On Saturday June 11^thInsomniac and Triad Dragons brought back the 4^th Annual Electric Daisy Carnival Denver to the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds for what was sure to be its best event yet. A star studded lineup that spanned 4 stages and included Ferry Corsten, Axwell, Sander Van Doorn, Kaskade, Bart B More, Z-Trip and many more, brought thousands of eager fans to the rural fairgrounds for a full day of EDM action. StopBreatheBump would like to thank Insomniac and Triad Dragons for granting us press access to this fantastic event. We absolutely loved every second of our first Electric Daisy Carnival!

The gates opened to the public at 3pm and many small groups of die hard partiers posted up all around the grounds enjoying the late day sun and music being provided by the smaller local DJs opening up the event. Being that is was an Electric Daisy Carnival and having seen pictures of past events at the LA Coliseum, I somehow had built up the expectation that it would be an honest carnival…it was not. When I arrived and saw the limited selection of rides and alternate attractions I was disappointed to be honest. But I quickly snapped out of it remembering what I had come for…MUSIC. Over the next couple hours I wandered around dipping in and out of the many stages sampling the sounds and soaking in the many typically tacky raver outfits.

Being that the acts I really looked forward to were not playing until the night portion, I tried to broaden my horizons and forced myself to endure multiple extended doses of dubstep throughout the afternoon. It was a half-hearted attempt to understand and maybe even appreciate this surging genre that has quite a large following here in the western half of the US. Despite my attempts I could not…in fact it just made me think of someone with touretts having an epileptic seizure and trying to produce music at the same time. It has no flow or continuity, just bursts of loud abrasive overproduced sounds that push me to want nothing but silence. I’m not trying to be a hater mind you, I am just unable to understand or appreciate it and I don’t think that will ever change. I would have much preferred some nice relaxing low BPM techno as a substitute for the large volume of dubsteb, but don’t think many would echo my sentiments as the dubstep acts drew by far the largest crowds throughout the daylight hours.

Of the acts I sampled throughout the afternoon EKG, Dragon and Jontron, Sergio Santanaz, Upgrader and Hycloud were my among my favorites with their more traditional dance offerings. EKG especially caught my attention with a set that in some ways reminded me of Funkagenda at BETA. Dishing out a nice blend of techy electro beats and heavy big room house drops that were pulling people from their seats to warm up their dancing shoes.

After hours of absorbing all the sights, sounds and tastes the event had to offer (including a mighty tasty corn dog) I made my way back to Kinetic Field with absolutely no intention of leaving until the dust had settled.

When I arrived I was able to catch the last half of LA Riots, a group that I had yet to see live. This duo have created a sound of their own spearheading the indie electro movement and have maintained their underground dance credibility despite taking on remix duties of some of the largest pop and alternative rock artists in the world. Although it wasn’t jaw dropping I really enjoyed their set especially the remix of the classic Moby – GO. Using the original vocals and chords, they provide a very current and updated version utilizing today’s sounds of minimal techno, tech house and house. It gave me the techno fix I had been looking for all day and perfectly set the stage for the higher tempo electro/techno sounds of Bart B More. Without question Bart provided the biggest surprise set of the day. His sound was so unique and his technical skills so adept that it truly was a spectacle to behold. He brought a crazy energy to the stage that was contagious and translated to an enormous response from the crowd, myself included. He tactfully worked from track to track mixing in massive tunes of his own like ‘Brap!’ while also sneaking in some lower tempo and lesser known electro treats for your dancing pleasure, all containing a unique drum and snare sound that breaks away from the traditional ‘unce unce’ of dance music. In just one hour he shot from barely known to squarely on my radar. I insist that all electro lovers go out and see this crazy bastard for a most enjoyable ear rupturing experience.

Following Bart B More came the contrastingly vocal and calm sounds of Kaskade. He has never been a huge personal favorite but I have always appreciated the melodic consistency of his music, and on this night especially it provided a much needed respite after the assault of Bart B More. After 20 min of Kaskade I took the opportunity to make run to the restrooms in preparation for the final 4 hours of the night and made it back in time to hear him close his set as I had heard him do at Electric Zoo Festival… playing his gorgeous collaboration with Dead Mau5 ‘I Remember’.

Always a crowd pleaser, Sander Van Doorn came on after Kaskade and delivered a very solid set chock full classics, recent releases and tracks from his upcoming Dusk ‘till Doorn compilation. One my personal favorites was his mashup of Renegade vs. Kernkraft 400. The techy and progressive intro of Renegade blended perfectly with the build up of the classic trance anthem and when it dropped it sent the crowd into a frenzy. The second highlight track of his set was when he unexpectedly closed out with yet another trance anthem, Energy 52 – Café Del Mar. Hearing such legendary tunes at events like this is rare, as DJs are always trying to push their own recent productions and material signed to their labels. The only other time I heard this tune played live was when Armin Van Buuren unleashed it in the midst of his Back 2 Back set with Markus Schulz at Amnesia Ibiza last summer…it was magical, and Sander brought back that same magic on Saturday. (For those of you who were not lucky enough to be in attendance, make sure to check out the videos I took at the bottom of the page.)

As Sanders set came to an end I glanced to the edge of the stage and saw none other than Axwell waiting in the wings with a handful of air-horns and my excitement level for the whole day peaked. I began having flashbacks of my first Axwell experience in Zrce, Croatia last summer – which was one of those sets I will never forget. Axwell has an uncanny ability to connect with fans and shares the same level of excitement and energy for playing as the fans do for hearing his music. This, in combination with the genre breaking style of music that he and his Swedish House Mafia counterparts have trademarked over the past couple years makes for the stuff of legend and is guaranteed to send any dancefloor into a state of meltdown. This trademark sound artfully brings together the best core elements of house, progressive, trance and techno into an undescribable force that every single dance music fan can appreciate (as can be seen by the unprecedented success of their track ‘One’ last summer). I hoped and hoped that he would deliver on a similar level and without question he gave the fans on the Kinetic Field the show-stopping set of the entire event.

Axwell took to the decks and immediately brought the tempo up with a funky house track on steroids that I had never heard before. It was good, VERY GOOD, and the crowd began to undulate in unison as every person in the tent was giving it everything they had. He slowly began to mix the track down and in the background you could faintly hear the lyrical intro by Tinie Tempah for ‘Miami 2 Ibiza’ and then the music cut out. Axwell grabbed the microphone and in his trademark style addressed the crowd further building the aniticipation for what was to come. I can’t recall exactly what he said to open, but am certain it ended with “Lets Fucking Do This!” and the meltdown event was on. As if his taunting was not enough he reached for the airhorns just as the monster track dropped giving the moment as much energy as he possibly could. From then on, the set passed by in a blur of pure Ibiza style pandemonium.

He would bring up the musical energy as high as possible, then flip the switch back down to a very funky danceable level and even mix in a couple hand in the air sing alongs. His track selection was impeccable, knowing just what the crowd wanted from moment to moment while always giving them a chance to recharge their batteries for the next Fukushima level eruption. The set included his Grammy nominated remix of Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition, Pendulum – The Island Pt 1 (Steve Angello & AN21 remix), Funkerman – Otherside, Axwell – Teenage Crime, Axwell – In the Air, and my absolute favorite was his mashup of Adele – Rolling in the Deep vs. Axwell & Thomas Gold – Blow Up vs. Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams. The combination of old dance, pop appeal and the funky/hard Swedish House Mafia sound was pure bliss and certified BANGER material. All in all he murdered it, plain and simple, making the preceeding Sander Van Doorn look like a mid level DJ instead of a world Top 10.

Closing out the night after Axwell’s epic display was none other than Ferry Corsten. Realizing the world class performance he was following Ferry started off on a high note with his recent hit ‘Feel It’. The crowd responded well but it quickly became clear they would not reach the meltdown level Axwell had attained. Ferry continued on with a usual mix of his classics and new releases until the end including ‘Beautiful’, ‘Made of Love’, ‘Punk’ and ‘Coldplay – The Scientits (Maarten De Jong bootleg)’. I will note that he played one or two much darker progressive tracks branching out from his traditional style, and I hope that they were a taste of upcoming summer releases. I have been trying to locate some ID’s but have yet to find them. They by all means could be tracks signed to his Flashover record label but at this point it is unknown to me. Check out the Ferry – ID video below and if you know the track please drop us a line here at StopBreatheBump. In the end it was not Ferry’s best performance but it was certainly sufficient to give the night a nice trance in your pants ending.

Overall, the 4^th Annual Electric Daisy Carnival Denver was a fantastic event with a little bit of everything for the fans to enjoy. The LED lighting displays at all of the stages were dull to say the least during the day but as night swept over the event they came to life and provided a great visual supplement to the music. I was a little disappointed that there were no lasers to be found, but that seems to be the direction that most clubs and events are trending towards these days. The sound quality was good but it could have been a touch louder if you ask me. I will admit though that the physical layout of the fairgrounds and proximity from tent to tent may have limited sound levels to keep from ruining the sound everywhere. My only real gripe about the whole day was the lack of organization with respect to traffic control at the end of the night. I promptly ran to my car in an attempt to beat the rush but despite my efforts was stuck in the parking lot for well over an hour before I made it to the road. Although it was a pain in the ass it certainly did not suck enough to detract from the great event.

Before signing off I would again like to thank Insomniac and Triad Dragons for providing StopBreatheBump access to this wonderful event and we do look forward to doing it all over again at Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas and Global Dance Festival!!