekend, including an after party, many of us didn’t want to miss a single second. We let ourselves drift into the night with tracks like “Last Dragon” and “Opus,” and all of his reveler’s favorites. Eric Prydz really made the main stage his own and it was incredibly hypnotizing.
DAY TWO
After an explosive day one, day two quickly approached and we prepared for another long haul of festivities. The All My Friends stage would again be packed to the brim bringing us house favorites like Croatia Squad, Dom Dolla, Weiss, Wax Motif, and Anti Up. While the All My Friends stage was a hit the entire weekend, the new placement and direction of the stage added for less foot traffic, but a more packed crowd. Not far away from the All My Friends stage was Hilltop which ‘housed’ the Pryda Arena for day two. Pryda Arena brought us house and tech house favorites like Cristoph, Joris Voorn, and Yotto. Eric Prydz returned for yet another epic, but more intimate set that was nonetheless euphoric, before Green Velvet closed out in an extraordinary fashion.
Next to Pryda Arena landed us at the Riverside stage where the thumping bass could be felt with heavy hitters like Riot Ten, Shlump, and Cookie Monsta b2b Funtcase all igniting their sets. Flux Pavilion would close out Riverside on day two playing his classics like “I Can’t Stop,” “Emotional,” and his collaboration with Whethan on “Savage.” After hopping around different stages we made our way to the main stage to check out some of the headliners. Afrojack’s set started out with a variety of genres like rap, hip-hop, and even some trap. However, towards the end of his 75 minute set we saw the much welcomed return of his progressive house style. Zedd followed in similar fashion playing his hits like “The Middle,” “Beautiful Now,” “Spectrum,” and of course ending with Clarity.
Last but not least, Above & Beyond took the main stage and threw down a classic progressive trance set. We heard a variety of tracks off their albums “Common Ground,” “We Are All We Need” and their famed “Group Therapy.” Additionally, we heard loads of new Anjunabeats music and they even dropped their legendary Salva Mea 2.0 remix. As always, Above & Beyond gave us the perfect finale with all of the ways to an explosive day two. Following their set we also received news of their NYE performance to take place in New York City.
As with any Electric Zoo, it would not be a complete festival without stopping at some of the delicious food vendors. Each day our staff were drawn to the various food tents to indulge in a wide variety of tasty meals that kept us going throughout the three days. If you’re a regular Electric Zoo attendee we highly advise stopping by some of the food vendors for next year (it arguably might be the best food at any festival).
DAY THREE
Whoever said it’s too early for techno? We started our last day right with some devilishly good beats courteous of i_o. He snatched the festivals attention at the main stage and transported us to the darkest of warehouses with the bass shaking the concrete. We got a taste of the grittier, snarling side of techno with i_o’s own “OnAcid” and “LOW,” while also throwing in Spektre’s insanely evil, “Thinking About You.”
Shifting to the opposite end of the spectrum, we headed over to check out Seven Lion’s Ophelia Records showcase stage with psy trance staple, Blastoyz. With the genre’s resurgence into the public’s eyes, it was refreshing to see a packed crowd turn up for the Israeli producer. Paying homage to fellow psy trance tastemakers, Vini Vici, we got to free ourselves with their inspiring, “Where the Heart Is.” He kept us in our feels with a psy rendition of Linkin Park’s “In the End” and Seven Lion’s “Freesol.” Then he really took us for a ride with his collab track, “After Dark,” and his extended remix of Andrew Rayel’s, “Tambores.”
We caught our breath and grabbed a quick cocktail in the beer garden before making our way as close as humanly possible to MitiS. After an insane 2018, including releasing his album, ‘Til the End, from scratch after a hard drive failure and touring (check out our interview here), we couldn’t wait to see him throw down at his first E Zoo. We couldn’t help but well up with tears when he played, “Moments”, and his latest collab with Seven Lions, “Break the Silence”. But just as the tears began to fall, he brought us back up and backhanded us with a filthy drop, reminding us of his dub roots. On top of all this, the rave gods answered our prayers and we got to hear two yet to be released tracks, ending his set with what is set to be titled, “Mirrors”.
We broke away from the Ophelia stage to get down with the dark side at the Riverside stage for 1788-L. Here he dropped a heavier remix of Porter Robinson’s “Shelter,” as this the producer is famously known for putting his own brutal twist on tracks. However, the notes of Dabin shredding live on his guitar was like drawing moths to a flame. He brought out MitiS for his remix of Dabin’s own “Alive” and Jason Ross for their unreleased collab. Next up, Said the Sky lived up to the hype that has surrounded him this summer, (remember that beautiful piano pop up at E Forest?). His synth work had us swaying arm in arm with our rave fam. With a dash of nostalgia with blasting Panic! At the Disco’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” he solidified in the hearts of retired emo kids.
All My Friends boasted incredible talent from the likes of Noizu, Eli Brown, Kyle Watson, and Nora En Pure, pulling in massive crowds of house revelers and shufflers alike. It was refreshing to take a break from our feelings to get down to some bangers like Watson’s “Sides” and Noizu’s “Dance.” The lasers danced across the tent walls and we tore up the floor with our fellow house fiends.
Before heading over to end our night with the genre-blending phenomenon, Seven Lions, Armin Van Buuren called us over to the main stage. He turned the production turned up to 11 and wrapped us up in the electrifying energy of trance. With stompers like “Turn it Up” and Maurice West’s remix of “Resurrection,” the party animals of the Zoo got a full range of the genre. As a special treat, he played out “Sub Communication,” something he had played out for the first time in New York when he was 21. Of course, he had to end the set with crowd favorite “Blah, Blah, Blah,” and with that we joined the hoard headed to Ophelia, re-energized.
Seven Lions drew in massive numbers as the rumbles of bass began to creep through the speakers. We got all the magic that he brings to each set, with his powerful “Calling you Home” blending into a reinvigorating edition of “Island” before taking us down to the depths of psy trance with his killer track “Blood.” Somehow he successfully dropped Darude’s “Sandstorm” in the most badass way possible. Before he closed out the night and our last day, he brought on all the artists in his showcase and closed with some sickening psy trance. To say we are beyond excited for his Abraxis premiere at this year’s Dreamstate is an understatement.
Over at the Main stage, Boys Noize and Skrillex made an epic return to Electric Zoo as Dog Blood once again, dropping some of their older tracks like “Middle Finger” and “Chella Ride,” while CamelPhat closed out the All My Friends stage to an out of control packed house.
And just like that, Electric Zoo closed yet another successful year, and their largest since 2013. We enjoyed the twinkling lights of New York City as we took the last ferry out before making our way to the final set of after parties. Electric Zoo: Evolved was (and always is) one hell of a way to spend Labor Day weekend and we’re excited to see what unfolds next year.
Photo credit: aLIVE Coverage for ElectricZoo.com
Co-written by: Phil Mortillo
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