Under the Electric Sky of New York City (EDC NY Recap)

Pasquale Rotella and Insomniac's Electric Daisy Carnival New York came to a close about one month ago, but those two days have been replaying in my head over and over again ever since. I attended the festival last year and despite this year's massive line-up, I knew it was not going to easily surpass the memories from my first experience. However, Insomniac took EDC New York 2015 to a completely new level. Featuring the Kinetic Cathedral of EDC Las Vegas, artists of every electronic genre imaginable and thousands of beautiful “headliners” in attendance, Insomniac's EDC New York was a surreal experience all in all.

The Kinetic Cathedral at EDC New YorkAs an experience, EDC Las Vegas will forever be the landmark festival of the brand, and rightfully so, but this past year, Insomniac really wanted to bring the Las Vegas magic to the other locations and their efforts were quite apparent. EDC New York's 2015 lineup was the biggest lineup Insomniac has ever brought to the tri-state area; including veteran DJs Armin van Buuren, Bassnectar, Carl Cox, and Tiësto, as well as rising stars like Gazzo and Martin Garrix. Not to mention one young man, whom I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of speaking to, Oliver Heldens.

Featuring the artists I have listed above, as well as others, I wrote 10 Sets to See at EDC New York prior to my attendance. Unfortunately, I was unable to witness all of their sets, but there is no doubt in my mind that every artist put on an incredible performance! Nonetheless, prior to beginning the recap of one of the greatest weekends of my life, I would like to start somewhere a tad different. My first section is devoted to a few artists that I had failed to previously mention, but after experiencing their sets live, I realized they deserved ample praise.

Arty The first set I witnessed all weekend was Arty; a name that over the years has always seemed to have floated around the top DJ lists. Arty has never quite sat at the top though, despite the incredible consistency of his career. Arty's productions are nothing short of amazing and his sets are always a must see at every event or festival he plays. I cannot believe that I overlooked Arty when originally writing my sets to see at EDC New York because he was the perfect start to an unbelievable weekend. The first song I heard was one of my personal favorites, his remix of Porter Robinson‘s ‘Lionhearted'. Honestly, I don't think there could have been a better song to truly get me going.

Catz ‘N DogzI will be honest, I did not visit the Neon Garden as much as I would have liked, but during a break in our Sunday schedule my friends and I decided to stop by. Catz ‘N Dogz were playing, and although I had not heard of the DJ duo beforehand, they were one of my favorite sets I saw all weekend. Despite being a bit self conscious of my archaic dance moves, I danced my heart out to these guys and had a great time!

So… Arty and Catz ‘N Dogz, but who else impressed me? If only I could list every set because, there were so many amazing ones, but I will keep it brief with my top three favorites.

Seven Lions3) As I begin my top three, there is one disclaimer I need to make; I was not present for Bassnectar‘s set. Yes, I know, I know, sacrilegious right? But I needed to put that out there before I was able to make what would have seemed like a bold statement. Seven Lions was, hands down, the best dubstep set at EDC New York this year. I need to give Seven Lions credit because he really put on an absolutely amazing performance! I may or may not have cried (definitely did) when he dropped ‘Don't Leave' featuring Ellie Goulding to finish his set because I truly did not want Seven Lions to ever end. Seven Lions is one memory I will never forget.

A photo posted by djsnake (@djsnake) on May 25, 2015 at 9:50am PDT

DJ Snake2) Next, and pardon my French, DJ Snake probably had the most badass photograph all weekend. I suppose it is only fitting for his set though, which after much thought, I am calling my second favorite of the weekend. There were a lot of other amazing artists so for me to call his set my second favorite is quite impressive. Delivering an energy to the crowd that only veteran DJs are capable of bringing, DJ Snake gained my utmost respect. ‘Turn Down For What' is not nearly a good enough measure of the talent that this man possesses as Snake mixed from track to track with ease. A personal favorite of mine was towards the end of his set, when he transitioned from his hit track ‘You Know You Like It' to M83's ‘Midnight City' by chopping the drop's vocals to the M83 beat; DJ Snake absolutely killed it!

So… moving on, DJ Snake was my second best set all weekend, but who was my favorite?

Kaskade1) Since Memorial Day Weekend, I have heard mixed responses about Kaskade‘s set, but I had been waiting the longest time to see Ryan play live and I found him to be every bit as amazing as I imagined! I sang every last word until my throat ached and even then I continued to belt out every single lyric. From ‘Last Chance' to the new ‘Where Are U Now' remix to a quite tear-jerking mix of ‘Eyes', I sang it all. Kaskade's EDC set brought upon emotions that very few DJs are capable of capturing through the power of music and it was a beautiful set. DJ Snake may have killed it, but Kaskade was different, Kaskade was beautiful.

Headliners at EDC New YorkI briefly said it before, and I will say it again, Electric Daisy Carnival New York 2015 was one of the greatest weekends of my life. I wish I could personally thank every beautiful person who was a part of making such an amazing experience a reality, but I will keep it simple and thank you all one last time for a weekend of a lifetime, under the electric sky of New York City!