Photo: Getty Images North America
Thousands of EDM lovers recently made their way back to Tinker Field for EDC Orlando! This was the first time fans had gathered for this festival since 2019 as last year’s was cancelled due to COVID-19. This year, acts included Armin Van Buuren, Seven Lions, Excision, Elephante, Subtronics, Diesel, Tiesto and many others! Good news if you attended this year and are already missing the atmosphere and environment, tickets for EDC Orlando 2022 just went up for sale!
While at EDC Orlando, I had the chance to chat with a few up-and-coming artists. Evalution, Evan Cazes, is a local Florida DJ making a name for himself in the EDM world. Cazes came from performing at local clubs such as PotBelly’s & The Coliseum near Florida State Universitytoplaying his first EDC Orlando set this past weekend! Cazes even managed to play his EDC set with a broken wrist!
I was lucky enough to be able to get a sneak peek at Evalution’s unreleased music including one track featuring Ganja White Night and I was highly impressed. Be on the lookout for Evalution’s “Subcarbon” album coming in early 2022.
Elephante, Tim Wu, came out and played a wild set in the rain at the magical Kinetic Field stage. Prior to his set, I had the chance to sit down with Wu and learn about how this past year has been for him. He mentioned that the COVID-19 lockdown was tough for him and between the Black Lives Matter riots and the Stop Asian Hate initiative, Tim was unsure how safe the world was outside of his home. He spent a lot of time wondering if he would ever tour or see a crowd again.
Elephante’s sophomore album “Heavy Glow” was created during this lockdown. Heavy Glow is a metaphor for “the part of you that shines through in a time of a nightmare.” This album features many songs in which Wu sings and plays the guitar. One of my favorite singles off of this record is “Dopamine”and it was awesome hearing Tim Wu sing the vocals live at EDC Orlando. Check out Elephante’s new album “Heavy Glow” streaming on all major platforms.
One major surprise of the weekend was how impressive Diesel’s set was! For those of you who aren’t familiar with Diesel, you may have watched him win multiple NBA Championships over the years. That’s right, Shaquille O’Neil came out and played song after song that the crowd loved and danced too. Shaq tends to mix heavy dubstep with a dash of hip hop in his sound. He loves to keep the crowd engaged and even has them form the occasional mosh pit! For the last song of his set, Diesel jumped into the crowd so that he could be with his wild fans. I’m so glad I had the chance to experience Diesel’s set!
While many were there for the entertainment, EDC Orlando also had so many activities to do! You could check out the Pixel Forrest, which was full of L.E.D art, illuminated trees, and arcade games. Since EDC is a carnival, there were also a few thrill rides for guests to take advantage of. While wandering around EDC, festival-goers also saw performers galore ranging from dancers to full out magical creatures roaming the grounds.
Feel like you missed out on the EDC adventure this year? Well, you can purchase tickets for EDC Orlando 2022 right now! The event will be returning for three days from November 11-13, 2022. The three-day general experience pass is available for $169.99 (+tax and fees) and the VIP experience pass is available for 369.99 (+tax and fees). Head to https://edcorlando.frontgatetickets.com/ to purchase your tickets!
I’ll see you all next time around at Electric Daisy Carnival!