EDC: UK 2014

EDC UK

I almost didn’t even write this post because I was scared the outcome would be too negative and tarnish my idealistic views of Insomniac events. But I decided to write it anyway.

I have been to three Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas weekends. I have told countless people the positive impact of that festival on my life and I have convinced tons of people to come with me and experience it for themselves. Read my article recapping this year. I thought attending EDC in the UK would be similar, and somehow live up to the standards of EDC Vegas, perhaps it could be a small dose of the musical drug I’ve become slightly addicted to, but it was really the complete opposite.

I hated it.

I even took a nap half way through.

I’m not even going to try sugar coat this for you; I straight up hated it. There was a weird vibe lingering around the festival, which made me feel uncomfortable in the pit of my stomach. People were drunk, fucked up on any drug imaginable and barely paying attention to who was on stage. The amount of litter, drug baggies, plastic cups and vomit around me on the grass was absolutely disgusting and made me feel like I was back in the Vancouver Stanley Cup riot of 2011. We met a couple of people while we were there, girls wearing Hunter boots and guys wearing no shirts. But our friendship was short lived after they found out my friend and I were not drinking or doing any drugs that day and found it odd that we wouldn’t want to be getting fucked up.

Interesting.

The music was great as those DJs always are and the set up was pretty cool. The main stage had huge screens that stretched the entire outline of the main area and were filled with the same graphics to match those behind the stage. You could tell Insomniac put in the time and effort to create the same magical atmosphere as their other EDC’s, but it was nothing in comparison to Vegas. The smaller tents were still interesting and lined with huge names and the giant flowers in the middle of the common area were still as magical as that giant daisy of Vegas, but how can you compare to that daisy?

The festival initially started out as a two-day festival, which got cut to a single day. We’re still pretty confused on what the “logistical reasons” were. Was it not as popular as they thought? In an attempt to make money back, I was shocked to see the rides at EDC UK cost money. I wouldn’t normally make a deal of this but coming from EDC Vegas, which has numerous rides free of charge, was slightly alerting.

Maybe I’m being too cynical. This IS a festival on the other side of the world with a completely different cultivation of people. These are people with different values, ideas and ways of enjoying music. It’s unfair of me to say I hated it completely since this was my first real festival outside of North America (besides Ibiza). Maybe they just do it differently in the UK.

Overall I think what Insomniac is doing is wonderful. Spreading the idea and vision of EDC across the globe is a difficult task and Pasquale Rotella will always be my vote for president. I think this was just a wake up call for my idealistic views of what a music festival should look like. People are allowed to do it differently wherever they're from.

Not everyone has to be a unicorn like me.

Love,

Tabitha

Ta