Electric Daisy Carnival London: Diary of EDM Virgin

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Electric Daisy Carnival London: Diary of EDM Virgin

As I sauntered up to the gates of EDC London, the inaugural run of the already well established American based festival franchise, I could already hear the pulsating bass beats of Thrash Electro resonating in my ear passages. As I surveyed the amount of fluro fashion trimmings, oversized fluffy boots and daisy-laden partygoers that surrounded me, my palms began to sweat with the anticipation of the subculture I was about to experience. This was EDC London and my favourite DJ is David August, I was screwed.

As I passed through the heaving entry gates of Stratford Olympic Park, I was immediately confronted with the jovial pandemonium of the EDC main stage that was in the process of shooting multi-coloured confetti out of a jet cannon over an exuberant, fist-pumping audience. Swedish producer Alesso was busy sending the crowd into absolute overdrive with his signature vocal driven Electro as I hesitantly melted into a sea of Morph suits, itchy looking tutus and people who had a pretty incredible talent for body paint application.

EDC London

Before I go any further I need to preface this review with a potentially contentious yet obvious disclaimer. EDM? Yeah I’m not fan. However, like every avid writer when tasked with reviewing an event, I’d done my pre-festival research, prayed to the Gods of Disco, House and Techno and walked in to Electric Daisy Carnival London with an open, albeit it slightly dubious mind. Unfortunately, all this well-wishing had done absolutely nothing to quash my irrational fears of being blinded by a stray glow stick, deafened by Dubstep breakdowns or asphyxiated under a pile of discarded American flags people had previously been wearing as capes. On arrival it was comforting to see some things never change, with flags of the world as togas out in force, as I weaved my way through a sea of trippy circus performers, groups of scantily clad babes and A LOT of American accents, many of whom asked me excitedly if I was ‘having a good time.’

The friendly demeanour of EDC patrons continued through out the day as I diligently bopped my way through Flux Pavilion, Rusko and the once duo, now singular Crookers with what I assume was a slightly quizzical yet largely complimentary look on my face. I chatted with Americans, Australians, Spanish, Swedes and South Africans as it increasingly dawned on me the global saturation and inescapable scope of the EDM phenomenon. My most highly anticipated act, EDM wiz kid Porter Robinson didn’t disappoint, bashing out the free flowing Progressive House to ballistic Hardstyle set I’d been zealously expecting. Despite being completely at a loss as to how to dance to this frenetic assortment of high-energy genres, my classic Deep House two-step clearly had no place here, I felt elated by the great time everyone else was having around me rather than by the pretty abrasive content of the set itself. Next it was off to Avicii on the main stage, who played a crowd-pleasing compilation of uplifting ‘Levels-esque’ bangers plus some exclusive bootlegs, with luminary Dutch DJ Tiesto tasked with closing the show. As the enormous Electric Daisy lit up over a sea of smiling, fluro-painted faces to the sound of Trance classic ‘Silence,’ it was blindingly obvious that everyone in the audience had had a bloody great time.

Upon reflection, there’s no denying that running a festival of 50,000 dance mad revellers in inner city London must be a complete logistical nightmare but by some kind of operational miracle, EDC was absolutely seamless. After hosting the festival in several different cities prior to the London debut, the EDC team really do seem to have that whole big, brazen, lasers-everywhere-and-in-your-face festival vibe down pat. The best thing by far was the fact that EDC had tapped into the three most important priorities of any festivalgoer, which so many big corporate festivals continually get so wrong. Peeing, Water and LOUD. I never waited longer than 2 minutes for the bathroom, which was situated (by festival standards) in a rather luxurious, vom-free demountable and complimentary water stations were abundant. Furthermore, the stage sound quality was absolutely impeccable although being slightly close together, with the main stage blasting out beats with rib-shaking quality and volume.

Despite my deeply ingrained fear and rejection of all things EDM, a day out at Electric Daisy Carnival London far exceeded my expectations. It’s a no-brainer that well-executed logistics combined with an enthusiastic ‘we’re all here for the music’ vibe are the ultimate ingredients for a truly spectacular festival experience, both of which EDC London had in buckets. I certainly won’t be trading in my Sasha, Kolombo or August for the likes of Hardwell or Destructo, but my EDM cherry has been nonetheless efficiently popped. EDC London I salute you.

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