Here’s Who We’re Checking Out
Getting to see new acts mixed in with the tried and true faves is an upside at every festival.
- They may be artists we’ve seen a million times and love
- They may be rising stars with industry buzz
- They may be people there just isn’t a market for in DC.
Whatever the case may be, this is where we’ll be on Labor Day weekend:
Day 1
Main Stage
Netsky’s style of dramatic synths/melodies layered over thick bass defines what’s hot right now. He’ll be a great intro to D&B for a lot of the newer, mainstream EDM fans.
As 2011 and 2012 have shown, Hardwell shares a lot more with Tiesto than just an area code. He was thoroughly impressive when we had him at fur. We even recorded the set. His custom bootlegs and edits for his live sets are ridiculous. For the same guy to make ‘Spaceman’ and ‘Three Triangles’ is just nuts.
No explanation needed. It’s Laidback Luke. He’s one of the best. One of our favorites. Always throws down. Always plays a bunch of everything. Always does the robot 🙂
After a reckless day of partying in the sun, finding some space and vibing out is exactly what we’ll need. Pretty Lights is pretty much the sh*t for posting up and vamping. It’ll be a nice calm before the David Guetta storm!
Day 1
Hilltop (Group Therapy)
Unfortunately, it’s pretty tough to book lesser-known trance acts in DC. The market just isn’t there. Sooo, we’re super excited to catch Norin & Rad at the Group Therapy tent. Obviously we’re psyched for Above & Beyond and Ferry, but we see them every year.
Gotta represent for our DC brethren! Bayer is a studio genius and it’ll gonna be great to see him rocking out in front of thousands.
Can’t get enough of Gabriel & Dresden since they regrouped and started touring again. Def one of the best sets from last year’s Zoo. With a new album on deck, plan on hearing a lot of fresh material.
Day 1
Riverside (Fool’s Gold Clubhouse):
We met Treasurefingers when he opened for 12th Planet and Kaskade at the Freaks of Nature show in Baltimore. His set was pretty sick and left us wanting more. His style is real, real dope.
Gesaffelstein is the hottest thing since sliced bread in the world of hard, techy, frenchy, bass. He’s getting big upped by everyone including Skrillex, 12th Planet, Laidback Luke, A-Trak, you name ’em they got his back. We’ll be in NY all weekend so it’ll be nice to catch him at Zoo.
Brodinski combines with Gesaffelstein to form their current Bromance Tour. The Parisian EDM star is unlike many of his French peers in height, style, drink preference and almost everything else.
Day 1
Sunday School (Vagabundos):
We rarely get to see the heavyweights of techno in DC. Dubfire once a year. Carl Cox came last year for the first time in a while. Will be nice to see the master of vagabundos. Year in and year out, the Sunday School tent stays grounded.
Day 2
Main Stage:
More trance, and this time it’s from our boy Eco! Really great to see a New York guy making it in the game a la Sean Tyas. Besides the fact that Armin big ups everything he makes, Eco remains headstrong about pursuing his career as an architect. Imagine, he’s got a full time job and still finds the time to build a rep large enough to spin the main stage at Electric Zoo.
There’s just something about bananas and champagne we can’t resist. Dada Life crowds are the wildest second only to Steve Aoki. And oh look, Steve will be at Zoo the same day. Wonder what’s gonna happen 😉
Day 2
Hilltop Arena
We’ve been hearing DallasK’s name buzzing and definitely want to see what the hype is about. Kinda digging last year’s Jupiter release. The guy also got a Nero remix, which is a pretttyy good selling point.
You ever seen Rusko perform live? If you have then you already know why we’re psyched for this. #1 DJ dance moves, hands down!
Day 2
Riverside (Dim Mak)
Kill the Noise is an act we’ve been dying to see. Signed to Skrillex’s OWSLA label, he’s worked with Sonny, Datsik and 12th Planet as well as remixed Nero and Noisia. Amped for this!
When you’re co-signed by Tiesto, spinning on Steve Aoki’s stage and have remixed Nervo, Skrillex, Benny Benassi and the Disco Biscuits, it without question peaks our interest. We’ll def be in the crowd for this.
Lotta people have been big upping Angger Dimas. Tons of hype, great productions, remixes, collaborations. This is a guy definitely worth checking out. The live performance from Polina (most likely for his new track with Laidback Luke) adds to the draw.
Day 2
Sunday School
Maya Jane Coles is the hottest thing since sliced bread. When it comes to the deeper side of things, her and Jamie Jones are quite simply owning the charts, the booth and the fans. This is is a cannot miss performance.
Head of Dirtybird Recs, Claude VonStroke has managed to define a sound all his own amongst the ranks of techno elite. The big, bearded, beat smith is always guaranteed to put on a show. Loving Sunday School!
Our good friend and former resident, it’s always nice to experience Sasha headlining. Hey, with Axwell, Benassi and Aoki all spinning at the same time, people in need of something a little more refined will get the best of the best.
Day 3
Main Stage:
Pierce was pretty damn impressive at his DC nightlife debut this year. The guy’s got a serious music library, an amazing knack for reading the crowd and he’s backed by some serious players in EDM… for good reason.
Schedule conflicts have prevented us from experiencing Dash Berlin in DC. Getting some huge trance on the Electric Zoo main stage will be a real treat to close out the festival.
Knife Party is one of EDM’s hottest acts and we have yet to see them do their thing. Day 3 main stage is balls out… wow.
Doesn’t matter how many times we’ve seen him. He’s The Greatest DJ of All Time. Wow… the Day 3 main stage is stacked. Did we say that already?
Day 3
Riverside:
Our Glow Radio Producer/bass resident Des McMahon said we gotta go see Krewella. Their new track (above) is pretty pretttyyy prettaaayyy fresh.
One of the founders of dubstep. Benga is the truth and out of respect and love of the music, we’re guaranteed to be front and center.
One of the most impressive shows we’ve seen in a long time. There aren’t many DJs that weave in and out of genres the way Diplo does. The guy is dope. Between him and Tiesto, this will be one of those running back and forth between festival tents situations.
Day 3
Hilltop:
One of, if not the most respected names in drum and bass is Andy C. Over 20 years in the game and as demonstrated above, still killing it. The Day 3 Hilltop tent is intriguing all around. A lot of more bassy, non-mainstream acts definitely makes for some potential gems.
Day 3
Sunday School:
To be honest, we had no clue who these guys were until our boy Jon Deke put us on. Two upstars on Boys Noize records, Djedjotronic and Steve Strip are actually pretty dope. We’re expecting some techy, frenchy, electro goodness. Great way to start the day.
We were interviewing someone last year and happened to hear Boys Noize spinning on the main stage. Whoa. WHOA!!! After hearing the first track from his Dog Blood project with Skrillex and the endless amount of positive reviews from around the world, we’re pretty sure that festival-long wind sprints are in our future.