EDC Las Vegas Debuts A New Look with Surprise Sets Galore on Scorcher First Day

Despite significantly higher than average temperatures causing some concern, ravers from around the world poured into the Las Vegas strip this week in advance of Electric Daisy Carnival's flagship event. Anticipation had been visibly building all week, and as the sun set on Friday evening, shuttles (and helicopters) from every nook of Sin City descended onto the Last Vegas Motor Speedway.

The is still no more grand moment in rave culture than stepping through the grandstand of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and into the neon-laced galactic carnival of EDC, and what ravers found upon entry was an EDC with a whole new aesthetic.

Each individual stage has been upgraded so much that they all have the scope and gravity of main stages. The KineticFIELD ditched the gothic cathedral look from last year for a design built around a gargantuan Mayan-steampunk owl face, with lightning colored eyes blinking ominously under furrowed brows.

Early sets by Benny Benassi and Afrojack got the masses, but Oliver Heldens, gently leading the main stage-set towards deeper stylings, woke the place up with his rangy brand of future house.

The BassPOD is no longer a pod at all, but rather a cauldron surrounded by industrial-looking satellites with LED screens and the occasional bout of pyrotechnics. EDC perennial Andy C gave the skank-happy crowd what they needed in what was quite impressive staging. Earlier in the night, Trollphace b2b Getter had blown the place's electricity out, but the stage recovered and kept it heavy all night.

Over at the NeonGARDEN, EDC's traditional home for techno, Dusky showed the true breadth of their class and versatility by nestling the crowd in with a mix of deep house and driving techno. The night's main course was Carl Cox and Loco Dice trading off the decks for five hours straight. It was techno heaven.

Fatboy Slim was a highlight at the expanded CircuitGROUNDS. He bookended a wonky acid house salvo with Talking Heads and Steve Aoki, further proving that he can do whatever he wants as long as he has a happy face.

An unfamiliar name on the CosmicMEADOW lineup was Louis B, but some digging (and a little common sense) found him to be none other than Bromance boss Brodinski. Unfortunately, not many at the fest seemed to have figured it out, because he played a rousing late set to a shockingly small audience.

Kaskade rang in the morning with a surprise Redux set on the Mayan art car, during which he played all number of deeper and weirder cuts from within his vault.

With Day One officially done and the ravers of Las Vegas hopefully tucked away in an air conditioned hotel room bed, we'll see if the festival's stellar opening dance will continue long into the weekend and the history books.

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