Electric Skies and Electric Vibes: Electric Zoo Returns To NYC
My first electronic dance music festival/ “rave” was Electric Zoo in 2009. It was the inaugural year of the festival, and right when EDM started to take off on the East Coast. I had wanted to go to Electric Daisy Carnival on the West Coast that year and never made it.
At Zoo that year, I saw deadmau5 for the first time and witnessed him dropping “Sometimes Things Get Complicated.” I saw Steve Aoki drop “Warp 1.9” for the first time. I was hooked.
Electric Zoo (New York’s longest-running electronic music festival) has dramatically evolved over the years. The first festival was so small in comparison to what it has grown into today — 55 artists across just 2 days — expanding in 2011 to a three-day festival, and now boasting over 100+ artists on the bill this year. There were 26,000 people attending in 2009 and 107,000 in 2019. The numbers aren’t in yet for 2021, but the festi sold-out on Saturday and Sunday this year.
EZoo has been an annual tradition for my friends and I since it’s inception. Having gone to NYU, we returned for our fall semester just in time for the Labor Day tradition. I’ve been to almost every edition of the festival, with the exception of three years when I moved out of state and it was harder to make it back.
This year, was extra special. After the bleakness and melancholy caused by the pandemic, it’s been about two years since I last found myself at a music festival — that was Camp Bisco in 2019. When my plans fell through to attend Elements Festival, (thanking my lucky stars that happened after the horror stories I’ve heard from this weekend) I jumped at the opportunity to run wild at this year’s “Supernaturals” theme.
The festival’s COVID-response was taken seriously. We had to show our vaccination cards upon entry into the festival. There was hand sanitizer available and a few people wore masks, which were optional, but most took the opportunity to breathe in some fresh air and enjoy the live music. I think we were all a little nervous for how this would go, but it seemed like organizers had everything under control, making the return of human connection palpable once more. Security was the usual, depends on who checked you and how strict they were being. Kind of standard for festivals, but they took many people’s totems, a festival-cultural artifact often crafted to make a statement or to serve as an inside-joke for a group of friends.
First off, let me just say how wonderful it was to be back in such a welcoming environment. I’ve always felt at home amongst “ravers” and “kandi kids” alike. “PLUR” — peace, love, unity, respect, are amongst the pillars of the rave community, and as someone who never fit in anywhere, I’ve always felt like I can fully be myself around “my people.” While the festival felt more crowded than it had in past years, VIP is a great way to avoid long lines and large crowds at the stages. Other things to note about the festival: it featured food from local food trucks like Two Guys Chicken and Fries and Tia’s Tacos, and a cashless-wristband system that most festivals these days seem to rely on after the pandemic. Alcoholic bevs were a little limited in variety, also charging $13 for a single White Claw, although they were 16oz. as opposed to the standard 12oz. cans.
The production this year was unparalleled, four stages this year that have grown dramatically in size. I liked the open concept as opposed to the tents they’ve had in past years. The Gateway at “Riverside” offered up what I thought was the best sound, although Hilltop was a close second. Riverside was a really awesome place to see all the heavy-hitting bass artists like Liquid Stranger, ATLiens, and Champagne Drip, (and also the designated Wakaan Records stage, built like their triple triangle, a.k.a. 3 Ws and an A, for those that didn’t know. The name itself translates to ‘Great Mystery.’
Sunday School, the house-head stage, had the grooviest of vibes, hosting the likes of Claptone, Laidback Luke, Duke Dumont, Destructo, and Dom Dolla, amongst others. It felt like a disco-garden oasis, tucked away in a hidden forest, dripping with ivy. It was a great area to get down and bust a move at a classic Zoo stage.
The Main Stage this year was about 4x the size of the original one from 2009, with eight panels of screens cascading out from the main center screen to project visuals. I do kind of miss the ones they had shaped like zoo animals. The elephant from 2017 was pretty awesome. And where were the lasers this year? Artists like Rezz and Kaskade periodically shot pyro and fireworks into the air at the most opportune moments. The weather couldn’t have been more gorgeous, except for a little light sprinkle Sunday mid-day.
Surprisingly, the sound bleed wasn’t too bad. I actually thought it was pretty cool to be watching Minnesota B2B Buku at Hilltop and hearing a dope sample that was actually Carnage at the next stage over.
While I missed out on Friday’s festivities due to traffic — it certainly was a lot easier to get to the festival when my friends had an apartment on 111th and 3rd, and we would just walk down the street over the Randall’s Island bridge to the festival. Sadly, I missed getting down to “You Little Beauty,” “Losing It”, and his latest single, “Just Feels Tight” at Fisher’s hyped-up sunset set.
Overall, I heard nothing but great things about Day 1. Loud Luxury was another duo I came across during the pandemic and wish I could have caught a bit of. I heard Valentino Khan was killer. Zeds Dead always put down an awesome set, but they would have just been ending as we would have just been getting there. Peekaboo into Subtronics into Zeds was a pro-move from what I heard.
I haven’t seen him since about 2013, but people were saying Seven Lions threw down a great set.
Subtronics, this is the third time I tried to see you. Was supposed to see you at the first tour date in Boston this summer— before it got rescheduled to a later date in August that we couldn’t make due to work. One of these days I’ll make it to one of your shows. The sets I’ve watched online during the mini-raves I’d host in my apartment during the pandemic were mind-blowing — the longest I’ve gone without live music since I can remember.
Day 2: The Best Music + Wakaan Takeover
My only complaint about night was that Wakaan Records boss Liquid Stranger only had an hour time slot, whereas Main Stage acts like Tiesto and Kaskade had 90 minute sets, but I’m trying not to be a music snob and just enjoy the time that was given to us after such a live music drought.
Things I love about music festivals: discovering new artists you might never have known about.
Hydaulix: Wow, blew my face off. He just dropped a 20-track EP titled “Imposter Syndrome.” “4Real” — it’s a banger an an EP. Go ahead and do yourself a favor and follow him on Spotify if you aren’t familiar. He destroyed the crowd with his earth-shattering bass. Love what Wakaan is putting out these days, really helping ease the pain of losing Bassnectar (that’s a story for another time). Tynan was another artist I was able to catch a glimpse of. Loved his sinister bass vibes and off-the-wall visuals.
While Aoki took the Main Stage, still tossing cake at people, Champagne Drip, a stand-out from Wakaan, played the bass triangle at Riverside. He’s really dialed in his sound and I’ve seen him play alongside some of my favorite artists like Liquid Stranger and LSDREAM in the past. His set featured tons of hypnotic beats, both original and borrowed from other paired with mind-bending visuals. Would highly recommend.
Artbat: had the crowd going off, felt like I was in the middle of a nightclub like Sankeys, but in the middle of a grassy field with a sick stage set-up.
Tiesto: A Main Stage mainstay, while my tastes have changed over the years, he dropped Zedd’s “Clarity” into “Fade Into Darkness” and I felt like it was 2012 all over again. He later played Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition” — it felt like icing on the cake.
LSDREAM: Back at Riverside, LSDREAM brought the crowd some much needed bass-therapy and visually stimulating us with mesmerizing geometric graphics, perfectly paired with his signature womps and wubs. Wish I could have spent more time at his set.
Rezz: I missed Shiba San at Sunday School and Dirt Monkey over at Riverside for Rezz because she is a personal favorite of mine, and she melted my face off when I saw her at the Brooklyn Mirage earlier this summer. She did not disappoint this time around either. Many artists get slammed for “playing the same set” — but while Rezz has her sound and signature tracks like “Criminals” and “H E X,” she managed to mix it up, with different bass patterns and spooky samples, shooting flames into the air during peak drops.
“Taste Of You” was one she played that I hadn’t heard live before in between assaulting us with bass. She played Zoo after a 2-day stint at Red Rocks, dubbed “Rezz Rocks,” and flew to Toronto the next very day only to play her new single “Hypnocurrency” with deadmau5 — something that every one very much wanted to happen at Zoo.
For anyone not familiar with this year’s lineup, deadmau5 was scheduled to perform a set as his side project “Testpilot.” I’ve seen the Mau5 many times and am familiar with his various side projects. Knew it would be tech-house-heavy and I really came to Zoo for the bass this year, so I opted to miss out on Testpilot. I heard one of two things, that if you didn’t know the music, it was “lame” — however this was coming from a kid who clearly didn’t know “deadmau5” was not booked at the festival — “Testpilot” was. Others said he went hard and was one of their favorites from the weekend, and others said he “shredded it to pieces” at his Mirage after-party. The videos I saw looked phenomenal.
Rezz’s set was definitely a tough act to follow on the Main Stage, but Kaskade, who can either play a hit-or-miss set, opted for a slower-paced set, filled with what I’ve dubbed “emo-house” tracks — while I personally have loved his style and range over the years, seeing him numerous times in numerous cities, I was hoping for more of a Redux set. While I was hoping for some “Fire In Your New Shoes,” I dipped for Claptone after he dropped “Eyes” and felt satisfied enough. I later saw a video someone took of him dropping a “Good Feeling” sample — probably an ode to Tim Bergling a.k.a. Avicii who’s birthday would have been later this week.
Claptone was poppin’ off at Sunday School, such a classic DJ, a “Renegade Master” if you will, to be spinning at a classic stage. I was super glad I got to catch some of his funky set. Have been trying to see him for a couple of years now, but have been unable to line up properly with a tour date. I had been following his sets around the globe (via YouTube) during the worst of the pandemic, and even blew through all his old Tomorrowland sets. Will definitely be going out of my way to get to a Masquerade of his — love the energy he brings to the floor and his iconic golden masks.
Liquid Stranger: My absolute favorite set of the weekend goes to Liquid Stranger. Someone said “best Liquid set to date.” Having seen him a couple of times before, including back in 2016 in the dingy basement of the Middle East Night Club in Boston, right before he exploded, where he played a sweaty, weird and wonderful, underground bass party with Bleep Bloop — also probably one of my favorite shows ever. I knew I was staying for the entire set.
Between his fresh rap and dub-reggae samples, classic bangers like “Gunslinger,” Bassnectar-level visuals, scintillating bass, and random weird tracks like the “Spaghetti Song,” he has now over-taken Nectar as my favorite producer. Nectar was always up there for me, up until the scandal that caused him to shut down the “Bassnectar” project and abruptly stop producing my favorite-style of bass music. I never thought I’d recover.
Day 3: The Best Vibes
He$h: Was playing Riverside when we walked up to Day 3. His nasty bass beckoned me over to the stage.
Laidback Luke: Surprised us with a tech-house set reminiscent of someone on Dirty Bird Records. I hadn’t seen him in a few years, but I’ve seen him play varied sets over the years — from more electro house, to progressive, to techno, but LBL rarely disappoints. Amongst the funky, disco-vibes, he dropped “Turbulence” — a track I forgot he was even on with Steve Aoki and Lil’ Jon, but nonetheless, colored my world my senior year of college. He put a 2021 tech-house spin on the classic progressive house track, and sent the crowd into a tribal dance-frenzy.
Jantsen: I’m all about a good sample. And he dropped a few amidst some menacing bass. I didn’t realize he was playing at Hilltop at that exact time and I literally had to do a double-take and confirm who was dropping Dem Franchize Boyz. Jantsen is also on quite a few Bassnectar songs that I was once obsessed with including “Lost in the Crowd,” and “It’s About To Get Hectic,” which Nectar dropped right before he stopped producing. Jantsen is also on “Burn Up The Floor” — a track from Griz’s latest album “Rainbow Brain.”
Over at the Main Stage, Alan Walker dropped “Faded,” a track that would have had me tearing up had it been 2015, but I was head-over-boots in love with ATLiens, who owned the Riverside stage with their trap-heavy bass beats, sprinkled with popular rap samples like Kayne West’s “Mercy,” Future’s “Life Is Good”, and Waka Flocka Flame’s “No Hands,” Will definitely be trying to see them again.
Minnesota B2B Buku: Put frankly, this set was lit. Both producers in their own right are sick live, put the two together and it’s a particularly lethal combination of trap heater after heater, think Lil Wayne, “I’m Me” on top of sinister bass. Low and slow, just how I like it. Really respected the Mac Miller “Loud” sample as the three-year anniversary of his passing occurred Monday just after the festival.
Charlesthefirst: His super spacey, dream-like psychedelic beats, laced with hip-hop cuts, he’s come to Boston a few times since I moved out there, and he always bringing color to the lo-fi bass genre.
Destructo: Back over at Sunday School, the AMF Records head hauncho played a Sunday sermon of his usual provocative house-driven beats. “I want to party/I want to Fuck/I want a model, no, I want a slut,” he dropped at least two remixes of “Party Up” that could be heard bumpin’ on the sound system as could crowd-favorite “Jolene,” “Higher,” and “Y.O.D.O” with Chris Lake.
Carnage: Played Riverside, rather, obliterated Riverside.
Black Tiger Sex Machine: Stole the show at the Hilltop Arena. I had only heard of the masked DJs, never experienced them, although probably should have by now. Their performance was all-consuming and electrifying. The trio took the Hilltop Arena to “church,” destroying worshippers with laser-sharp bass tracks like “King Cobra,” their collab “Frequencies” with ATLiens, and a tease they did of a track ID off their new album. Thank you for blessing us with your futuristic sound.
Caught a bit of Riot Ten at Riverside that melted my brain. Heard Ghastly B2B with Eptic was epic.
Dom Dolla: I’ve been following the Australian DJ/producer at events all over the world (well, online) since he broke out pre-pandemic in 2019, but hadn’t made it to a live set. His set was one of the funnest of the weekend, dropping a fire, “Do It, To It” track ID featuring Cherish — a remix of a song that I hadn’t heard in years and dance floor bangers like “San Frandisco.”
Duke Dumont: A crowd-favorite. Everyone has been raving about his stellar set. Wish I could have caught it, but I caught a migraine to end all migraines instead, and had to granny it out a little early or risk getting trampled walking across the bridge back to the main land. Still having major FOMO as I heard it was one of the bets of the weekend and I had seen some pretty stellar sets. Opening with “Red Light, Green Light,” he also dropped fan favorites “The Power” and “Ocean Drive.”
A huge thank you to the Electric Zoo crew and all the artists involved. It was really great to be back and dancing the night away with everyone again under the New York City skyline.
