by Kevin TranThe Electric Daisy Carnival, or commonly known as EDC, is one of the largest festivals of electronic dance music in the entire world. This festival is held every year in various locations around the world such as New York, Japan, and Mexico, with its flagship held annually in Las Vegas. This was my first exposure to this type of scene since I was introduced to its music back in 2014. I was able to attend the festival in Las Vegas this year, and let me simply say that it has been one of the greatest experiences I have had since in my young life. Heading to the airport in June, I was about walk into an experience I would never forget. June 15th, the day before EDC was set to begin, I boarded the plane and headed to Las Vegas. I was anxious because I did not know what I was walking into. It was the first festival I had ever attended. I arrived around midnight, Vegas time, and decided to hit the strip. Being from New York City, you think you have seen everything there is to see about bright lights and fun until you step foot into Vegas, where no one truly sleeps. My friends and I did not do anything crazy the first night and decided to rest until the next day. The next day, I was so anxious to get ready to head there but at the same time I was not sure for what was in store for me. Videos of previous sets could never do justice so what you experience first-hand once you step through those gates. Since I purchased the shuttle ride, we headed to the boarding area at Las Vegas Village, and this was probably one of the worst lines I have ever been on. (Even worse than when I used to camp out for sneaker drops.) I got the location around 5:30 pm and the line stretched around inside the boarding area to all the way on the other side of block. These are not New York City blocks either, they are enormous. Waiting on all these lines, my best friend and I met some people from Colorado. When we finally arrived at the Vegas Speedway, it was around 10:00 PM, and from the moment I walked through the gates, I fell in love with the entire venue. Everything around you made you feel like you belong, and it stirred up my love of music. Since I was new to this scene, our new friends from Colorado took us around to various stages there where I got to see new artists and others whom I had heard about. The sights and sounds were visually stunning in every way, shape, and form. I got back to my hotel room about 4:00 AM and went to sleep to build up strength for day 2. The next morning, my friends and I headed to the hotel pool until it was time to leave, playing pool volleyball for a couple of hours. I noticed that people can drink liquor anywhere in Las Vegas, unlike New York where we receive a summons for having an open container. The culture is noticeably different than what I am accustomed to here at home. We headed up to our hotel room around 3, hoping to head to the shuttle early so we wouldn’t have to wait there for hours. By the time I got out of the shower, both of my friends said that they were sore and no longer wanted to go to day 2. However, I was not about to waste money I paid for this trip so I decided to venture to the speedway by myself. This time, I got to the bus shuttle area early and was able to travel to the speedway on one of the first buses. I got there a couple of minutes before it was set to open and the sun was beaming hard. Here is where I met various random people from all over the globe who came to Vegas in order to rave. I spent most of this night at Kinetic Field and was able to get all the way to the front of the stage. This is where everyone would stay for hours waiting for their favorite artists to come. I raved by myself for a couple of hours before I met up with some other people from John Jay. However, for the 4 hours that I raved by myself, it was the most fun I have had in a very long time. You get to be free and at one with the music. I think that’s what had me so in tune with everything that was going on around me. I was still in love with this scene. Day 3 was something so special for me. Being able to go to the final day of EDC helped me prove to myself that I could party 3 straight nights, with little to no rest and still be able to function. One person I was anticipating seeing was Metro Boomin, even though I was surprised that he was one of the DJs scheduled to be there this particular weekend. It was about 11:30 when he finally came on and let me tell everyone this: IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT. After he was on for about 40 minutes, he brought out a guest artist who happened to go by the name of Drake. This is where the crowd got ridiculously crazy, with everyone pushing each other back and forth. Everyone, including myself was ecstatic and all over the place because Drake is one of my favorite artists. He did not disappoint one bit and by the end of the set, I had completely lost my voice. Still, my night was not over and I decided to head to another set of DJs, who had made me fall in love with this type of music in the first place. Yellow Claw is a group from Amsterdam my cousin introduced me to originally. Yellow Claw helped open my eyes to this scene. Seeing them live made me feel like a little kid. This feeling that I accumulated was something I have never felt before. Mainly I felt like I belonged here. That made me extremely comfortable. After these three days, I was not ready to give it all up. I wanted to keep reliving this weekend because of the vibes and scene that surround this particular weekend every year. I conquered the biggest rave of the year and plan on attending many more in the future Especially the EDC event in New York; it is supposed to come back after being cancelled this year.
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