EDC 2018: This Time Without the Heatstroke

EDC 2018: This Time Without the Heatstroke

Another year, another 3 nights of people wandering through the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to listen to their favorite DJs perform across 8 different stages and a few art cars. If you’ve never heard of Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival, or EDC, let me give you a quick rundown. It’s a 3 day festival similar to Coachella minus the sunlight and cultural appropriation and with way more wub wubs and untz untzs.

The event started as a festival in LA but was eventually sort of banned by the city because LA doesn’t take kindly to the image of kids overdosing on MDMA. Which is what happened in 2010. Because of the controversy, EDC was moved to Las Vegas the year after where it’s been held at the end of June at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway ever since.

If anyone has ever been to Vegas at the end of June, you’ll know that that time of year is hot. Not, like, hot. Like, HOT HOT. Not even the fact that EDC starts at 7 PM and ends at 5:30 AM saved attendees from literally bathing in their own sweat 10 minutes after getting in. Trust me. I was there last year. It was like walking through a pizza oven without the delicious pizza. And don’t even get me started on the traffic. Unless you like to spend 3 hours going 20 miles, you would have hated life. Sure, you could take a helicopter there, but that would require, I don’t know, money?

I mention these things because, this year, EDC decided to hold the festival a month earlier in May AND offer camping options. This made all the difference in the world. For one, there was finally a breeze at night that didn’t feel like the heat from Satan’s breath. Two, the guinea pigs who purchased the camping option this year lessened the traffic on the 15 and Las Vegas Blvd. It still took a long time to get to the speedway, but I only hated life half as much.

There were some issues with campers getting into the festival when it opened like 8 hour wait times combined with sometimes non-functioning showers, but look how happy they were. Not even a severe sunburn can get them down.

I’m going to leave most of the performances to the music sites and, instead, am going to give you a rundown on the festival itself.

Highlights and lowlights from EDC 2018

• Thanks to nice Vegas policeman who gave us a police escort when we couldn’t find the correct parking lot entrance FOR 2 HOURS because everything was blocked off!
• No thanks to a couple of the gate people who kept sending us to the wrong gates.
• Were there always this many Ferris Wheels? I counted 3. That seems a little excessive.
• Hey, you could actually navigate through the crowd at the main stage this year and, as a bonus, you didn’t have to rub up against other people’s sweat.
• There was a man passed out on a blowup doll. It was both sweet (because true love can be found at EDC) and alarming (because he looked dead and the ambulance had to come).
• Yellow Claw brought out Bhad Bhabie which made someone I was with say with a confused expression, “This is weird. Let’s go.”

@YELLOWCLAW brought out @BhadBhabie onto EDC. Wtf just happened pic.twitter.com/47HITHzEmy

— Rafael silva (@_Rafaelsilva23) May 20, 2018

• The Binches, which includes Kayzo, Yultron, Ookay and Dotcom (aka Marshmello), brought out Marshmello during their performance. So meta.

• In typical Post Malone fashion, Post came half an hour late, had mic problems during the beginning of his set and ran into someone else’s set. Fans still loved him because drugs, probably.
• Don’t skip Black Tiger Sex Machine or you’ll be pretty sad.
• This hula hooping girl was THE highlight of the weekend.

Final verdict

So, now that EDC has moved to a cooler time of year, offers camping and, from what I hear, improved their shuttles, should you consider going? Well, do you like that damn electronic music all the kids listen to these days and do you not mind surviving on barely any sleep or not even remembering what DJs played what because all the music eventually melds together to make one giant blob of sound? Then yes, yes you should. Otherwise, stay home and stream it on YouTube where you can poop in an actual bathroom.

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