Coachella in the City: Electric Daisy Carnival’s huge crowd Saturday stuns even promoters

So, how many dance music fans, exactly, descended upon downtown Los Angeles Saturday night for the Electric Daisy Carnival?

That all depends on whom you ask. Several local media reports estimated that the crowd of rave-happy teenagers was between 15,000 to 20,000 at L.A. Memorial Coliseum and the surrounding area, who were there to take in acts like Moby and Paul van Dyk.

But promoters for the event told Soundboard that the actual numbers were closer to 60,000. Take a look for yourself at this photo gallery.

"People had a great time last year, and apparently they told their friends," Insomniac Events’ Pasquale Rotella said via phone Sunday, guestimating that the crowd was “around 60,000.” The event producer said final numbers won’t be in for a few days, but he claims Insomniac pre-sold more than 45,000 tickets for the experiential event.

Giant’s Dave Dean, who helped produce the VIP area, independently verified the concert drew at least 45,000 Saturday evening.

Even for those who didn’t attend the 12-hour-long rave, the sheer enormity of the party had a big impact on the area, especially on surrounding freeways. Traffic on the 10 and particularly the 110 South just outside of downtown was particularly hellish around 8 p.m. — with autos backed up and not moving before the Martin Luther King exit.

Regardless of how many actually showed, it sure felt like Coachella-sized crowds inside the festival; with 45-minute-long waits for will call tickets and equally lengthy security lines.

Nine rescue ambulences had a busy night, according to the LAFD, and parking was a hot topic among many festival-goers, many of whom drove in from San Francisco, Phoenix and other cities. One of the closest (independently owned) parking lots to the site taunted late arrivals with $60 charges around 10 p.m.

Rotella says he was “caught off-guard” by the large number of walk-ups and says Insomniac will do a better job next year of addressing both parking and ticketing concerns.

“That's something we need to address,” he said. “That was the first time we've done those type of numbers, and it's going to be something that's a priority for next year for sure. We have some serious work to do.”

Despite the hassles gaining entry to the site, which was dotted with amusement park-quality rides, multiple food and clothing vendors and several stages, fans (including will.i.am, who we are presuming didn't have to wait an hour in line to get in) were remarkably well-behaved and patient. After all, the line-up was well-worth the wait for many.

Highlights included sets by headliners Moby and Van Dyk. But it was secondary acts like Italy's Benny Benassi who stole the show. The "Satisfaction" purveyor wowed the masses with a varied electro-house set touching on his own offerings such as his Grammy-winning take on Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" as well as fresh looks at 1990s dance floor classics like Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At" and current favorite Busy P's "Rainbow Man."

On the Circuit Grounds stage, SoCal's Donald Glaude and DJ Dan owned the old-school crowd, with the pumped-up believers unable to resist the duo's hyperactive set, which featured Justice vs. Simian Mobile Disco's "We Are Your Friends" and older classics like Green Velvet's "Flash."

But Dan and Glaude's tag-team style of playing sound effects over tracks live is what make their gigs so vibrant. Sped-up dancehall breaks and even Robert Plant's opening wail from Led Zeppelin’s "Immigrant Song" turned up throughout their set, as did more traditional DJ rig sound effects over house tracks.

One final note on the festival: Anticipated Berlin-based DJ Boys Noize (a.k.a. Alex Ridha) was a no-show due to an undisclosed illness.

“I feel extremely bad about missing the event,” Ridha said in an e-mail released by Insomniac late Thursday, “and I promise I'll be coming back to L.A. soon. My humblest apologies to everyone who was looking forward to seeing me perform.”

-- Charlie Amter

Photo: Drew Ressler/Rukes

Comments

[Jellybean]

I'm sad Rabbit in the Moons performance wasn't mentioned. It was definitely a set to not be missed!

[TravisD]

Great Review...the place was PACKED and being a USC student, I will never be able to look at the Colliseum the same! You hit Benassi right on the head also and he was my favorite performer of the night. Only regret is that they didn't put Armand Van Helden on a better stage, as we left Moby (who I wasn't the biggest fan of and neither were most of the girls there I guess) to find a weak crowd there... The event was amazing and I cant wait for next year

[Jon K.]

I used to co-produce events with Pasquale and I can personally attest that he's a great guy who believes in what he does. Good to see Electric Daisy Carnival grow.

[First time EDCer]

IMO, Moby stole the show in the main area and it was pretty much my highlight of the night.
I do hope that Insomniac does something to address the problems that arose with line issues and having to wait over 2 hrs when other people were just cutting in up in the front. Also, having to pay a ridiculous amount of money for parking is absurd!

[harriet]

Benassi will be hard to top. Amazing night.

[jason]

When I clicked on "photo gallery" and saw the photos of female fans in bikinis, my immediate thoughts were "uh oh, looks like another event dedicated to propping up the sleazy straight guy fantasy". And when I saw some of these women posing next to fully-clothed men, the sexism of the difference in clothing was remarkable.

Electric Daisy Carnival thus seems like another sexist and homophobic event where women go in bikinis but men go fully clothed.

[714budzerz]

sickkk night...yea im glad they at least admitted there was an issue with parking. got to the exit at 730 took until 1015 to actually be inside cuz we drove around the whole coliseum because parking was not marked well...benassi and friends made up for it though...kind of wierd if you read the other articles from kcal or knbc they give it a negative vibe...the la times gave the credit this event deserves by writing this in depth article without citing any negativity because i saw none whatsoever...even with lines..c u next yr

[Justin Jay]

Incredible!! I've been going out to raves for the past 15 years and Saturday night held the greatest sight that I have ever seen for a concert/massive event. Standing at the top of the Coliseum and looking at the sea of people was completely surreal. Insomniac you get great respect! Good job.

[sj]

WAAAAAAY TOO CROWDED AND I MISSED BENASSI CUHS THE LINE WAS WAY TOO LONG. other than that it was good. too packed

[Nerologic]

"If you are under 13 years of age you may read this blog, but you may not participate."

LOL most of the people that went to EDC cant even post on here!!

Good times!, too many kiddies :(

[Aart]

Electric Daisy Carnival was properly organized and the set up was FANTASTIC. although there were hundreds of thousands of people, the different number of stages gave the crowd options to move from one area to another. it was a beautiful scene lookin up from the top of the bleachers. a sea of people gathered together on ONE night for ONE reason: to dance, dance, and DANCE. EDC is NOT a bad event. it is not meant for underagers (too bad its all ages). everyone is SO nice to you because everyone there is to have a good time. love EDC. will be there next year AND the year after and the following year.

[greg]

for much better pics check out this site:

http://photo.rukes.com/edc08/edc08.html

[Paul]

"Electric Daisy Carnival thus seems like another sexist and homophobic event where women go in bikinis but men go fully clothed."

I think those girls want to dress like that. I don't see how that's sexism. And the rave crowd has to be one of the least homophobic groups around.

[Rukes]

@ jason, the official gallery is here:

http://photo.rukes.com/edc08/edc08.html

[kris]

edc is so not sexist or homophobic. i have a lot of gay friends that go, everyone is all about a good time and good vibes, girls go half naked as do guys!!! i don't blame them...dancing so viciously to heavy beats makes me sweat buckets and eventually i start having to shed some clothing too. edc was amazing...being on the kinetic field blew my brains when the lights would flash on and you could see just really how many people were at that stage alone.

[NIO]

The most amazing Rave of my life. Been all over the world, raving for 13 years. The vibe was incredible, positive. The sexiness was outrageous, but PLUR was there. It was rocking it everywhere, and I would guess that it was the biggest Massive Rave in the history of America (I'm sure there's been bigger in Europe, though). Keep it moving, so incredible. Re: "Jason" dissing on homophobia and sexism. Ugh, girls just want to have fun and there were plenty of "girly-men" dancing shirts off at the BT stage, no worries, all types were representing and peaceful fun and loving!

[joanna]

i must disagree

even though EVERYONE was looking forward to benassi it was SOO obvious that moby stole the show. completly.
im sad that as a reporter you missed that

[luke alan]

i've been goin to edc since 2001 and never in my years of going to anything that insomniac has put on have i ever seen a crowd like this. I pulled up to the site and it almost through me off just seeing the lines and how many people were there. (back in 01 there were maybe MAYBE 400 people there lol) The lineup was absolutely insane this year. But yes, armand van helden was put on the wrong stage totally. If you remember all the way back to 2FUTURE4U then you know what im talking about =). I didnt even get to see him because of the stage ='(. One thing they don't mention is how amazing the OM stage was. Collette was flawless and just when i thought it couldn't get better mark farina stole the spotlight. His set was one of the best, most groovy sets i've ever heard. After farina was done we headed over to dj dan and donald glaude and the very first thing i heard was "around the world around the wooooorrrrld" it was quite euphoric. Their set was just as amazing as their set in '01. Definately a trip to remember but damn, that was just a crap ton of people; most ive ever seen BY FAR

[Kristen]

Lets see.... great performers... But the lil' candy kids on E, zaneez, and whatever is in the parents pill jar was there ....fun days were great in the late 90's and early 2000... this event has become for all those Newport/Santa Monica kids in the age of 14 and 19 year olds ... ..... um......... no thanks!!!

[digital]

EDC was beautiful. Perhaps the greatest event I have ever been a part of. Unity, love, good vibes.

[James Arnold]

The girls and women were hot. Saw a few passed out hopefully nothing serious happened to them. I was one of the few grey hairs there, it was comfortable and peaceful.Probably the only baby boomer there But the promoters should be fined for creating a dangerous situation at the entry gates. It was horrible. People could have been hurt in a stampede. It should not take over an hour to get inside a football stadium.Pathetic amateurs.Every friggin rave has the same bs. Why can't they be more efficient getting paying customers inside the venue.I buy a ticket I should be inside in 15 or 20 minutes max

[jason]

If raves are gay-friendly, why didn't the photography link show two gay guys together with their shirts off? Why is it always two women in bikinis together and not two guys? I'm sick of this double standard.

Raves can be very homophobic towards men. The rave organizers want gay men's money but they avoid images of gay men when advertising the raves.

[andy]

i'm very sorry that they didnt mention rabbit in the moon. they really set it off with fire works, and a funky performance. this is one event that i will never forget.THIS PARTY WILL NEVER BE LIKE COACHELLA, COACHELLA TRIES TO BE LIKE IT...LOL.... we were all in harmony with one another, everyone was having a good time... it's good too see people laugh, dance, and just having fun the right way...( it's fun if you know how to have fun)p.l.u.r....LOS ANGELES ROCKED THE HOUSE ONCE AGAIN....IT'S WILD WILD WEST...................

[Averroes]

“Electric Daisy Carnival thus seems like another sexist and homophobic event where women go in bikinis but men go fully clothed.”

'I think those girls want to dress like that. I don’t see how that’s sexism. And the rave crowd has to be one of the least homophobic groups around.'

Sad fact but it's true that many feminists don't want women to have a choice as to how they live their lives, instead they want to impose their own anachronistic ideal of what a woman should be. Isn't that the textbook definition of sexism?

[Valerie Holmes]

OH MY GOD! EDC was my first rave. and everything everyone told me it would be like was true but something about the energy and just getting through the gates after waiting 2 and a half hours....words can not explain the feeling of being at EDC. everyone should go!