There was music, there was food, there was art and revelry. All the makings for a fabulous music festival came together and delivered. With 4 different stages, each boasting their own lineup, Randalls Island park isnt as big as some of the other large festivals I’ve attended (Austin City Limits, cough, cough) so you could easily dart from one stage to another and catch all the acts. And speaking of the acts, wow, what a lineup.
I was able to catch Laid Back Luke, Grum, The Glitch Mob, Moby, DJ Mehdi, Boize Noize, Aeroplane, Diplo, Fedde Le Grand, A-Trak and Armin Van Buuren. I was skeptical, but that’s more shows in one day than I’ve been to all summer, proving that the Electric Zoo Sunday ticket was worth every bit of that $96 price tag.
I hovered around the Red Bull Music Academy stage for most of Sunday, only popping out to catch a few minutes of the bigger acts on the Main Stage. The theme for the Red Bull tent seemed to be the hip hop/electro mashups, which absolutely made my day. DJ Mehdi, in particular, delivered big beats and kept the crowd of die hard fans dancing at every second.
There were 25,000 attendees both days at the sold out festival, but it never seemed too crowded. And the range of people who came to enjoy the music was astonishing– from typical ravers in fluffy leg warmers and jenkos to tattooed hipsters to mammas and pappas with kids in strollers and bridge and tunnel boys with a knack for hair gel, just about every genre of human was appropriately represented.
Food offerings were outstanding. Even the pickiest eater could have fallen in love as menu items varied from typical street food like pizza and falafel to the most gourmet, organic and locally grown offerings. Thai food, burgers, tacos, salads, ice cream, baked goods…you name it, Electric Zoo probably had a truck for i t. Water fountains were available to refill your bottle, but the line was horrendous. And with beer at $9 for a can of Bud Light (gasp! hurl!), they could stand to put a few more fountains in to keep their ravers happy and healthy.
It would be hard to come away from a gathering such as this without a giant smile on your face. C’mon, where else in the world are you gonna see hippies with rainbow ribbon wands cavorting with preps in seersucker and boat shoes? Okay, so there might be a few other places. Namely, other music festivals. Which leads me to the conclusion that (excuse me while I get all peace and love on you) music brings us together. These DJ’s and performers should be crowned as modern heroes and peacemakers of our day! They gently lead us to relinquish our positions as members of the Republican or Democrat Parties and instead find our identity in a Dance Party! Now that’s a platform I can get behind.
