This weekend, New York will be facing a hurricane by the name of Irene. Next weekend, it will be windswept by a storm of an entirely different breed (and yes, I know I'm probably not the first to make that joke): Electric Zoo, taking place on Randall's Island on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 2, 3, and 4. I, for one, will hardly have recovered from my September 1 movein in Cambridge, MA. There is a reasonable chance that I will have slept in a U-haul the night before. But despite these handicaps, I will arrive ready to rage for three days straight. I will hop onto that ferry with the energy of six heavily-caffeinated Alyces pulsing through my veins. And then, I will do these things:
On Friday, I think that my most highly anticipated artist is Feed Me. I've heard he puts on a really fun live show, and since I've never seen him before, it'll be novel (not to mention he's got some really solid tracks up his sleeve). Despite having seen Rusko a few times before, I know he knows how to bring the party, and I'm hoping the overlap between his set and Feed Me's will not be too severe so I can catch some of both and bro out with the bro-est of the bros. On the more chilled-out side of dubstep, I'm sad I'll be missing Egyptrixx because of my travel plans, so you should try to catch that set so I feel less shitty about it. SebastiAn, on the same stage, as Egyptrixx and Feed Me, should also be a good time. Crookers and Martin Solveig will be headlining that same stage, and given what I've heard from both of them, I'm sure they'll bring it. AN21 and Max Vangeli's set, on the main stage with Rusko, will also be a great time without a doubt. I'd imagine MSTRKRFT would also be a solid way to spend your time.
Saturday, as far as my personal preferences go, is probably my least favorite day of the festival, but I welcome this as an opportunity to wander through the other things that Electric Zoo has to offer aside from music and catch sets that I might never otherwise see. Some acts that I am excited about include James Holden, SBTRKT, Daedelus, Sidney Samson and Porter Robinson. I guess I might even end up seeing Skrillex, if only because it seems like a box I need to check off at some point in my life as a fan of electronic dance music. There are a lot of good names floating around on the Saturday list, and I'm sure this will end up being a day of musical discovery.
Sunday is going to go hard. If you're still on the fence about attending or don't want to shell out the cash for a 3-day pass, this is the day I'd purchase a one-day pass for. My planned trajectory will take me to TOKiMONSTA on the Main Stage to start the day, and then I will likely spend the entire rest of the day at the Hilltop Arena to catch as much of Gramatik as I can, followed by MiMOSA, Big Gigantic, Excision & Datsik, Carte Blanche, Fake Blood, Jack Beats, Diplo, and Boys Noize. I'm honestly the most worried about when the hell I'm going to find time to pee. There are practically no holes in that lineup for someone looking to dance as hard as possible for as long as possible. There are certainly worthwhile things on other stages — Gui Boratto, Armin Van Buuren (I'm considering one last stage switch to see Armin over Boys Noize — what does Earmilk think?), Chromeo, and many more, but the Hilltop Arena seems to be the place to go for the highest dose of hard, heavy bass.
Will you be going to Electric Zoo? Who are you looking forward to seeing? Who are the hidden gems of Electric Zoo? This post was entirely from my personal perspective, so I'd love to hear about what Earmilk's readers are looking forward to! Catch you at the zoo, kids.
