Hurricane Forecast EDC 2012 in Puerto Rico

With T minus 7 days and counting the long range hurricane forecast for Puerto Rico is looking good for EDC 2012.  With Leslie and Michael both heading north there are no hurricanes or tropical anythings heading towards Puerto Rico!

So it looks like all systems are a go for Electric Daisy Carnival launch next Saturday at 4:00pm.  Cue up the bass drops in 5, 4, 3, ...

Coors Light Puerto Rico Electronic Music Fest

I'm always shocked by how haphazardly events are thrown together and poorly advertised here in Puerto Rico. I literally just learned about this event yesterday, and it's tomorrow. Just in case you're like me, I wanted to share the details of the festival; it sounds like a good one.

Tomorrow, on the grounds of the Rio Grande Plantation, Eco Resort, Coors Light will host the Puerto Rico Electronic Music Festival. Featuring top electronic dance performers from Puerto Rico, the festival looks like it would be a lot of fun.

With three stages, the Lost Forest, the Groove Terrace, and the Bass Jungle, the festival has the setup for the ultimate rave. Literally on the footsteps of El Yunque, this festival has it all: hi-tech sound systems, light shows, special effects, and over 35 local acts.

I just wish that they had given everyone a little more time to hear about this one. I'm truly sorry I won't be able to attend, and at $15 a ticket, it would have been worth the drive and the $15 bucks just to experience a taste of the vibe. Of course, I bet they'll make up the low ticket prices with $4 beers and expense food kiosks! But still, 10 hours of tripping in the jungle to techno music; what could be cooler? More details can be found on the Coors Light Puerto Rico website.

Skrillex in Puerto Rico: Ultimate Rave

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" and of course he dropped "The First of The Year" Coincidentally, our Puerto Rico show was Skrillex's first show of the 2012, so that was pretty cool.

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.

Skrillex in Puerto Rico

What's a rave?

Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows.^[1][2] At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers. The genres of electronic dance music played include house, trance, psytrance, techno, electro house, drum and bass, breakbeat, dubstep, hardstyle and many others with the accompaniment of laser light shows, projected images and smoke machines. [From Wikipedia]

This latest video from Skillrex:



Who is Skrillex?

“I’ve been deep into electronic music my entire life. The first records I ever owned were ‘Fat of Land’ by the Prodigy and ‘Come To Daddy’ by Aphex Twin,” raves Sonny Moore, better known as emerging electronic visionary SKRILLEX. “Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails were also early influences. I’ve been dabbling in making electronic tracks on programs like Fruity Loops since I was 14 years old.”

Describing his current sound as “a mix of dubstep, electro and glitch all thrown together,” new SKRILLEX release “SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES” reflects all of the above and beyond. The uplifting post-trance synth melodies of “ALL I ASK OF YOU” (featuring the soaring vocals of Penny) stands in stark contrast to the face-melting electro bass blasts of the massive electro-dubstep hybrid “ROCK N’ ROLL (WILL TAKE YOU TO THE MOUNTAIN).”

“I’ve listened to so much music for so long, it’s more about instinct than influence,” Moore explains about his sonic inspirations. “Coming up, I was into a lot of artists on the Warp record label like Autechre, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin, so SKRILLEX tracks are inclined to have more changes than most dance tracks normally have. I can draw influences from almost anything. I just like to mess around and create cool new sounds and noises. I just go where the music takes me.”

After just one hugely successful independent release, “SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES” is the first SKRILLEX release on Big Beat Records, in conjunction with fellow electronic revolutionary Deadmau5’s freshly minted Mau5trap record label.

“For years, the artists needed the record labels. I don’t feel that way at all,” Moore stresses. “SKRILLEX has been 100% independent until now. I think it’s so important to be self-sufficient as an artist. Working with Atlantic / Big Beat, and cooperating with Mau5trap, allows us all to work as a team and expand on what’s already been built.”

Following its release on Beatport, the 9-song EP dominated the charts on the site, with the title track claiming the site's #1 slot (the first time a dubstep track has ever done so), 8 songs breaking into the top 10, and multiple tracks claiming the #1 slots on several of the site’s subgenre charts, including Dubstep, Electro House, Progressive House.

Aside from the immediate success of “SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES,” SKRILLEX has also made a name for himself as a highly sought-after remixer. He’s already produced officially commissioned remixes for such A-list artists as the Black Eyed Peas (“Rock That Body”), Lady Gaga (“Bad Romance” and “Alejandro”), and La Roux (“In For The Kill”).

SKRILLEX stands not only at the vanguard of electronic dance music, but the perpetually evolving new music industry as a whole.

“For me, it’s important to believe in and love the music you’re making. I gave away my first EP on my manager’s website, just so people could hear the music,” he enthuses. “It was downloaded by the thousands in just a couple of months, and it hasn’t let up since. That’s all the inspiration I need to keep making music.

“SKRILLEX can be anything I want it to be,” he continues hopefully. “There are so many different avenues for music now. Video games, movie scores — the possibilities are endless, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”