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| Electric Daisy Carnival Dancers |
Insomniac hosts an another incredible experience in Puerto Rico
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| Dancers + Datsik = Awesome |
Popular DubStep Producer Set to Play Electric Daisy Carnival
If you haven't heard of SoundCloud, then you're in for a treat. According to their website, SoundCloud is the world’s leading social sound platform where anyone can create sounds and share them everywhere.
Recording and uploading sounds to SoundCloud lets people easily share them privately with their friends or publicly to blogs, sites and social networks.
An example of this slick sharing is the ability to embed a track on a website. Here is one of Datsik's latest, a remix of Linkin Park's "Until it Breaks." Very cool...
Linkin Park - Until it Breaks (Datsik Remix) by Datsik
Flipped through the paper this morning and to my delight, there was an advance copy of the map and layout for 2012 Electric Daisy Carnival in Puerto Rico. A quick check of the website, and I confirmed this map hasn't been posted there, so this is a web exclusive. Here's how they're organizing things:
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| Click for a larger view! |
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My teenage daughters do it. My 8 yr old does and I have to confess. I do it too!
After first hearing the punishing bass of the dubstep sound on ginormous outdoor festival speakers, DJ/producer Datsik was hooked like a junkie with his first hit. Ever since, Datsik has still been in search of that perfect high, playing with some of the top performers on the circuit, driven to create more and more boundary-pushing bass music.Thanks Spinner!
We live in an infinite marketplace. probably anything you can imagine, and much more, is already for sale over the Internet. One of the new successful business models for content is live performances. Creating scarcity, there's nothing like going in person and feeling the energy vibe. That's why these unique experiences are such good business.
Electric Daisy Carnival, by using multiple tiers or entertainment, the event appeals to it's audience in multiple senses and tastes. So what is EDS like? Speaking from a transmedia or software development perspective, the user experience for someone who attends Electric Daisy is something like this (photographs graciously provided by Caesar Sebastian via a Creative Commons license, great job mate!) :
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| Kick Ass Jams All Night Long! |
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| Choices. Where do you want your experience to go? |
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| Throw in mind bending special effects! |
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| Add a few hundred body thrashing revolutions. |
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| Step back and marvel at all the beautiful people having fun! |
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| Speaking of someone have the time of his life! I'm gorgeous! |
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| Raise the intensity X 100 and feel the bass! |
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| Until you feel like this! |
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| But remember to take a break every once in a while. Pace yourself! Enjoy! |
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| What it feels like at EDC!!! |
Researching the acts for EDC, I ran across this video from an indoor facility. Looking back on the satellite image, their are two large buildings on each side of complex. That's 2/3 of the stages, and a lot more room for the last stage plus carnival.
H8erz Live at Calvin Harris Muelle Panamerican
I bet this move is because September 15th is the peak of hurricane activity on the island. Last years EDC caught a break and we missed almost completely hurricane Maria in 2011. The field (except for Tito Puente Ampitheater) was a mud trap.
I bet Insomniac would prefer to go with a concrete and indoor based facility, like the Panamerican Pier, than take another chance on the weather. An actual hurricane hit would most likely be cancelled, but they would know whether to go for it or cancel it with days of notice. Setting up and breaking down in good weather and firm footing is critical to any show's profitability.
4th EDC Brings Dub Master @DatsiK to Puerto Rico
Real Name: ANDREW CLARKE Genre: Drum & Bass Real Name: BEN HALL & SIMON JAMES Genre: Drum & Bass Real Name: DANIEL BROWN & OLIVER PILE Genre: Dubstep
Genre: Dubstep
Real Name: TROY BEETLES Genre: Dubstep Genre: Dubstep Genre: Dubstep
Genre: Dubstep, Electro House 
Genre: Electro House
Genre: Electro House Genre: Trance Genre: Electro House, Indie Dance / Nu Disco Genre: House, Progressive House Genre: Progressive House Genre: House, Progressive House Real Name: FADIL EL GHOULD Genre: Electro House, Progressive House Genre: House Genre: House, Progressive House Genre: Electro House, Progressive House
Genre: Electro House, TechnoDubstep's "darkest and most robotic," "funkiest and most gangster," and "dirtiest" DJ is coming to EDC 2012!
For me as soon as I saw the line-up announced for Electric Daisy Carnival 2012, the name that jumped right out at me was DatSik. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure:
Just how many people can fit into the facility? Will it be enough?
Just take a quick look at this link for the ariel photography of the Panamerican Pier on the World Port Source: Panamerican Pier. Based on last year's reported crowd for EDC and Skrillex in Pablo Sixto Escobar in January, I'd guess at least 15,000 ravers will want to go to the carnival.
I don't know how much of the facility has been cleared, but it needs to host 3 stages, the rides, PLUS 15,000 raging ravers. Seems like too small of a location. Change of venues have been a common occurrence with festival like atmospheres. Both EDC 2011 and Skrillex changed venues, it all depends on us. Ticket sales will most likely drive the venue. So we'll see.
From the first booming bass notes that Skrillex dropped, it was clear that Puerto Rico was about to experience the best electronic dance rave, ever to happen on the isle of enchantment. It's hard to describe something that you never even thought was possible, but I'll try.
Sure, this was Skrillex, but I had never imagined a show could have that much energy, that much intesity, and be so enjoyable. Performing to a massive crowd, Skrillex is clearly leading the pack of techno/dubstep/drum and bass music.
The Show
Estimates by Skrillex on his Twitter feed put the audience inside Escobar Sixto stadium between 10 to 13 thousand people, and it felt like it. From the moment I got through security, I headed straight towards the front. I was determined to be close when Skrillex hit the stage.
The mass of humanity I had to struggle through was enormous. Once I got as close as I could Alvin Risk had finished most of his set and Zedd came on. It was pure insanity! Everyone down front was battling a crush of human flesh pressing down on us. Security staff were pushing back against of temporary steel walls. At times, I felt as if I was in a human compacting machine.
In my 30 years of concerts, I don't think I've ever felt so smashed. I've been smashed in many, many other ways. But this was something completely different.After Skrillex came on, I was literally struggling to stay on my feet. The air around us began to become heavy with evaporated sweat. To get a fresh breath of air, you had to tilt your head back and gasp for oxygen.
Some made, while others battled on. At one point, I had to help this one chick. She was shorter than most. And I could see, that she was struggling to survive, and she was about to lose. I helped her to the front to be rescued by the security staff.
After 4 of 5 songs, I decided that I had had about enough too. It was so hard to breath, and the constant shoving was getting bad. I had to get out! Thinking back, I should have just turned around and walked straight back, but I angled to one side. Big mistake!
I kept running into these temporary metal barriers. It must have taken me 30 minutes to finally reach the back of the crowd. It had been a struggle to get out, but I was clear. I was soaked from head to toe in sweat and massively dehydrated. I chugged a couple of $3 bottles of water, and chilled in the back of the stadium for a while
I kept thinking the show would end with me in the back, but Skrillex kept hammering out strong beats. After a while the energy caught up to me again, and I begin to creep to the front. While I kept hearing Skrillex say this was the last song, he kept playing and playing.
With each song, my energy rebuilt. I had caught my second wind and was heading in for more. A couple of pretties were making a break for the front too. I decided to tag on for the ride. Their good loooks caused guys to quickly part and we all slid to the front.
Skrillex finished the show with some new songs off his new EP "Bangarang"
Analysis
Skrillex in concert is different than just listening to his songs. His live show reflects a more fluid mixture of a lot of his music with what were probably improvisational transtions. One thing was clear, while I was close enough to see Skrillex, he was clearly having a blast. The audience was pumping him up and driving him on. He frantically swithed between his Machintosh, his mixing units while ocassionally lighting up a cigarette.
Again from Skrillex's Twitter posts, he could feel how much Puerto Rico appreciated the show. We poured our hearts into his perfomance and I know he could feel the love. He said so, as well, on Twitter.
Believe it or not, I think that Skrillex could have filled el Choliseo, but then it wouldn't have been rave, would it? With Electric Daisyland Carnival on tap later this year, we may need to find a rave location that can hold 25K or more crazy ravers.
I've been to a lot of shows, but I'd have to say that Skrillex's performance here in Puerto Rico has to be in my top ten. The music, the emotion, the BASS, the bowel shaking BASS, was an experience everyone should have.
I bet we'll see Skrillex back in puerto Rico soon. While he was here he did some skydiving and zipling in El Yunque, so I think it was a blast for him. If he does come back, I'll surely be there again. Will I chill out in the back or will I risk the gauntlet of thousands of crazed ravers? Time will tell and, as always, it always depends on just how smashed I'm willing to be. You know what I mean? Peace.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Having only one door in and one door to get out, really sucked. This was my first time inside Estadio Sixto Escobar and I'd say it was a shitty place to go to a rave.
[Editors Note] Ever since the show, I've been mostly on my back, sick. I wish I could have shared this earlier. But now that I've the strength, it's the first thing I'm writing. Believe me, it's been on my mind this whole time.
I'm really excited that 2012 will kick off with a loud rave courtesy of Skrillex, one of the hottest new DJs to enter the techno scene. On January 4th, 2012 Skillrex will take over the Muelle Panamericano in Puerto Rico, and turn it into a rave scene extraordinaire.
Coors Light is sponsoring this event, so we'll probably be only to buy that crap once inside. Whatever, this is going to be great. In addition to Skrillex, Zedd y Alvin Risk will be throwing down the big bass. Skrillex is part of a new generation of artists that refuses to be restricted by any pre-conceived notions or expectations.
I've heard some describe his music as what it must sound like when Transformers do it. And by do it, I mean hot Transformer on Transformer sex. Skrillex, himself, describes his sound as "a mix of dubstep, electro y glitch, all together."
Background
Like many people, I owe Steve Jobs. I owe him for restoring music back to my life. When I bought one of the first generation iPods back in 2004, it brought music back into my life. Over the course of about 10 years I had stopped listening to much music.
I, like millions of others, listened to only what the radio played or whatever CDs and tapes I carried around in my car. The iPod meant I could load all of my favorite music and listen to it on demand. It was like being rescued off of a deserted island. I couldn't believe how much I missed listening to the soundtrack of my life and not the sponsored soundtrack offered by some local radio stations. Music = Life!
Dubstep and Techno
I love music. I love finding new music. I love the Internet for making my search for new music a joy. So when I came across electronic or techno music I was in heaven. It was like a mash-up of some of my favorite instruments, styles, and sounds. For me, it becomes even more special when you consider that by electronic, much of the sound is coming from computers that are running part of the slow.
Last year when Electric Daisy Carnival came to Puerto Rico, I was kicking myself in the ass for a year, for not going. So when EDC came back in 2011, I was there and it far exceeded my wildest dreams. I hope they bring it back again in 2012, but thanks to this Skrillex event, we'll get our dubstep groove on early in 2012. Tickets are available in Ticketpop under the "baile" section, not conciertos. Go figure. It can't be both?
If you're going, be sure to stop by Puetro Rico's Skrillex Rave Supply Shop I've set up.