Music

Familiar faces reign over EDC 2015 lineup

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DJ Tiesto during Night 2 of the Electric Daisy Carnival on Saturday, June 22, 2013, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/ErikKabik.com

Insomniac employed a very clever mechanism for delivering the lineup for Electric Daisy Carnival 2015. Instead of just releasing the roster via the usual lineup poster, it released a code last night that fans had to decipher, followed by a lineup poster with all the acts written in that code. The Internet descended upon and made short work of the poster, and voilà—we had a lineup for the June 19-21 event 12 hours before any traditional announcement or press release.

If only Insomniac were half as innovative with the lineup itself. Many of the notable names on the hefty list—listed in full below, and with additions to come, according to Insomniac—are old hat to EDC veterans and Las Vegas clubbers. To wit: Tiësto will play his fifth EDC Las Vegas in a row, as will Afrojack. Fellow regulars Calvin Harris, Kaskade, Hardwell and Armin van Buuren will also return.

It’s not just EDM déjà vu—several bass music and house DJs from previous EDC Las Vegas lineups also resurface, which is a little confounding given the growing visibility of both those scenes. Techno act Umek will log his fifth local EDC, and Excision, Camo & Crooked and John Digweed will have played four of them.

Insomniac has routinely underplayed the importance of the musical performers it books, claiming it’s the attendees who are the real headliners. But relying on so many previous participants means risking fatigue among attendees and gives the impression of a half-hearted curation, especially when EDC's competitors have shown a more discernible evolution by comparison. Miami’s Ultra Music Festival in March (which can also be guilty of rebooking) now has a considerable slate of live headliners to complement the DJs, and in eight years Hard Summer Music Festival in August has quickly grown from being a niche event to drawing over 80,000 a day in Los Angeles, the city from which EDC exiled. In fact, with zero artist overlap between EDC and Hard's upcoming event—and rampant talk of stringent no-compete clauses suggesting performers could only play one fest or the other—has the former, now in its 19th year, lost some of its booking might to the up-and-comer?

Still: There’s gold to be mined in the EDC 2015 roster if you’re a fan of electronic dance music. It locked down relevant and rising names like Flume, Galantis, Disclosure (albeit a DJ set) and Duke Dumont, the latter being one of the few a) live performers at EDC and b) international hitmakers to resist the lure of Vegas clubland. Mark Knight, another infrequent presence in the 702, will also bring his live show to the Speedway.

There are a handful of back-to-back (and back-to-back-to-back) teamings flecked throughout the poster, including a pairing of Green Velvet and Claude VonStroke. The oft-ignored soulful side of house gets representation by veteran Dimitri From Paris. German techno legend Chris Liebing will make his EDC Las Vegas debut, as will Moby, who mysteriously dropped off the 2012 lineup (though it’s uncertain whether he’ll perform a DJ or live set).

Also notable: Insomniac remains committed to its Basscon stage, given the hardstyle genre’s sizable representation here. There’s also a healthy compliment of newbies and under-the-radar names who are easily overlooked in initial lineup scans and worth investigating online. And those hoping to cheer on a fellow local will be able to check out EDM/mash-up DJ 3LAU, who made his EDC debut last year at the gigantic Kinetic Field stage.

The current lineup:

12th Planet

3lau

4B

Aaron Jackson

Above & Beyond

AC Slater

Adrenalize

Adventure Club

Afrojack

Alesso

Alex Kidd

Alison Wonderland

A-Lusion

Aly & Fila

Amine Edge & DANCE

Andrew Rayel

Andy C

Angerfist

Armanni Reign

Armin van Buuren

Art Department

Arty

Astrix

ATB

Audien

Audiotistic Stage

Audiotricz

AVICII

AWE

Baggi Begovic

Basscon

Bassnectar

Bassrush Experience

Benny Benassi

Bingo Players

Bixel Boys

Black Sun Empire B2B State of Mind

Bones

Breach

Breathe Carolina

Brennan Heart

Brillz

Burn Unit

Calvin Harris

Camo & Krooked

Carl Cox & Friends

Carnage

Catz ‘N Dogz

Chris Liebing

Chris Lorenzo

Chuckie

Cookie Monsta B2B FuntCase

Coone

Cosmic Gate

Crisis Era

Crizzly

Da Tweekaz

Dada Life

Dannic

Danny Avila

Darksiderz

Darren Styles

Dash Berlin

Datsik

D-Block & S-Te-Fan

Definitive

Deorro

Dieselboy

Dimitri From Paris

Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike

Disclosure (DJ Set)

Discovery Project

DJ EZ

DJ Jazzy Jeff

DJ Snake

Dom Dolla

Dr. Fresch

Dubfire

Duke Dumont (Live)

Dusky

Dyro

Dzeko & Torres

Eats Everything

Ed Rush & Optical

EDX

Eptic B2B Habstrakt

Eric Prydz

Excision

Fallen

Fatboy Slim

Ferry Corsten

Firebeatz

Flosstradamus

Flume

Flux Pavilion

Freedom Fighters

Friction

Funk House

Galantis

Getter

Gladiator

Graham Funke

Grandtheft

Green Velvet & Claude VonStroke: GET REAL

Hardwell

Hook N Sling

Hotel Garuda

Ilan Bluestone

Isaac

Jack Beats

Jackal

Jason Bentley

Javi Row

John Digweed

Jon Rundell

Justin Martin

Kaskade

Kasra B2B Foreign Concept B2B Enei

Kastle

Kayzo

Kennedy Jones

Keys N Krates

Kicks N Licks

Kidnap Kid

Kiesza

Kove

Krewella

Kry Wolf

Lady Faith

Laidback Luke

Laxx

Leiel

LNY TNZ

Loco Dice

Lookas

LOUDPVCK

Low Steppa

MAKO

Mark Knight presents Toolroom Live

Markus Schulz

Martin Garrix

Martin Solveig

Metrik

MitiS

Moby

Motez

MOTi

Myon & Shane 54

Neelix

NGHTMRE

Nicky Romero

Noisia

Oliver Heldens

Ookay

Orjan Nilsen

Pan-Pot

Party Favor

Petey Clicks

Popeska

Posso

Pretty Lights

Protohype

Psyko Punkz

Pulsatorz

Ran-D

ROYL

Saeed Younan

Sander van Doorn

Sasha

Seven Lions

Showtek

Sigma

Sinden

Skism

Slander

Snails

Speaker of the House

Steve Angello

Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano

TC

Technoboy

The Upbeats

Thomas Gold

Tiësto

TNT

Tokimonsta

Tommy Trash

Trent Cantrelle

Troll Phace

Troy Kurtz

Tuneboy

Umek

Vena Cava

Victor Calderone

Wilkinson

Wuki

Yellow Claw

Zomboy

Z-Trip

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