Wrap-up: Why trek to the Electric Daisy Carnival in LA?

By Deanna Rilling

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 | 5:10 p.m.

History was made last weekend at the Electric Daisy Carnival at LA’s Exposition Park and Memorial Coliseum and Las Vegans played a part.

Total attendance for June 25-26 came in at 185,000, including a Saturday sellout of 100,000 people — the largest single-day attendance for a music festival in the U.S. (yep, more than Coachella, Bonnaroo, etc). And people from Las Vegas are to thank for increasing those ticket sales.

Yet with EDC headliners such as Swedish House Mafia, Infected Mushroom, Chuckie, Afrojack, Laidback Luke, Benny Benassi gigging the same weekend in Vegas — not to mention the attendance of other DJ/producers that regularly spin in Vegas — why bother heading to California?

“I come to EDC for the vibe and the energy,” said Tao/Lavo’s Jason McCormack, whom I randomly ran in to at the Festival. Coincidentally, the Coliseum was wallpapered with fliers for the Beatport Party at Tao Beach, also sponsored by Insomniac.

“You can see them all in one spot,” said Las Vegan Vanessa R. (who declined to give her last name, as many attendees were playing hooky from work to attend the event), speaking of the DJs at EDC. “You don’t have to travel around to different clubs all night.” Added Alexis N., “It’s less money to attend and way more variety of people.”

“It’s the atmosphere, the good vibe here, and there’s no stuck-up club people,” said Michael L., who also traveled from Vegas.

“The trailer sold me,” said Jessica H. who drove from Vegas to attend both days of the festival. “It’s the biggest party of the year — the amount of stage shows, production and lighting is phenomenal.”

However, some media outlets are choosing to focus only on the negative side of EDC. Multiple reports cite that more than 100 people were hospitalized for injuries/drug-related issues. Sadly, 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez later died at the hospital of suspected drug-related complications (it clearly stated on EDC’s website age restrictions were “16+ or must be with legal guardian”; no word on how she got in to the festival or if her parents were aware she was attending prior to the incident).

This isn’t the world’s first casualty at a major music festival, but it appears electronic-music culture is an easy target for sensationalism, as has been the case for decades. Though in my opinion and after studying the culture for years, banning events of EDC’s nature will only revert electronic music fans back to using illegal and unsafe venues without proper security, safety precautions and a lack of on-site professional medical assistance.

Overall, the 14th Electric Daisy Carnival fostered a sense of community and provided a positive experience for dance music fans from around the globe aiming to celebrating Peace, Love, Unity, Respect and Responsibility.