EDC 2019 — The Mother of All EDM Festivals: A Late Bloomer Virgin Experience of What To Expect, What to Watch Out For, and How To Make it the Absolute BEST [PART 1 OF 3]
It finally happened.
The notorious festival to trump all lowly concerts (and festivals for that matter).
I’ve been hearing/seeing/scoffing/wishing/dreaming of EDC for years.
Who knew at 35, I would finally have the opportunity, the crew, the ability, and shiet, the GUTS to finally go experience the 3-day inebriated, best-kind-of-mind-fuck that is the Electric Daisy Carnival.
I remember less than 5 years ago, being an unhappy, depressed, manic judgy-wudgy-was-a-bear fuck, I would look at EDC photos on social media and genuinely question “who the fuck our age would want to put themselves through this overly crowded torture for 3 days”?
I’m older and wiser now. 😎
Ahh… Soon-to-be EDM Late Bloomer… So much you didn’t have a clue of!
The 2019 EDC was everything I expected it to be and then some.
Oh, that’s not easy to do. I’ve been hyping it up in my mind, been reading and watching EDC survival guides, shopping for the skimpy outfits, and prepping our EDC plans for months.
And yet… This first EDC experience surpassed my sky high expectations.
It wasn’t one thing in particular, but everything coming together in harmony that made this experience the best awe-filled happy-fest.
EDC PRE-PLANNING
We had a battle plan.
THE DAY-OF SUPPLIES
I will say this — the EDC equipment list was overprepared.
But as the saying goes: it’s better to be safe than sorry!
Noticed that the guards checking for bag items aren’t concerned with the “unopened” parts of the goods.
There were simply TOO MANY people anxious to get the fuck inside for the guards to realistically check every fucking item in your stash.
You’re good.
Next year, I won’t be so crazy with the number of tissues and wet naps.
I went a little overboard.
A few days before EDC, we went Amazon cray…
BTW this is not just for me, it’s for 3 people (plus extras) 😜
Of course, camelbak is HIGHLY recommended. I got some independent brand wannabe, and instantly regretted it (leaky water bag 😕). Get a CamelBak.
Oh, and don’t forget one of the most important things to have…
PLUR
Arm Kandi 🍬 is a MUST HAVE!
We got our kandi supplies from Amazon, Michaels, and Unsuspecting Nieces with mountains of beading supplies they’ll never miss.
PLAN YOUR SET GROUPS
Downloading the Insomniac App was an ABSOLUTE MUST.
Internet is scarce at the Speedway. Expect not to have service at all. Insomniac app includes the lineup, maps, and other useful navigation items to help us ‘Find Our Way’.
The app allowed you to sort your lineup by day, and by favorites. So all of us in the group picked out who we wanted to see, and organized into groups to trek over to the sets together.
For my 1–2 lady readers: let’s talk outfits.
THE LOOKS
My favorite places for EDC gear (with EXCEPTIONAL pricing) came exclusively from two sites:
- I Heart Raves
- Amazon
I looked for best styles, return policy, and selection. Almost everything I found from the other rave gear sites out there I found on Amazon for cheaper.
We have to expect to only wear this shit once.
We don’t want to spend stacks on stacks on stacks for one use. Come on now 🙄
I seriously combed through ALL THE TOP festival gear sites out there, got bombarded by retargeted ads for all kinds of festival fashion… Trust me. These two sites are ALL YOU NEED when you’re ready to buy at the best prices.
Outfit photos coming up in my day-by-day breakdown.
Preplanning Checklist
✅ Festival Supplies
✅ Kandi
✅ Set Gameplan (Insomniac App)
✅ COORDINATED Outfits
Looks like we’re ready to roll! 🙌
EDC DAY 1: THE EUPHORIC DAY
THE OUTFIT THEME:
Baewatch. Red. Lifeguards. Bikinis.
We did the super corny coordinated outfits thing (and I wouldn’t have changed a thing!)
Unfortunately, I had to fly in LATE to EDC due to a work convention I couldn’t weasel out of… Bummed out of my mind, but hey, shit happens, and at the end of the day — gotta make that paper.
So my crew got there early Friday afternoon… Got a whole bunch of pre-EDC pics that are SUPER fucking cute, and got wasted well before I arrived.
Envious the whole while, I had to catch a 9pm flight from Orlando, drank heavily solo, landed at 10:30pm PST, rushed over to grab a rental car, stripped into a halfway decent EDC-worthy outfit (barely), braved the zero reception GPS situation to get to the speedway, and finally parked at the FURTHEST FUCKING LOT by around 11:30pm.
After hemming and hawing for a little, FINALLY found my crew after several failed calls and txts at around midnight — right on time to catch the tail end of Alison Wonderland at Kinetic Field.
MUSIC RATING KEY
😬 = Sobering/Heightened Awareness of Crowds/Overall Kinnda Uncomfortable…
❄ . = Pretty Chill and Groovy
😍 = Yaaaaaaaassss~~~
🖤 = Great Set. Downloading ASAP.
🎆 = FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE MUSIC:
- Alison Wonderland, Kinetic Field 😬
- Eric Prydz, Circuit Grounds 🖤
- A little bit of Deadmau5, Cosmic Meadow 😬
- Alesso, Kinetic Field 😍
- A little Excision, Kinetic Field 😍
- Gareth Emery, Circuit Grounds 🎆
- Elephante, Circuit Grounds 😍
- A little Funtcase, Bass Pod ❄
The clear front runner of the night is Gareth Emery who SLAYED with his classics like Concrete Angel, and DJ’s of the great trance hits. His set is a must-watch:
The music. That’s one of the 3 main reasons you go to EDC. Bonding with your crew is a close second, with massive rage partying third (but might as well be #1).
The lights. I’ve seen some AMAZING light shows from my 14 FUCKING CONCERTS I went to last year. NOTHING prepared me for the crazy fucking LIGHT ORGASMS I was about to experience at EDC…
Here’s one of my favorite moments of Day 1 (Somehow managed to roll out of my euphoric state enough to take this video, for which I must thank the EDM gods.).
Sure, I didn’t CREAM for every DJ I saw, but still enjoyed it EVERY set I went to in its own way.
This is due in part because I had such a fun Day 1 crew, probably a little bit of the rage-partying after a very stressful and busy month, and maybe (just maybe) due to some amazing 사탕. 😁
Some Action Shots from Day 1
Had an absolute blast Day 1, but learned some lessons for next year’s first day of EDC:
LESSONS LEARNED AFTER DAY 1:
- TAKE MORE FUCKING PHOTOS. Took a lot of video and a few blurry selfies. Did not take NEARLY enough photos — actually asking someone nearby to take a photo of the group.
- TAKE BETTER FUCKING PHOTOS PLEASE OMG. We had no care of light source, direction, or any fucking thing that makes it so that you can actually see wtf is going in the photo.
- IF THE WEATHER SAYS IT’S GONNA BE COLD, TAKE A FUCKING ESKIMO JACKET AND WEAR FUCKING PANTS. I’m glad I got smart and took my jacket when I got out of the car at 40 fucking degrees, but most of my crew got there early, before the wind gusts of 20MPH. There was a shortage of sweaters, which left us with Option 1) buy a $65 Insomniac rip-off sweater and basically accept that you’ve just been taken for a ride or Option 2) Someone’s gonna be freezing.
- NOTE TO SELF: Next time circle a spot on the map in advance if you’re meeting the crew separately along with a goddamn time stamp.
- TRY NOT TO SPLIT INTO SMALL GROUPS. Small groups of 2 aren’t nearly as fun as a medium-sized group of 6.
- BATHROOM BREAK BEFORE YOU GET INTO THE SPEEDWAY. The lines inside were always longer, portapotties stinkier, and way more rachet.
- SET PHONE ALARMS AT MEETUP TIMES. It’s EDC… you lose all sense of time or place. Notify everyone with synchronized alarms.
Things I happened to do PERFECTLY… Learn from my unplanned genius!
- PARKING. All things considered, I did a couple of things right! Despite arriving alone to the speedway, I found parking inside the brown lot was MUCH easier if you entered from the 2nd brown entrance. Also…don’t be afraid to be an asshole and CUT THE CAR LINE. Otherwise you’ll be one of those suckers waiting HOURS just to get into the parking lot. 💁
- PARK CLOSER TO THE EXIT. Leaving EDC is worse than arriving. If you can, stay to the left. The parking guys will split the two parking lines. If you stay on the left side after entering the brown lot, you cut into the parking spots on the farthest end, closest to the street. So… yes it’s a drag walking your ass from all the way down there to the speeedway, but trust me. It’s so much worse doing it after the sunrise set ends at 7am in the fucking morning after a whole night filled with ragepartying.
- WHEN LEAVING THE PARKING LOT, PLAY FROGGER INSIDE THE LOT. don’t be an idiot and wait in the UNMOVING exit lanes. Time to put those frogger skills to use and navigate through parked cars until you reach the exit. Yea, I’m THAT guy.
- GIANT BOTTLE OF WATERS IN THE CAR. When you return, you will be so fucking thirsty… I did this by accident and nearly broke down in tears when I saw my crisp bottle of water waiting for me as I found my car.
- PARKING AREA SIGNS DON’T EXIST. Find your way by memorizing/snapping a photo of the view to the speedway billboard signs.
Day 1 was hands down my favorite party day. The other days were better for other reasons. I’ll get to that another time — it’s well past my bedtime.
Part 2 of 3 incoming soon!
Until the next roll! Good Vibes Only!
~EDM Bloomer 🖤
