DAY ONE
We arrived in Harlem on a beautiful Friday afternoon. As soon as we stepped out of the car we heard the faint sound of the music drifting across the river. The 20 minute walk across the RFK bridge built the anticipation as we already felt the pulsating bass in our feet looking down at the island. Electric Zoo Eve was officially over and we had made it to the glorious day that each and every one of us had been anticipating for months. One of the greatest characteristics of events like Electric Zoo are the people it attracts from all across the globe. Last year we met a great friend from Argentina with whom we’re still in regular contact and spent the festival with again this year. We met many other new friends this year and hope to see them all again at shows in the future. So, thank you Made Event for bringing all of us like-minded music lovers together, it’s a really beautiful thing.
Gareth = As soon as I picked up our media pass I ran to the Hilltop tent to see the great Gareth Emery. I was immediately impressed with the improvements to the stage from prior years and the quality of the sound. The stage was technologically much more advanced, made up of a coordinated front DJ stage panel and large backdrop. There were also LED panels lining the ceiling of the tent that helped to create depth in the lighting effects. There was a camera on the crowd at each tent and silhouetted live-feed would occasionally flash up on the screens all weekend, making everyone feel that much closer and more involved in the shows. Gareth brought his usual brilliant arsenal of straight bangers, a few classics and some new gems. It was definitely a great kickoff to Electric Zoo 2011!
Markus Schulz = Markus Schulz is the King of Progressive Trance, driving you into a whirlwind of euphoric emotion with his powerful techy beats. He slowly builds into dirty, dark, pounding rhythms that make you put your hand over your heart to make sure it’s still beating, only to realize that the Markus-bass has taken over your body. He played perhaps one too many straight progressive tracks from his new Dakota album and we wished for a few more tent-destroying big room reconstructions, but all in all he still impressed the entire crowd and got everyone jumpin’.
Robbie Rivera = As dusk fell, Robbie Rivera and his lights squad transported us to another dimension. Rivera may have stolen the show for day 1 – a huge & pleasant surprise to us here at Stop Breathe Bump. His show was one of the most aesthetically pleasing sets we have seen, with innovative visuals comprising of a graphic journey through hilltops and sparkling lights, perfectly complementing his beautiful trancey chunes. His remix of Sweet Dreams blew our minds – we would definitely travel the world and the seven seas to follow this DJ.
Tiesto = I’ve been on the grind each and every day searching for a thorough playlist of Tiesto’s set because it was fucking RAD. He dropped some of the nastiest songs that I’ve ever heard and proved to me and everyone out there that he’s still got it. I have to admit, I’ve talked some shit about Tiesto in the past, but he shut me up reeeeal quick with bangers like the Tommy Trash remix of ‘Carry Me Home’ (Carry Me Home : Tommy Trash Remix – http://bit.ly/qqO8EK). He got us jumping after already having been on our feet for 10 hours. It sounded like he had transported himself back to his 20s partying in the Netherlands with his possy til the wee hours of the night. He really impressed the entire crowd with his unique eclectic mix of sounds combined with the absurdly breathtaking light show. He dropped ‘Escape Me’ from his Kaleidoscope album, and the Benny Benassi remix of Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘Otherside’ – Anthony Kiedis’ emotional voice is so powerful that it takes over your soul, body and mind – throw in some trancey drops to the mix & you have pure heaven.. Thank you Tiesto for making the trip and really bringing your A-game.
Day 2
After a nice slumber and some proper intake of fuel, we were ready for day 2. The weather was looking good so we hopped in the car and started to cruise over the George Washington bridge from mi casa in Jersey. We would have liked to arrive a little earlier than 2 pm but we had a lot of friends coming in for day 2 and wanted to meet up with all of them before the madness ensued. I must say, walking over the bridge and hearing the great Sander Van Doorn is quite a way to start the day!
Sander = With his typical high energy, dark beats he got the crowd jumping.. I never want the first act of the day to be the best (from a reviewer standpoint) because I want to have something to look forward to, so to speak. So, I wasn’t totally disappointed that Sander wasn’t on his A-game. We felt that he lacked some vocals and some variety, and didn’t take enough risks with his setlist. I mean, how many times can we hear ‘Coming Home’ without wanting to go home? We’re not here to bash anyone or to say that Sander isn’t a top-class DJ, but we had very high expectations after we saw what he did at Electric Zoo last year and how he destroyed Pacha at a recent show. This year just seemed a little bland, but hey, it’s good to see he’s human after all.
Andy Moor = I would put him up there with Markus and Above and Beyond after the tsunami that we saw devastate the dance floor. The shit that he threw down was straight rave material. Crazy progressive trance ruined souls for a good hour and a half with jams like ‘Fight the Fire’ and ‘The Theme’ by Cosmic Gate as well as ‘Punk‘ by Ferry Corsten. Here at StopBreatheBump we firmly believe that Andy is one of the best DJ’s in the world that you may never have heard of. His abilities across the board from productions to DJ’ing are world class and he reminded us all that he is not to be forgotten. It brought us straight back to when he showed us all whats up for the first time at LOVE NYC for ‘Classics Night’. It was one of those nights we will certainly never forget and played a huge part in forging what is sure to be a life long love affair with dance music.
Above & Beyond = A&B stole the hearts of everyone in the crowd and easily earned our top spot ranking for the entire weekend. Their energetic stage presence and inspirational messages throughout the set alone could have secured their place in our top 5, but since their music selection blew everyone else’s out of the water, we had to put them at #1.
They played a lot of their new stuff from Group Therapy, including the Kyau and Albert remix of ‘You Got To Go’, and we were happy to hear some old classics like ‘On A Good Day’, which brought us right back to the magical moments of the year before. Check out our vid of ‘Thing Called Love’ on our Youtube channel:
One of our favorite things about A&B shows is the careful selection of a vast variety of tracks that take you on a journey through all kinds of EDM, and our ears were certainly not disappointed as the sun set over the East River on this beautifully perfect Saturday afternoon. We cant wait to see them again and hope it will be sooner rather than later.
ATB = We left Guetta early because it was too electro-poppy for our tastes, and it seemed as if everyone on the island was packed into the Main Stage area, leaving no room to really enjoy the music. If I wanted to listen to the top 40, I would just turn on the radio, so instead of standing around I took action and headed to ATB. I knew his most recent album was stellar and he had some classic tunes, but I did not realize that his music library was this extensive. When he dropped ‘Rebound’ by Arty and Mat Zo I almost lost it. The sound was incredibly satisfying, and matched with the lights in the Hilltop tent it was ridiculously intense & mesmerizing. Crazy white and red lights consumed the shades of 1000′s of ravers as they geared up for what was sure to be a revolutionary Ferry closing set.
Ferry Corsten= After ATB I couldn’t imagine Ferry would be able to match the energy, but he hopped on to the decks and seamlessly took over. A smooth transition maintained the intensity in the crowd and gave him a platform to take things to an even higher level. I’ve always enjoyed listening to a killer uptempo track followed by a nice relaxing trance classic and Ferry simply performed his set to perfection. One of the most emotionally moving moments of the weekend was when he dropped the Maarten de Jong bootleg remix of ‘The Scientist’ by Coldplay. It was right in the middle of his set and gave everyone a break from dancing their faces off to just stand and soak in the beauty. A flawless blend of bangers and chillens each complimented the other perfectly and showed us why Ferry was chosen as the closing act to what was certainly the best day at the zoo.
Day 3
Day 3 is simply a measure of your love for EDM music… you have to be truly dedicated or you won’t make it through the 3 full days of festivities. That being said, even we couldn’t pull it together til Calvin Harris who started spinning at 4 pm, but after about 20 hours of dancing the previous 2 days we thought it would suffice. We were bummed to miss Super8 & Tab and Arty, but were also bummed their sets were scheduled as some of the first of the day.
Calvin Harris : Calvin Harris impressed us with a nice variety of tunes ranging from his very badass ‘You Used To Hold Me’ to some cool clubby remixes that touched the masses. I think he’s on a great track this past year and he’s improving his live performances. We got to hear some of his recent hits such as ‘Feel So Close’ and ‘Bounce’, both of which seemed to convert some of the Calvin-newbies in the crowd. We saw him @ Pacha NYC earlier this year and he impressed us there as well.
DJ Snoopadelic : There was some confusion and doubt in the crowd that Snoop was actually going to be the DJ.. ‘Why would Snoop be at Electric Zoo?’ we asked ourselves, and then bam! when we finally caught a glimpse of him (20 minutes late, but who cares, it’s S-N-double O-P) the crowd just went bananas. It was a nice change of pace from the EDM dominating our ear buds all weekend and some old school hip hop gave us a revitalizing boost. It was certainly an entertaining addition to the day, especially when he asked which side of the crowd could blaze up more smoke. We left after a couple songs, but we managed to capture a photo & video for your viewing pleasure:
Gabriel & Dresden: These two San Fran DJs have proven that taking time off from a group can result in bigger and better things. They spent their time apart doing individual projects and developing their own personal sound, and when they decided to start collaborating again, it seemed as if new life had been breathed into their work. We stuck around after Michael Woods in the almost unbearably hot Red Bull tent to see these two perform, and it was worth every drop of sweat. Their remix of ‘Promises’ by Andain has been one of my favorite songs for awhile and it was awesome to hear it live.
Armin Van Buuren: Armin was just OK.. He came out with a lot of melodic, old songs and, in my opinion, didn’t really match up to the show-stopping sets of Tiesto and Ferry Corsten. Towards the end of the set when he dropped ‘Outsider’ by Beat Service he picked up the energy & started to deliver what I am used to the #1 DJ in the world dishing out. However, he did close out an epic 3 day event with some fireworks and confetti which put a smile on everyones faces and drew the last remaining energy from the sea of ragers left standing.
I got a chance to meet & chat with several of the DJ’s.. Because of the extremely loud environment I didn’t try & record any conversations but they were all really outgoing, eccentric & genuinely nice people.. big thanks to MadeEvent for allowing us to meet with our favorite DJ’s.. here are some photos!
Dirty South
Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano
Max Vangeli & An21
Porter Robinson
- SHARING IS SEXY
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