After a two-year hiatus from COVID-19 closures, EDC Las Vegas exploded back into town. On Friday, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway lit up for a dazzling weekend of music commemorating the 10th Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas. The Respect My Region team had the honor of attending the 25th anniversary of this iconic EDM festival. This is truly the ultimate endurance trial of music festivals. With so much to take in, you need to pace yourself in order to see all of the amazing performers and drink in the intricate festival grounds and activities.
Over 150,000 dance music fans gathered each day to enjoy the newly expanded footprint of the 2021 festival grounds. Attendees could be seen exploring new art installations, viewing new stage designs, interacting with theatrical performers, and taking in epic fireworks and drone displays. The kineticZEN theme of the festival brought in fans to connect, reflect, and draw inspiration from the three-day event.
Amidst the 12-hour span of body-rattling bass and grooving house beats, there were ample opportunities to get on carnival rides for free, grab delicious food and drinks, and vibe out in the interactive art installations. If you had VIP access, there were even more sights to see and exclusive areas to explore. Here are some of the highlights from each night including favorite acts, best stages, celebrity appearances, best moments, and more.
Night 1
We were blown away we first came into the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday night. Coming through the entrance into the Speedway was like entering a different world filled with neon lights and thumping bass. The festival grounds were enormous, to the point that we quickly found the aid of a festival map. Each day at 5 pm, the first stage you see upon entry, CosmicMEADOW was the site of the Opening Celebrations. From 7 pm-5:30 am, the music and festivities were under way.
Some of the craziest performances we saw on the first night were at bassPOD. This became a favorite spot for the rest of the festival. If you like headbanging—this was your stage. On Friday, Sullivan King, Jauz B2B Peekaboo, and NGHTMRE threw down insanely heavy sets. Over at cosmicMEADOW, Zhu, Flosstradamus, and Wuki were spinning pure heat. circuitGROUNDS had show-stopping sets from Dom Dolla, Alison Wonderland, and Excision. At the main stage, kineticFIELD, Loud Luxury, The Chainsmokers, Alesso, and Seven Lions put on brilliant performances. ILLENIUM even did a surprise takeover of the Forest House Art Car, as well as Alison Wonderland’s House set at the parliamentARTCAR.
Well into the evening, there was an epic drone show featuring over 600 drones soaring over the sky forming a giant owl and celebrating 25 years of Electric Daisy Carnivals. You could see people stopping in their tracks during sets to gaze up into the sky in sheer awe. This display came every night and drew mass attention each time.
Night Two
We came ready for night two of EDC Las Vegas to take in more of the amazing art installations and features that the festival had to offer. It’s worth noting that each stage had a VIP section for festivalgoers. They could either comfortably view the enormous stages from terraced balconies, or from a gated area right up in front of the stage depending on the stage. Some of dance music’s brightest stars made up the second evening of EDC LV.
This was also the night that a lot of surprise performers made appearances. Diplo brought out Lil Nas X on the cosmicMEADOW stage to perform “Industry Baby,” “Old Town Road,” and “Montero.” Then, DJ Snake brought out the Kid Laroi at kineticFIELD after the fireworks show to perform “Stay.”
Aside from catching the main headliners, we had other acts on our agenda. At circuitGROUNDS, we caught amazing sets from Benny Benassi, SLANDER, Martin Garrix, Deadmau5, and Jauz. We also saw Vini Vici throw down at quantumVALLEY. Gryffin, Louis the Child, and Whethan destroyed their sets at cosmicMEADOW. It’s worth mentioning that there was always a booming set coming from the rynoBUS whenever we passed by. Of course, we came by bassPOD to catch DJ Diesel, SVDDEN DEATH, and Ganja White Night. Lastly, we had to catch some of Tiësto’s 10th set at EDC Las Vegas. He’s the only artist to have ever performed at all ten EDC Las Vegas events.
The fireworks came once again to light up the sky and turn everyone’s heads in amazement. On night two, the 600 drones formed some of kineticFIELD’s iconic stage designs over the years. These were kineticCATHEDRAL, kineticGAIA, kineticLOVE, and kineticENERGY. There was a beautiful new soundtrack that came on this night as well.
Night 3
The final night Under the Electric Sky was arguably the biggest and best. The Speedway lit up one last night to close out the 10th Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas. This night was the culmination of celebrating the return of live festivals, 25 years of EDC, and mindfulness with each other with kineticZEN. It’s crazy to think this year hosted over 200 of the world’s top dance music talents.
For the final show-stopping night, there were incredible performances from Zedd, Kygo, Rezz, Black Coffee, Eric Prydz, and more. Jauz and Slushii even came to throw down at the smaller Corona Electric Beach stage. We set out to see all of our favorite performers before the sun rose in addition to catching most of these unforgettable sets.
The first stop of the night was naturally bassPOD. The Sunday lineup was sheer madness, with crushing sets from Marauda, Herobust B2B Spag Heddy, and Subtronics. We nearly broke our necks headbanging in the VIP pit. kineticFIELD was the next stop, with mesmerizing performances from 3LAU and Kaskade. We then made our way over to cosmicMEADOW to see Zedd and Troyboi. Over at circuitGROUNDS, we were able to catch a solid chunk of Rezz and Snakehips’ sets.
We made it a point to go see our friends Neon Deluz perform over at parliamentARTCAR earlier in the night. The final act of the evening, SLANDER B2B Said The Sky at kineticFIELD was awe-inspiring. They brought the perfect combination of beautiful melodic dance music with heavy bass drops. After SLANDER and Said The Sky’s set, the Closing Ceremony at kineticFIELD wrapped up EDC Las Vegas beautifully.
Best Moments
Some of the best moments we had throughout the 10th EDC Las Vegas were at bassPOD. There’s something about headbanging side-by-side to enormous bass and dubstep that brings people together. This is definitely where we made the most friends that we ran into at other stages throughout the festival. The VIP area was set up right next to the GA pit, and the exchange of energy between the two sections was hair-raising.
Insomniac CEO/founder Pasquale Rotella could be seen on Night Two walking around with a crowd of eclectic people, which included Mike Tyson. Dillon Francis posted photos on his social media of him turning up in the crowd. The Marquee Skydeck also saw appearances from Pauly Shore, Drew Carey, and Brody Jenner. This is truly one of the biggest festivals in the world that attracts all kinds of key figures from both music and pop culture.
Pasquale Rotella, Founder/CEO of Insomniac Events
Downtown EDC Chapel
EDC Las Vegas even had two of its own chapels in Downtown EDC. All weekend, couples were able to go tie the knot. The Chapel of Nature and the Chapel of Technology offered legal unions, non-legal commitment ceremonies, and vow renewals. Love was in the air amidst the thrilling visual displays and unforgettable musical performances.
Camp EDC
This was the third year of Camp EDC offering attendees an even more exclusive and 24-hour experience throughout the weekend. There were daily daytime pool parties and post-festival afterparties with appearances from the likes of John Summit, Dom Dolla, and more. There were other activities available such as beauty stations and mindfulness experiences for campers.
Cannabis at EDC?
It’s legal to have up to an ounce of weed for personal use in Vegas. But the law only allows consumption on private property. Regardless, consumption was definitely not being prohibited, which we thoroughly enjoyed. You could easily find Insomniac’s giant blunt art installation advertising their new cannabis brand, RNBW, as well. The idea of buying name-brand weed from the festival you’re attending is starting to seem more realistic.
Thank You Insomniac Events!
EDC Las Vegas was an experience that the Respect My Region team will not soon forget. Considering this year’s expanded footprint, there were literally endless options of things to do. Coming to this festival with a firm plan of attack is the best way to take advantage of everything it has to offer. We can’t thank the Insomniac team for allowing us to come out and spend the weekend Under the Electric Sky. We hope to see you again next year for the 11th Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas.
