Written by Alek Wobeck
Photo Source from EDC Mexico’s Facebook Page
Tens of thousands gathered last weekend under the electric sky in Mexico City for Insomniac’s 6th annual EDC Mexico. Located at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the southeastern corner of the city, EDC Mexico boasted nearly 200 artists across nine stages during the two-day event. After attending the festival for the first time in 2018, I came into the weekend expecting impeccable hospitality as well as top-notch artistry, and I definitely was not disappointed.
The Experience
Insomniac is famous for putting their attendees at the center of the festival experience. Having attended EDC in Las Vegas, Orlando, and Mexico City, I have to say that Mexico goes above and beyond with its customer-centric details.
What I appreciated the most at the festival were the many vendors walking through the crowd at all stages selling water, Red Bull, beer, and snacks. We all know the feeling of leaving your group of friends to grab food or refreshments, trekking half-way through the crowd, and then hearing one of your favorite DJs drop that track – the one that’s been a go-to in your playlist for the past couple months. At EDC Mexico, this disappointing ordeal is practically eliminated. Although as a non-local I opted out from the free water fill-ups, drinks were reasonably priced with small water bottles running 20 MXP (~1USD). Being in Mexico, cash is king, and I advise all attendees of this festival to bring lots of cash, since only the largest of stands accept cards. Aside from the vendors, some additional nice touches were the quick security lines and the large bathroom areas staffed with many attendants constantly cleaning. No matter where I went, the staff was friendly and professional, ensuring everyone had a good time.
The Stages and The Music
Being such a large festival, there were artists across almost every genre in electronic music. As a self-proclaimed tech-house and g-house lover, this year’s lineup delivered tenfold. On Saturday, I jumped back and forth from the Neon Garden stage to the Stereo Bloom stage for a slew of artists from Dirtybird, Relief, Night Bass, and Insomniac records. Neon Garden was a large immersive tent filled with mesmerizing lasers, whereas Stereo Bloom was a metallic rollercoaster-like stage with light strips and enchanting visuals. Fortunately, the stages were minutes away from each other, so not much music was missed in transit.
On Sunday, I spent more time exploring, dabbling from seeing Kygo at Kinetic Field, Nora En Pure at Circuit Grounds, and local house acts at the Boombox Art Car. Kinetic Field, the main stage, kept the beautiful design from previous EDCs with a man and woman holding a heart up, staring into each other’s eyes. The stage emitted brilliant bursts of colors with explosive fireworks during the most emotional rifts in each set. Circuit Grounds had a technologic theme with five enormous bright screens pulsating with the music. The Boombox Art Car had a – you guessed it – Boombox theme. Given that it was a smaller stage, the vibe was more focused on being intimate and less flashy with bountiful room to dance. Lastly, there were Mexican-themed art installments scattered throughout the festival such as a giant alebrije owl that enhanced the fiesta vibe.
Here are my favorite sets from each night:
REDLIGHT
Throwing down the most energetic set of the weekend, U.K producer Redlight got the crowd grooving with his unique style of ghetto-house. His set combined the absolute best of grungy warehouse vibes with British pop and rap in a way that you just couldn’t help but to smile and dance your ass off to. It was my first time seeing Redlight live, and I was thoroughly impressed. His set stuck out to me by not only being the most danceable but also by being unlike any other artist’s set throughout the weekend.
CHRIS LAKE
Having established himself in recent years as one of the patron saints of modern house music, Chris Lake showed the crowd exactly why he’s become so iconic. His hard-hitting house beats combined with catchy, melodic lyrics got every person giving their all on the dance floor. Playing a set that was overflowing with energy and Mexican-level spicy, Chris Lake blessed his fans with over an hour of music that seemed to pass by in a matter of minutes.
