Electric Daisy Carnival 2012

A final funhouse tour of EDC Night 3

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Electronic Music Artist Dirty South performs during the final night of the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday night/Monday morning June 11, 2012.
Photo: Steve Marcus
Sarah Gianetto

Fan Fair

There’s a joke among my friends that I’m a Nic Fanciulli stalker, having caught his sets numerous times in Miami, as well as in Las Vegas, Scottsdale and the funniest accident: Lima, Peru. I have even been embarrassingly thrown into him on stage by The Shapeshifters in San Diego. Nobody believes me when I say the only crush I have is on his music; It’s not my fault that he happens to be cute.

2012 EDC: Day 3

2012 EDC: Aerial Views

Although I am tempted to hop up and say “Boo!,” tonight I will be staying on the Cosmic Meadow for the one DJ set that I will dance to from beginning to end. A giant camera boom sweeps above the heads of the crowd, and fire shoots from the tops of the scaffolding, heating up the otherwise coolest outdoor spot on the grounds. The wrong name is projected on the giant LED behind him until Fanciulli notices a few songs later and alerts somebody. Joris Voorn was listed on the schedule as performing with him, but this turns out as a solo set. There’s no confusion from me, though—I know that face and I know that sound, and I am booty shakin’ to one of my top 5 faves.

It’s a carnival, after all

It seems like a good time for a romantic and scenic Ferris wheel ride with Boyfriend J, so we hop in the (thankfully) short line amidst a giant Rubik’s cube and chess set, a life-sized unicorn in a pond with a rubber ducky on its rear and other VIP garden oddities. Once we ride to the top, I alternate from height-nervous squeals to oohs and ahhs at the view of Kinetic Field, where Dirty South is bangin’. Also “bangin’”—and ruining any possible romance—is the e-tard in the car next to us (then below us … then above us), who is rocking the entire ride with his bunny-like thrusts into a girl. My disgust fades as I’m distracted by paratroopers glittering their way down from the sky.

On the way out, we hit the mirror funhouse maze thing. It looks super lame, but the line is short, so why not? I enter to find warped mirrors, so, of course, I stand there snapping pictures of myself looking silly. When I start the actual maze part—which is totally clear, whereas the fun mirror part is not—I see that the line has gotten much longer, everyone is watching and they don’t look too happy with me, because only one person is being let in at a time. I exit in about 30 seconds, and Boyfriend J reports that people were laughing, saying that I must be drunk and stuck inside. Drunk on Instagram, maybe …

Boom goes the dynamite

It’s primetime at EDC, and navigating certain areas has become much more difficult, but I’m curious to see the madness at the largest stage. I grab some Band-Aids from a handy medical team member for my blisters, follow the road signs posted sporadically throughout the grounds, stop to snap a picture of some bees on stilts and swim through a sea of potentially 55,000 people at Kinetic Field. Avicii is ending his set with—sigh—“Levels” (RIP, Etta James … if you can). Performers transition, and things get a little quieter as our eyes turn upward for the second fireworks show I’ve seen tonight. This one is even bigger and better!

Armin Van Buuren takes over for his second set of Night 3 after last night’s was canceled due to the winds (he continued spinning and broadcasting from the ASOT trailer, anyway, and some say he and Markus Schulz saved the night). Between the booming and crackling spheres, hearts and daisies in the sky, bursts of fire along the circumference of Kinetic Field’s massive LED rigs, flashing video synced to Armin’s music, with lyrics onscreen aiding an insane amount of people singing along, the spectacle here is in full swing. A billboard in the background reads, “Insomniac Loves You.” I love you, too!

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