Written by Natasha Lenart
This year is going to my first time attending EDC Las Vegas, and any EDC event in general; to say I’m beaming with excitement is an understatement. As more announcements come out regarding the event, I am growing more and more impatient to finally arrive in Las Vegas and see what the worldwide hype is all about. The lineup is absolutely INSANE, check out the official announcement here. Nearly all of my absolute favorite artists from all genres of electronic music are performing and I am totally overwhelmed. Although they gave a teaser during the music through music lineup reveal, the official stage lineups have dropped for the weekend. Check out the individual lineups and what to expect at each of the 8 massive stages below.
First up, is the bassPOD, hosted by Bassrush. Infamously known as the dubstep, trap, and drum n’ bass stage, this is the homebase for all bassheads new and old. This year’s lineup is attractive to all OG dubstep fans, where you can catch veteran artists like Nero, Skream! B2b Rusko, Dieselboy, and Funtcase. The stage has been revamped with new elements and is going to be larger than ever this year.
wasteLAND is the stage for all the hardstyle and hard dance fans, hosted by Basscon. The stage is so loud it is surrounded by giant metal shipping containers to protect the stage from bleeding sound. Its unique production and design undoubtedly adds to the post-apocalyptic look and feel to the stage. You can check out artists like Da Tweekaz and Technoboy at wasteLAND throughout the weekend.
As one of the “main” stages at EDC, circuitGROUNDS has been completely redesigned for EDCLV – as it is every year. Although EDC attendees can expect a different stage every year, this year’s circuitGROUNDS is even larger than before with 1364 moving lights, over 3000 video tiles, tons of pyro hits and lazers. This stage is not based on any single genre, and this year will be featuring incredible acts such as Eric Prydz, i_o, and Blacklizt (Zhu’s darker alias).
Now get ready trance fans, because quantumVALLEY is going to be a whole new world. As usual, Dreamstate hosts the stage. The stage was just redesigned last year, but this year is moving to the opposite side of Rainbow Road. Why? Well apparently, the stage was so popular last year the old location just couldn’t hold enough people! The trance fam is giddy over this expansion. The stage will now be 150 feet wide by 180 feet long, which should provide enough room for fans of artists like Infected Mushroom, Cosmic Gate, and Sander Van Doorn to get down.
stereoBLOOM is the newest stage at EDCLV, it is specially curated by the Insomniac Records team. Artists are selected by the Insomniac team with a strong emphasis on presenting new and up and coming artists from various genres including house, tech house, techno, and even dubstep. This is the place to be to catch sets from Chris Lorenzo, Kai Wachi, and Gentlemens Club.
Factory93, the legendary warehouse venue in Los Angeles, presents the neonGARDEN stage. This year ‘s bigger 360-degree stage and sound is completely enclosed, promising a strong warehouse feel- even at a festival the size of EDC. This stage is dedicated to underground house and techno, and stays true to those underground roots by featuring deep and dark artists like Adam Beyer, Charlotte de Witte, Enrico Sangiuliano, and Joseph Capriati. I will speak for all techno fans and just say; we are absolutely shook at this impressive lineup.
I would call cosmicMEADOW another “main” stage, and it is hosted by HARD. This one is Paquale Rotella’s personal favorite, he says the best part is the amazing views you get at this stage. The daily opening ceremonies will be held here before the rest of the festival grounds open, and Bill Nye’s special guest appearance will be kicking off the opening ceremony on Friday, 5/17. To no surprise at this point, cosmicMEADOW has also been fully redesigned to be larger and brighter than previous years. I would be expecting more LEDs, less structural features, and probably, more lasers. Deadmau5, Claude VonStroke, Gorgon City (Live), and Zhu will all be performing at cosmicMEADOW over the weekend.
And finally, likely the most iconic EDC stage, kineticFIELD. As it should be widely known, this stage changes every year to directly reflect the festival’s theme that year. Last year was kineticLOVE, and this year is kineticENERGY. Pasquale has mentioned that this year’s stage design is his favorite kineticFIELD design ever. Considering that the theme this year is science related, as a scientist myself, I am really rooting for a gigantic mad scientist’s laboratory or something crazy! Sets by Excision, Get Real (Green Velvet b2b Claude VonStroke), Kaskade, and Diplo will all be performed here.
Now that the entire lineup as well as the stage lineups have been officially revealed, EDC fans are going to be impatiently waiting for the festival map and performance schedule to come out. Am I the only one that is kind of totally worried about amazing sets overlapping? I guess that’s the price you pay for the most stacked lineup of the year…
Tickets are over 90% sold out, but are still available online! Get them here while you still can!
All photos are courtesy of Electric Daisy Carnival’s Facebook page.
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